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
We Are Family
Students explore art and stories that depict families in different cultures. They examine how family members help each other, create traditions, have fun and change or grow. They describe their own families and create a class family...
Curated OER
Star Wars: Modernity and the Timelessness of Myth
Students explore myths through the study of multiple texts. Students use James Joyce's "Ulysses," the film "Star Wars," various Greek and Biblical myths to inform a guided discussion of myths and the common themes in these texts.
Curated OER
Catalog Display for the Novel : The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Carlson
Fourth graders explain the novel through creative descriptions, learn importance of word choice in descriptive writing, and implement technology skills of searching the Internet, typing, cutting and pasting, graphic designs, and...
Denver Art Museum
My Animal Symbol
Here is an art lesson plan that combines visual arts and language arts into one very nice package. In it, youngsters study a fascinating painting called Painting of Bear and Sun Dances. They begin to understand the importance of...
Curated OER
Abuela's Weave Teacher's Guide
Students read and response to the book, Abuela's Weave. In this African-American literature lesson, students discuss pre-reading questions, that focus on family traditions and make predictions about the text. Students read the text and...
Curated OER
Greeting Cards
Learners create greeting cards. They listen to verses from various cards and evaluate each one. They research websites of greeting card makers and complete a chart. They discuss themes and ideas in greeting cards and edit their free...
Curated OER
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison: Quiz
In this Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison worksheet, students answer fifteen multiple choice questions about plot, characters, and theme as well as identify quotations.
Curated OER
Treaties
Students talk about making promises. In this family life lesson, students listen to the story A Promise is a Promise by Robert Munsch and talk about what a promise is. This is part of a unit on how families take care of each other.
Curated OER
Women in India: Tradition vs. Modernity
Students explore cultural aspects such as gender roles and their impact on Indian culture and compare and contrast issues associated with those roles in America through literature.
Curated OER
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Learners examine the breaking out of traditional gender roles in this story by Avi Wortis, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Gender limitations are explored in this instructional activity.
Curated OER
Christmas Makes Me Think
Third graders discover that Christmas is a time for giving and sharing. In this Christmas spirit lesson, 3rd graders read a book about a child who is excited about Christmas trees and presents, but comes to realize that Christmas is...
Curated OER
Medieval Coat of Arms/Heraldry
Students examine the history of Heraldry from medieval times in preparation for reading the novel "Freak the Mighty." They view and discuss examples of shields and discuss the color system and how shields were divided. As a culminating...
Curated OER
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: The Novel as Historical Source
Students examine historical fiction as historical sources. In this historical fiction lesson, students analyze excerpts from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as well as Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in order...
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Heroes
Three creative activities follow reading a fiction and nonfiction book about heroes. Scholars build hero action figures out of clay for make-believe play, explain in written form how they show bravery, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness,...
Lee & Low Books
First Come the Zebra Teacher’s Guide
Accompany a reading of First Come the Zebra written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch with a teacher's guide equipped with before reading, vocabulary, and after reading activities. Additional social studies, science, music, art, math, and...
Curated OER
Grandparents Are Grand
Students to interview their grandparents. It uses the book, "Just Grandma and Me." students brainstorm and select the questions they each ask their grandparents.
Curated OER
Picturing Family History
Tenth graders interview their parents for a sense of place. They use the information received to write a poem.
Curated OER
Animal Farm
Students work together in small groups to share their knowledge about apartheid in South Africa. They research the role of women in both traditional and contemporary African societies. They focus on such topics as employment, family, and...
Curated OER
Posting Personal Testimonies on the Web
Students read literature based on family heroes. They discuss the concepts of friendship, loyalty and death. They write their own stories of courage and post them to a webpage.
Curated OER
Author Study
Sixth graders complete a research paper on an author of their choice. After selecting an author of interest, 6th graders use internet and traditional resources to gather information from at various sources. They use their information to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Burying Addie's Voice
Students explore the use of voice and title in William Faulkner's, "As I Lay Dying". They identify and discuss the use of image, symbols and narrative voice in the story.
Curated OER
Elizabeti's Series--Classroom Guide
Second graders explore the books in the Elizabeti Series. In this reading comprehension activity, young readers discuss pre-reading focus questions about their feelings on the first day of school. They investigate the book and describe...
Curated OER
Literature and Art Through Our Eyes: African-American Artists
Examine the contributions of African-Americans in the worlds of art and literature. Over the course of a few days, young scholars will read and analyze a poem, a short story, and a piece of art. They complete a range of...