Curated OER
Writing Up a Spanish Storm: Using Creative Thinking for Creative Writing
Students in a Spanish class are introduced to the techniques of creative writing. In groups, they focus on the pre-writing section of creative writing and keep a folder of their works throughout the lesson. They end the lessons by...
Curated OER
Elements of Art iMovie
Students are introduced to how to use the iMovie software. Individually, they write down their personal beliefs and feelings to use in their movie. To end the lesson, they use the elements of design to develop and create their movie to...
Curated OER
Getting Ready to Become An Adult
Students participate in a problem solving activity and discuss how effective their solution was. In this getting ready to become an adult lesson, students read Ta-ne-e-ka and use guiding questions to address the relationships in...
Curated OER
Backwards Day
Students create ways to do things backwards. For this cross-curriculum lesson, students participate in various backwards activities for an entire day. Students recite the alphabet backwards, spell their names backwards, and read stories...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Platinum-Blond Man
Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...
Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
Smithsonian Institution
Water/Ways: The Poetry of Science
Water is the source of life. It appears in poetry in both peaceful and torrential descriptions; it appears in earth science in its liquid, gaseous, and solid states. Combine these interpretations of our planet's most precious and...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater with a Twist
Second graders create a Reader's Theater script. In this reader's theater activity, 2nd graders create their own script of a story in groups. They make props and act them out on FlipVideo and voice thread.
Curated OER
The Giving Tree
Learners investigate the virtue of kindness and giving by conducting a children's literature study of "The Giving Tree". They make a list of words to describe emotions in the story and write a journal daily while looking at the virtues...
Curated OER
Reading Partners
Students participate in several activities using a reading partner. They plan and organize reading meetings with their partner, and then review story elements by retelling the stories orally. The partners question each other and make...
Curated OER
Opportunity Cost
Students explore the concept of opportunity cost. Classmates discuss, orally and in writing, a time when they had to make a choice when all choices seemed worthwhile. They explore the impact of making decisions when resources are...
Curated OER
Using Comics to teach Habitat and the Balance of Nature
Students visit a specific online comics website to view a comic. They discuss the elements of the food chain that were seen in the story. They choose an inhabitant of the pond habitat that they have been reading about and do a research...
Curated OER
Under the Tongan Sun
Students read the story "Under the Tongan Sun" by Tina Martin. In groups, they use the text of the story to answer comprehension questions. They work together to identify the cultural differences between the United States and Tonga. To...
Curated OER
"The Selfish Crocodile"
Learners participate in various shared reading and writing activities related to the book "The Selfish Crocodile" by Faustin Charles. They identify descriptive words from the story, and write sentences describing how the crocodile...
Curated OER
Why Is Evolution Controversial?
Students explore why evolution has always been a controversial topic. They use scientific process to determine patterns and to critically analyze alternative explanations for natural phenomena.
Curated OER
View: Visual Inquiry/Experience in Writing
Students discuss the importance of having good observational skills. Using artifacts, they discuss what can and cannot be told about previous cultures. They use their observations to write a paper about the culture and use the internet...
Curated OER
All About Trees
Second graders examine the artwork of Robert Harris and discuss how trees are an important part of their lives. In groups, they discover how people's use of the environment has changed over time and describe the climate and vegetation...
Curated OER
Entrepreneur: Anita Roddick
Students discover how entrepreneurs make their living. As a class, they identify the characteristics of entrepreneurships and their attitudes. Using the internet, they research the life of Anita Roddick, who founded the Body Shop. They...
Curated OER
Hatchet: A 4th Grade Literacy Focus Unit
Fourth graders discuss the story "Hatchet" after the story is read. For this literacy lesson, 4th graders explore various habitats researching the characteristics about each, complete a Venn Diagram comparing their habitat with the...
Curated OER
"Raise the Red Lantern" by Su Tong
Pupils read and analyze the novella, "Raise the Red Lantern," by Su Tong. They compare/contrast the story with other works of literature, answer discussion questions, conduct research, and in small groups develop oral presentations.
Curated OER
Nike Transitions
Learners discuss the use of transitions in film and video using prior knowledge, a Nike film, and a teacher-created iMovie as examples. The lesson ends with the creation of student iMovies using transitions.
Curated OER
Time-Out
Students watch the Time-Out Shrot, "Martin's Dad's Story" They work in groups to plan a Jerry Springer type of talk show. Students prepare a summary that can be read at the end of their "show" including a summary of what ha happened, the...
Curated OER
The Hazardous Waste Dilemma
Students discuss the characteristics of a hazardous waste site and how they can cause health problems to humans. In groups, they research the various ways to deal with the hazardous materials and read recent articles on the subject. To...
Curated OER
Jewel of the Mississippi Delta
Students develop their own website to show the information they gathered about the Mound Bayou on the Mississippi Delta. After taking a field trip to the area, they create their own coloring books, stories and games to share the history...