Curated OER
Strong Descriptive Writing: James and the Giant Peach
Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...
Curated OER
Memoir Writing Based on Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed
Using chapter 1 of Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed, middle schoolers write a personal memoir based on Spinelli's style and a Six Trait writing activity. The lesson suggests several ways to activate prior knowledge, including a picture book and...
Curated OER
Connotation and Denotation: How Word Choice Affects a Paragraph
Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation graphic...
Curated OER
Bucket List Poetry
What is on your pupils' "Bucket Lists" - the list of things they want to do before they die? Their choices of activities for this list could be very revealing, and is a great source of inspiration for a personal poem. The lesson prompts...
Curated OER
Edgar Allen Poe And The Art Of Composition
High schoolers evaluate several works by Edgar Allen Poe based on the criteria in his essay, "The Philosophy of Composotion" Their analysis is documented using a graphic organizer. Learners begin the pre-writing process for their own...
Curated OER
Scrambled Stories
Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...
Curated OER
A Monster of a Metaphor
What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...
Prestwick House
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Pre-reading worksheets, discussion prompts, activity ideas, research assignments, and more await you in this resource for supplementing your class reading of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
Curated OER
Paragraph Writing
Third graders receive Gummi hamburgers. They discuss parts and structure of a (real) hamburger. Students dissect the gummi hamburger and rearrange the pieces. Students discuss the problems that would be caused by this with a real...
Curated OER
On The Go! Forces and Motion
Students create a car using physics. In this forces and motion lesson, students create a car and test which changes in design change the performance of the car. Students complete a graphic organizer with the different changes they see.
District 158
Plan an Adventure
For kids, taking a vacation is all fun and games, but after completing this pre-algebra project, they'll have a whole new appreciation for the planning that makes these trips possible. Given a budget of $5,000 to spend on purchasing the...
Curated OER
"All About Me" Paragraph
Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.
Curated OER
Story Mapping
Students prewrite a story using graphic organizers. In this prewriting lesson plan, students create a story map before they start their writing.
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...
Curated OER
A Call for Change
"Come gather round people, wherever you roam..." Bring the voice of Bob Dylan to your class with this lesson plan, which takes Dylan's song "The Times They Are A-Changing" and analyzes both the message and voice in the lyrics. Your class...
Curated OER
Worm Family Needs A New Home
Students examine different types of soil. In this soil lesson, students research different types of soil. Students create a podcast about a worm family looking for a new home using storyboarding or graphic organizers.
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Explore the Animal World
Third graders use a variety of resources to do research on an animal. Their final project is a graphic organizer for display and an informative multimedia slide show.
Curated OER
Just Plain Fancy
Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Just Plain Fancy. For this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions,...
Curated OER
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Second graders complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Frog and Toad are Friends. For this reading lesson plan, 2nd graders complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
The Legend of the Blue Bonnet
Pupils complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book The Legend of the Blue Bonnet. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer...
Curated OER
In Character
Students fill out a character trait graphic organizer about characters in a book that they are reading. In this characters lesson plan, students see how traits relate to character actions.
Curated OER
The Yo-Yo Problem: Solving Linear Equations
Students write the algebraic equation to determine the number of weeks money must be saved to purchase a yo-yo. In this algebra activity, students create a pattern of one penny surrounded by six pennies. They continue the pattern and...
Curated OER
Was the Wolf Really Guilty?
Students read plays, short stories, or novels which revolve around trials, and write essays explaining or defending the assigned role in a mock fairy tale trial.