Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth...
Curated OER
Author! Author!
Beverly Cleary is the fabulous author focused on, in this author study. Students conduct Internet Research in order to find out as much as they can about Ms. Cleary. They then use their findings and the Garageband program to create a...
Curated OER
Author's Purpose: Research Process/Narrative Writing Techniques
Determine the author's purpose in writing a memoir. Eighth graders work in groups to elicit author's purpose in memoirs, taking care to note how subtle the message can be hidden throughout the work. This lesson plan is a good way...
Curated OER
Concluding Activities for an Author Study of Marc Brown and His Arthur Books
Everyone loves Arthur, the friendly aardvark! Emerging readers explore Arthur books by Marc Brown. They use the Internet to research Marc Brown and share information with their class. They work independently to conduct research and then...
Curated OER
Documentary-Style Research Projects
Show your pupils how to use guiding questions to help them focus their research into a topic. Using the framework provided by these questions, researchers explore a topic, collect interesting facts, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation...
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Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson plan! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson plan incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research,...
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Cause Célèbre
In this exercise, learners identify characters from an "Archie" comic and discuss the relevance of "Archie" to today's youth. They create public service advertisements featuring celebrities to address common concerns among teenagers in...
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Author of the Month
Fourth graders research authors on the Web each month in based on the themes in their reading book. They create an author booklet which includes a picture and biographical information.
Curated OER
Looking at Portraits: Literary Monuments
Examine artwork, research literature, and create art pieces for a monument to a literary figure. Young scholars analyze the sculpture Model for a Monument to Alexandre Dumas père and compare it to other well-known monuments. They...
Curated OER
Awesome authors (Elementary, Reading/Writing)
Fifth graders use technology to research and collect data. They develop awareness and appreciation of authors and genres. They organize information for presentation.
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Author Brochure
Fifth graders creat a brochure about a specific author in which they are familiar with. They research information about the author using the Internet and other research sources. They create the brochure on the computer with a small group.
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Researching Using Books
Students investigate researching techniques by exploring their library. In this literature references instructional activity, students identify the different types and genres of books that are readily available at their local library as...
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The Purpose and Power of Persuasion
Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...
Speak Truth to Power
Elie Wiesel: Speaking Truth to Genocide to Power
Invite your learners to discover the efforts of Night author Elie Wiesel to promote awareness of genocide in the world. After watching and reading an interview of Elie Wiesel, high schoolers work to create a living Holocaust...
National Constitution Center
Creating Your Own Town Hall Poster
Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a lesson in which they choose, research, and learn more about a...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to Al Capone Does My Shirts
It's hard to imagine that life on Alcatraz could be dull. A series of intriguing lessons take readers through the novel Al Capone Does my Shirts. Pre-reading questions introduce the text and a range of suggestions, from comic strips to...
The New York Times
Researching the Researchers
Young scholars match scientists with their major discoveries, choose one figure to research further, and co-author articles profiling the scientist and his or her achievements.
Curated OER
States Research Project
Eighth graders create an in-depth research report on a state. They conduct Internet research, write a comparison essay about New York State and their assigned state, create a 3-dimensional map, and develop a Powerpoint presentation.
Curated OER
Rediscovering Forgotten Women Writers
Women's voices are becoming more prominent in the world of literature, but for centuries, this wasn't the case. Young historians research a woman whose writings are considered to be lost, out of print, or forgotten. They develop an oral...
Curated OER
Art Critic for a Day!
Middle schoolers practice evaluating art by creating a research project and presentation. They use the Internet and library to discover a piece of art or artist whom they feel has an impact on the world of art. Next, they create a...
Sharp School
The Bill of Rights and Supreme Court Cases Project
Social media and United States history combine as your young historians design a Facebook page for two major defendants of landmark Supreme Court cases. The resource includes a detailed rubric for research and page design, as well as a...
Curated OER
Research and Technical Writing
Students summarize information from their research on to note-cards. In this technical writing lesson students examine examples of note-cards that contain main ideas from research previously conducted. They will then compose their...
Curated OER
Don't Settle for a Byte... Get the Megabyte on Technology
Students use word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet software. For this multi-day computer software usage lesson, students complete a research project that requires the use of a word processor, Excel, FrontPage, and PowerPoint to...
Curated OER
Authors Slide Show
Students conduct Internet research about an author. They complete a title slide for that author which includes a picture of the author and a recording of the student's voice introducing the slide. All slides then be compiled into a class...