Curated OER
Writing Author's Purpose
Write in all three authorial purposes (persuasive, informational, entertaining) with this instructional activity. Young writers consider a time when a friend of theirs helped them out and gave them advice on something. They write a short...
Sandra Effinger
Bulletin Board Project
Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a character...
Curated OER
Critical Review for Radio
Learners will produce a short radio feature about a favorite entertainer or group, consisting of 45 seconds to one minute of copy and one-to-two minutes of music "clips." In writing this copy, they will use a modified prewriting...
Curated OER
Recreation Yesterday and Today
Eleventh graders research entertainment and recreation in the early 20th century using the American Memory collections and From the Hidewood: Memories of a Dakota Neighborhood, a book by Robert Amerson reflecting life in Deuel County,...
Curated OER
Art Reflecting Life
Have your young television viewers discuss popular shows among their peers. After choosing one show to analyze, middle and high schoolers read about the 2007-2008 network television lineup with the New York Times article "Gauging Viewer...
Curated OER
Twentieth Century Entertainment: When Work is Done
Students determine how Americans enjoy leisure time. In this 20th century America activity, students research primary sources to study how Americans gained leisure time during the century and what they did with it.
Curated OER
Past Imperfect: Examining Secondary Sources of the American Revolution
Ninth graders respond in essay form to the following writing prompt. Mel Gibson, star of The Patriot, is quoted as stating, "If one were to adhere to historical accuracy all the way, you'd probably have the most boring two hours on...
Curated OER
Roman Gladiators
Students review basic Latin terms pertaining to Roman gladitorial games, print out pictures of gladiators from Internet, share photos with classmates, choose gladiator to research, and prepare in depth visual and oral presentation about...
Curated OER
The News Behind the Story
What a fun way to analyze plot, setting, and character. Learners review story elements, read a short fictional story, then turn the events of that story into a headlining news paper article. Not only does this lesson engage critical...
Bright Hub Education
Advertisement Analysis
Middle schoolers review magazine ads and take a look at some of the most common advertising techniques. From analyzing these ads, youngsters begin to become aware of how advertisers target specific age groups, gender groups, and how they...
California Department of Education
Evaluating Web Sites
If it's on the Internet, it must be true—right? How can someone tell if a website contains less-than-truthful information? Savvy surfers evaluate sources in the fifth of a six-part college and career readiness instructional activity...
Curated OER
Can You Hear Me Now?
Students explore the industry involving communication and put communication devices into activities. In this communication lesson plan, students put items into chronological order, review primary sources, compare and contrast items, and...
Social Media Toolbox
Reporting with Social Media
What does it take to create news stories that are both informative and objective? Aspiring journalists walk the line between engagement and activism with lesson 15 of a 16-part series titled The Social Media Toolbox. Grouped pupils...
Curated OER
The Border Goes to Hollywood
High schoolers view a movie or tv show, or listen to music to analyze the ways border life is depicted in arts and entertainment.
National First Ladies' Library
Red Hunts, Black Lists, and Communists
Students research and examine the unsavory history of the hunt for communists in the United States during the 1950s. They divide up into groups to review the Red Scare of the 1920s as a backdrop to the McCarthy era and write a short...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Discussion Guide
Young scholars examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in...
Curated OER
Universal Studios' Roller Coasters
Students read an article and review a type of graph or other graphic representation. They write a response to a ""Task"" that may be a letter, a report, or a speech to an interested group. In the written response they must refer to both...
Curated OER
Point of View and Mentor Relationships
Tenth graders analyze the role of mentors, point of view, and prejudice using the texts of To Kill a Mockingbird and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders review Scout's...
Curated OER
Cinematic Poetry
Eighth graders explore the genre of poetry through the creation of a multimedia presentation. Students write a poem and create an Avid presentation of their poem for the class. The poems and presentations are peer-reviewed.
Curated OER
Creative Inventions
Ninth graders develop ideas for an invention and write a persuasive essay explaining why their invention is best. In this invention essay instructional activity, 9th graders review persuasive essay writing. Students create a graphic web...
Curated OER
The Social Skill of Communication
Fifth graders explore communication by analyzing manners. For this social skills lesson, 5th graders review the different forms of communication and how to present yourself in a phone conversation, face to face meeting, e-mail, etc....
Curated OER
Magical Creatures
Students investigate entertaining characters within stories. In this writing lesson, students review nouns and adjectives and discuss magical characters. Students ask themselves questions about their selected characters and write a...
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members explore...
Curated OER
Got the Whole World in My Hands
Students review factors that threaten survival of different species. this activity is part of a multi-segmented unit on animal survival.