Curated OER
And The Oscar Goes To?
Third graders complete a graphic organizer to determine what a good story looks and sounds like. Using various forms and conventions, they determine which style to use for different audiences and purposes. They write their own story and...
Curated OER
"The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson
Middle schoolers who are about to read the chilling tale, The Lottery, do some writing beforehand. They are asked to write how their lives would change if they won a huge lottery jackpot. Then, they read the short story, and will be...
Curated OER
Berlioz the Bear
Young children read the story, Berlioz the Bear and complete various reading and writing activities. They learn about fiction and non-fiction, and complete graphing and writing activities for the story. Youngsters draw the bear and use...
Curated OER
You'd Better Shop Around
Students compare and contrast the prices of various food items at different grocery stores using newspaper advertisements. Students discuss the benefits and drawbacks of shopping around for items that fit within their monthly budget.
Curated OER
Rootbeer Writing
Students utilize IBC Rootbeer, to make introductions, bodies, and conclusions within the paper become more delightful.
Curated OER
Design - Lettering
Students, using the concepts of radial design and balance, create a project that focuses on craftsmanship, lettering, promoting a positive self-image, and design elements.
Curated OER
1st Grade - Act. 16: Dancing Mice
First graders creating mouse attached to a helium balloon, and dance around to the sound of some fun music.
Curated OER
Storytellers: Pearl Jam
Students examine the nature of their own generation by looking at current events and music styles. They update old lyrics with new ones that are more relevant to current times and express a truth about their own generation. Finally,...
Curated OER
Mitosis and Meiosis
Students model and differentiate between the processes of mitosis and meiosis. In partners, they use yarn and construction paper to create models for each of the phases of mitosis and meiosis then compare the chromosome numbers in each...
Curated OER
Super Words
Challenge your middle schoolers' critical thinking and spelling skills with this fun activity. Each question prompts learners to find a word that begins or ends with a certain letter and has a certain number of letters. You could use...
For the Teachers
Sequence Plot Chart
Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events.
Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at school...
Overcoming Obstacles
Pass It On!
Inspire teamwork in your classroom with a fun group activity. Peers pass a penny from the back of their hand to their classmate's hand, who passes it down the line, and see who wins the competition.
National First Ladies' Library
Trouble in Little Rock: The Desegregation of Central High School
Middle schoolers study one aspect of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; the battle over desegregating the public schools. They study the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by producing a newspaper,...
Curated OER
Immersion: Basic greetings
Hola, buenos dias! One method of language teaching requires the teacher to create an immersion classroom, meaning that no English is spoken. This plan shows how a teacher would go about modeling phrases to teach greetings and appropriate...
Curated OER
Why A Bill of Rights?
Examine conflicting viewpoints in this lesson, in which middle schoolers write their own proposal for including a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. As a class, they discover how the Bill of Rights was not a planned document to be...
PBS
Zip Line
Slide all the way to the bottom. Using the design process, pupils create a carrier for a ping pong ball that will travel down a zip line. Learners test their carriers and determine solutions to issues they encounter to complete the third...
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Curated OER
Phoneme Substitution, Harder (With Letters)
Emergent readers create new words by changing a phoneme, using sets of letter cards to spell out each CVC word. They begin by substituting initial sounds, then final sounds, and lastly the middle vowel. Help them sound out each word,...
Polar Trec
Mini-Ocean Bathymetric Mapping Research Cruise
Middle or high schoolers transform into oceanographers in a week-long simulation. To begin, each group follows directions to create a model of the ocean floor with specified features. Next, the groups prepare to set sail on a research...
Curated OER
Metrically Me!
Students define the parts of a database, search strategies to locate information electronically, create/modify databases, etc. and enter data into a prepared spreadsheet to perform calculations.
Curated OER
Retelling the African Folktale Abiyoyo
Act out the African folktale Abiyoyo. Kindergartners listen to the tale and discuss the characters, dressing as their favorite characters in order to retell and perform Abiyoyo using props. They will gain an understanding of...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Binary Basics
Back to the (binary) basics. The resource provides a simple overview of binary code and gives two different activities to introduce it to elementary and middle school learners. Classmates write and decode messages to each other in binary...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Cinquain Poem
A lesson challenges scholars to create a cinquain poem. Writers begin by choosing a topic and brainstorm details, then compose their original poem making sure to count syllables.