Curated OER
Recycling
Learners read or listen to a story, and discuss how it relates to them. In this personal event writing activity, students write about recycling. Learners read "The Giving Tree" a Shel Silverstein poem and discuss the poem's meaning....
Alabama Learning Exchange
Our Solar System
Second graders research the Solar System using the Internet to complete questions. They sing The Planet Song and study the names of the planets using an acrostic poem. They write descriptive paragraphs with a partner with whom they check...
Curated OER
Getting our Paws into the Cause
Twelfth graders examine local, state, and/or national animal welfare organization. In this Social Studies instructional activity, 12th graders research their identified organization. Students develop a planned intervention strategy to...
Curated OER
A Walk Through the Past: A Grave Undertaking
Students explore how historians construct a story out of fragments of the past; a discussion of nineteenth century poetry and art leads students to connect art and literature to their place in time.
Curated OER
Dealing With Death
Students watch and analyze a video dealing with the topic of death. They answer discussion questions, identify examples of how death is represented in popular media, write a poem, create a memory book, and write a letter to someone who...
Curated OER
The Apprentice: A Study of Business and Technical Writing
Middle schoolers explore business practices by creating a portfolio in class. In this business writing lesson, students identify the causes for a businesses success and failure before deciding on a business they would like to create....
Curated OER
Analytical Essay
What is an analytical essay? Introduce this type of thinking to your young writers. First, discuss what it means to analyze something. Then, identify the different components of an essay and what details are embedded in each component....
Curated OER
Picturing Shakespeare: Creating Illuminated Texts
Students experiment with illuminating important text. For this fictional literature lesson, students research Shakespearean sonnets. Students identify key elements of the sonnets, and examine the relationship between illuminated text...
Curated OER
Writing: Narrative, Expository, Persuasive, and Descriptive
If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...
Prestwick House
Wuthering Heights
How many ways can you break down a classic novel? Based on the acclaimed Romantic-period novel by Emily Bronte, the Wuthering Heights activity pack includes a pre-reading exercise. Next, learners create a resume for one of the...
Curated OER
"My Friend's Got This Problem, Mr. Chandler," by Mel Glenn
Young scholars read, "My Friend's Got This Problem, Mr. Chandler," discuss it and write a response to one of the poems.
Curated OER
Honoring Our Veterans Through Poetry Prewriting
Students learn about the origins of holidays and cultural practices in the United States
Curated OER
Similes, Metaphors, and Personification
Eighth graders explore figurative language, specifically focusing on similes, metaphors and personification. They work on the web to identify poems that demonstrate simile, metaphor, and personification, then analyze how it enhances...
Curated OER
A Hodgepodge of Literature
Students complete multiple lessons to study various literature including poetry, fiction, tall tales, and phrases. In this literature lesson, students complete six lessons about poetry, fiction, and idioms.
Curated OER
Deciphering Community
Students explore the concept of a community. They identify and group various kinds of communities. Students create a concept map exemplifying their membership in different communities. They write a narrative describing their...
Curated OER
Enrichment Activities - "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"
Fifth graders read the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." They discuss the various characters in the book, and the different types of conflict that take place within the book. They also research owls and rats to make comparisons...
Curated OER
You Are What You Read
Sixth graders select a prose, poetry, or nonfiction excerpt from a book of their choice and share it by reading aloud to their classmates, who identify the genre and respond to related questions in their journals.
Curated OER
Brillant, Beautiful Bats!
Students use the internet to gather information on bats. They write their own bat poem and describe the differences between the parts of a bat's body. They identify how bats are important to humans and how they control the insect...
Curated OER
Science: Suddenly Snow
Students engage in snow-related activities during the first winter snowfall. After explaining the elements needed for it to snow, they preserve snowflakes on frozen slides and observe them under a microscope. Then, they write diamante...
Curated OER
On a Hunt for Simple Machines
Fifth graders identify six simple machines. They brainstorm types of machines and complete a KWL chart. Students observe and explain six simple machines found in the classroom and in their home. They share their list with the class.
Curated OER
Over the Rainbow with Isaac Newton
Second graders study rainbows and do an interdisciplinary assignment that includes poetry and a science experiment.
Curated OER
The Foods We Eat: Towards a Balanced Diet
Learners list at least 10 different food items grown/produced in their community, identify what each food item contains and make a list of different food items which constitute a balanced diet. They bring in food samples and write food...
Curated OER
There Is No Away
Students identify how trash is disposed of. In this environmental lesson, students read and discuss the poem "Sarah Sylvia Stout" by Shel Silverstein and discuss the ways people treated the items in the poem. Students discuss how trash...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust (High School)
Fourth graders read Hesse's "Out of the Dust". They respond to questions about the novel and write a free-verse poem modeled after the author's.