Curated OER
For the Fun of It
Middle schoolers investigate author's purpose in autobiography by reading Amelia Earhart's autobiography entitled The Fun of It. Students examine character traits needed to fulfill personal goals.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams
Students study the biography and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. They learn how the author used autobiographical elements in writing his stories and they try a hand at writing a Fitzgerald-style story with autobiographical elements of their...
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Colors of Gray
Students view a film about theatres in Chicago. They discover how performing arts can be enjoyed by all ages and how one becomes involved in performing in theatre. They answer questions and discuss to end the lesson.
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"
Young scholars explore nature by reading stories in class. For this animal characteristics lesson, students read the story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," by Rudyard Kipling and identify the different animals mentioned in the book. Young scholars...
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"Spelldown" by Becky Mushko
Learners read Spelldown, by Becky Mushko and consider how it portrays the Appalachian community. They define and discuss vocabulary presented in the story and write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing two of the story's characters. The...
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Making Choices
Pupils explore the life of Harriet Tubman. They examine a painting of Harriet Tubman and consider the tools used to communicate information about her. Sudents describe how the color of a painting explains the mood of the illustrator....
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Happy Birthday Hans: How To Celebrate International Children's Book Day
Honor Hans Christian Andersen while encouraging young readers with enjoyable projects and activities.
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Stephen Crane: The Open Boat
Students explore the genre of American literary naturalism by reading,"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane. They examine the relationship of man and nature through analysis of the characters, narration and descriptive vocabulary.
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Tennessee Williams: Exploring the American Dream
Students read and analyze selections of Tennessee Williams' work. They write journal responses, conduct Internet research, perform various scenes from one of Williams' dramas, and create a presentation.
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Jorge Luis Borges and His Life
Students use the internet to research the life of Jorge Luis Borges. Individually, they complete a worksheet noting the important facts from his life and the books he published. They identify words they do not know the meaning and...
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Creative Content through Comics
Students identify the different parts of a comic strip and creat their own about the French and Indian War period. They share their comics with the class. They can compile them into a newspaper format if they choose.
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Bronte and Rhys' Portrayal of Bertha
Students, while reading and discussing the two texts by Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys, compare/contrast the two main characters and juxtapose them as the same character told from two different points of view. They gain insight of how to...
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Cooperative Learning Groups
Young scholars become experts on various topics, researching their topics and creating presentations to teach to the rest of the class. They are grouped into expert groups, or discovery groups, then compare/contrast the information...
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A Summer Reading List for Math Teachers
Teachers can read through these math-related books for pure enjoyment.
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Straight to the Source
Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...
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Exploring Animals in Literature
Celebrate Be Kind to Animals Week while teaching empathy and allegory with creature-related texts
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New Picture Books to Complement Your Curriculum
These picture books are for primary learners and older students alike.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Military Conscription in World War I: Alabamians Express Their Opinions
If called, would you go? Should the US government have the power to impose a draft during any war? The Selective Service Act of 1917 (aka the Conscription Act of 1917) authorized the drafting of men into the military for only the...
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Edgar Allan Poe Short Story WebQuest
Introduce your class to Edgar Allan Poe with a series of mostly self-guided tasks and assignments. Class members follow the list of tasks, starting by watching a video with background information and ending with a compare-and-contrast...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
A Cry for Help in Alabama - 1934
What should be the role of the federal government during an economic crisis? That is the question at the center of this introduction to a study of the New Deal. Class members examine letters to the state government asking for help,...
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After the American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North
Eleventh graders explore how one-third of Patriot soldiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill were African Americans Census data also reveal that there were slaves and free Blacks living in the Nort
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Build a Connection
Learners discuss their personal connections with stories they've read in the past and identify techniques to connect with more stories. They create illustrations, construct task cards, and complete sentence stems based on books they read...
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Langston Hughes
Third graders listen to the poetry of Langston Hughes using Websites. They keep notes which they may use on the assessment.