Jessica Winston
The Biggest Valentine Ever
Combine hearts with minds in a reading comprehension activity with a Valentine's Day theme. Steven Kroll's The Biggest Valentine Ever, named one of the best books for kids in 2014, provides kids with an opportunity to practice their...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second...
Curated OER
Grade A: The Market for a Yale Woman's Eggs by Jessica Cohen
What would it be like to sell your eggs to a couple who can't have children on their own? Could you even imagine it? As most of us have never been in this position, this descriptive essay is really quite interesting. The reading itself...
Curated OER
Agriculture Awareness Through Poetry
Whether you are viewing a landscape painting of a farm, examining a still-life portrait of a bowl of fruit, or reading a descriptive poem about cultivating food, you can't deny that agriculture plays a major role in visual and language...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: History of the Periodic Table
Although the article that launches this lesson is about the history of the Periodic Table, the objective is reading comprehension. Using the eight-page informational text, learners answer five comprehension questions and craft one essay....
Curated OER
Story Impressions-Gary Paulsen's Canyons
What is a story impression? Learn about the strategy with the first page of this two-page resource. Before reaching chapters 21-24 in Canyons, readers use a list of words (taken from these chapters) to predict what is going to happen....
Curated OER
Leapin' Landmarks: Locating 10 man-made landmarks around the world
Third graders engage in a lesson plan which addresses their curiosity about some of the outstanding people-made landmarks of the world. They explore the geographical themes of location and place through literature.
Curated OER
Antonyms, synonyms and homophones
Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. In this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.
Curated OER
How Advertisers Persuade
This plan centers around the article "How Advertisers Persuade," although it is not included in the instructional activity itself. Get your class thinking about advertising, appeals, and techniques that companies use to get their...
Federal Reserve Bank
Cotton in My Sack
As part of a study of saving choices and opportunity costs, class members listen to a reading of Lois Lenski's Cotton in My Sack, and then evaluate the spending choices made by the Hutley family.
Curated OER
Dollars and Sense
Fourth graders read "Starting a Business" and answer the question: "How could you design an ad to let the community know about the business described in the story?" Then, they illustrate a written ad that could be posted in the...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 6-12
After watching the documentary Dark Water about a traditional Chumash ceremony and reading a Chumash origin story, viewers are asked to create a coat of arms and to craft an essay that details a family tradition or their own origin story.
Curated OER
What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Conforming?
Dive into Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and determine what it means to conform in society, and discuss as a group with the thoughts and plans available in these documents. Included are multiple activities and brain targets that form the...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Early American Poets
The poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the focus of a unit that asks readers to consider how an artist's life and changes in society influences his or her work. After careful study of Whitman's and Dickinson's perspectives on...
Curated OER
Hiroshima: Question Answer Response Strategy (QAR)
“The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable. . .” After reading “The Aftermath,” the final chapter of Hiroshima, class members use a Question Answer Response (QAR) strategy to reflect on issues raised...
Achievement Strategies
Unit/Chapter Design Template
A thorough lesson plan template allows teachers to design balanced and standards-based lessons for any grade. The template includes spaces for unit vocabulary and concepts, objectives, and additional resources.
Achievement Strategies
CCSS Unit Design Template for PE
From baseball and tennis to capture the flag and four-square, here is a great document that will help you design your next unit on a sport-related activity.
Classroom Adventures Program
Creating Characters
Examine character in depth. Over the course of these six lessons, learners explore their own character traits, determine the traits of characters in the books they read, practice comparing and contrasting, and collaborate in small...
Curated OER
Topical Discussions
Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...
Curated OER
Salmon Homing Instincts
Students study the conditions of salmon imprinting as the fish returns to spawn in its native waters. Scented cards are used to mimic the imprinting process as the student fishes search for and identify obstacles to reaching their native...
Curated OER
INVITING CANDIDATES TO CLASS
Learners explore the election process by researching politcal platforms, inviting candidates to speak, surveying registered voters, and running a mock election.
Curated OER
Digging Deep for Figurative Language (Hyperbole)
What are hyperboles? Examine the attributes of hyperboles with your high school classes. Pupils read selected poems and prose selections that feature hyperboles and discuss their functions in each work of literature. Specific poems and...
Curated OER
Brave New World: Biopoem
“Words can be like x-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything.” Readers of Brave New World will be pierced by an activity that asks them to use details from the text to craft a biopoem for one of the characters in Aldous...
Novelinks
The Devil’s Arithmetic: Anticipation Guide
Do you need to learn about someone's past before you can understand that person's behavior? Use an anticipation guide to think about the literary themes of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic before you begin the novel.