Curated OER
Discovering Saturn, The Real "Lord of the Rings"
Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...
Curated OER
"User Friendly" Cause and Effect
Bring literature to life with your SMART board and this literary analysis lesson. While reading "User Friendly" by T. Ernesto Bethancourt (from the Holt Elements of Literature textbook by Kylene Beers), have your class discuss the theme...
Curated OER
Pre Reading Strategies
Students use their journals in order to predict what will happen in a text for a prereading strategy. In this prereading lesson plan, students list the 5 strategies they learn and use them before they read.
Curated OER
Prairie Poetry
Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.
Curated OER
Beowulf: Songs of Ancient Heroes
Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...
Curated OER
Deal or No Deal
Young scholars play a game in order to memorize any set of facts. In this memorization lesson, students play an adaptation of the game Deal or No Deal to help them review and memorize factual information. Young scholars also work on math...
Curated OER
The Greek Alphabet
Tenth graders examine the history and origins of the Greek alphabet. They take notes while listening to a teacher-led lecture, and read and interpret common Greek words on the board. Students then create a decorated name plate with...
Common Sense Media
The Masque of the Red Death
Poe goes high tech with a lesson that asks high schoolers to use the internet and various apps as they read and analyze "The Masque of the Red Death." In addition to responding to comprehension questions in Quizlet, they use Minecraft to...
Curated OER
Exploring Prejudice and Text-to-Text Relationships
Tenth graders use the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to analyze relationships in society. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders participate in a shoe activity where they bring in one shoe belonging to someone they know and a...
Curated OER
Poem Collage
Seventh graders read a descriptive language poem and then create a collage of what they feel the poem means to them. In this poems lesson plan, 7th graders take notes on the poem, and make the collage in groups.
Curated OER
Early Explorers
Fifth graders give a presentation about one of the explorers. In this explorers lesson, 5th graders research an explorer and give a presentation to the class. While students are presenting the others are taking notes on a graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Newbery Award Winners
Sixth graders select a book from the Newbery list and read it. They write a short summary of the book without giving away the ending and then research the book's author. They write a book review and, finally, incorporate all of this onto...
Curated OER
Bee Dance
Everything a bee does serves a purpose. Learners in grades one through five explore the behaviors of bees through reading and dramatic puppet play. First children will create honey bee puppets, then they will discuss how bees dance to...
Curated OER
Navajo Weaving
Students explore the Navajo culture. In this Navajo Indians lesson, students gain information about their weaving and dancing. Students note the patterns in the weaving. Students create a dance that corresponds with the patterns they see...
Curated OER
Climate Change and the EU
Sixth graders investigate solutions for a cleaner environment. In this environmental protection lesson plan, 6th graders discuss and list the key issues surrounding the environment. Students read and take notes on climate change,...
Curated OER
Anne Frank Project
Students read information from the Holocaust Museum. They also read Anne's Diary for 1942. Students choose three entries from 1943 and read them, students complete a response sheet for entry. They watch the film "Life is Beautiful" and...
Curated OER
Designing a Travel Brochure
Students discuss a story they had read earlier about a girl moving from China to New York. Using the internet, they research a country other than their own and take notes on the information they collect. They create a travel brochure...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 2: Systems of Equations and Inequalities
The brother-sister pair Carlos and Clarita need your class's help in developing their new pet sitting business. Through a variety of scenarios and concerns presented to the siblings, the learners thoroughly explore systems of equations...
Curated OER
The Iron Horse vs. the Buffalo: Indian-Settler Conflict on the Great Plains
The Iron Horse encroached upon the land while conflicts escalated between Native Americans and the settlers. Sophomores study the print, American Progress then discuss how American progress affected Native Americans. They will study the...
Curated OER
Flip and Flop: An Adaptation Through Dancing Echoes with Shapes and Locomotor Movement
Dancers practice echoing through dance. They listen to a story "Flip and Flop" and then are put into pairs. One partner is Flip, while the other is Flop. Flip creates a shape by dancing, and Flop, the other student, echoes that shape by...
PBS
Interviewing: The Art of Asking Questions
Interviewing skills are important, even outside of a news reporter's desk or employer's office. Take your class through the process of interviewing people they don't know with a set of case studies featuring journalists and various...
Curated OER
We Are All Authors: Create a Book
Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their...
Curated OER
Scripting The Great Train Robbery
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...
Curated OER
Introduction to Poetry Lesson Plan
Analyze poetry in a group setting. Middle and high schoolers read lyrics to a Tom Petty song and free write about the song's tone, setting, and speaker. They then complete the same activity in a group setting using seven poems. The...