Curated OER
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
A thorough lesson introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid,"...
Curated OER
The Prairie Dog That Met the President
Students study the history of jazz music. They listen to various examples of jazz music and complete a worksheet in which they must identify the individual instruments they hear and identify characteristics of the genre of jazz music.
Curated OER
And You Don't Stop-30 Years of Hip-hop
High schoolers identify the musical genre of Hip-Hop and make a connection with other styles of music. A time line of musical styles is developed and discussed.
Curated OER
Science Meets Artistry: the Work of Cai Guo-Qiang
Students discuss and examine the work of artist Cai Guo-Qiang. In this art instructional activity, students analyze how cultural and historical factors impact the visual arts.
Curated OER
Integrating Anime and Manga into an Art of Motion Picture Course
Students examine the art of Anime and note its characteristics. Using scenes, they identify the plots, characters and themes trying to be portrayed. In groups, they compare and contrast the animation in America to that of Anime and...
Midwest Clinic
Latin Rhythms: Mystery Unraveled
There is an indescrible energy to Latin American music—but if you know your music theory, it's not so indescrible after all. A thorough packet provides definitions for terms like bolero, charanga, shekere, and tumbao before listing...
Curated OER
Text Elements—Vampires
Students explore the tone and style of passages from horror genre literature. In this literary elements lesson, students read The Vampire by John Stagg and the War of the World script by H.G. Wells, Students write about the way the...
Curated OER
American Colonists Protest Song
Middle schoolers explore the role of protest songs. In this early American history lesson, students research the acts passed by the British that angered colonists. Middle schoolers then listen to protest songs from contemporary American...
Curated OER
The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
Curated OER
Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
Learners identify the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat." In this naturalism analysis lesson plan, students identify characteristics of...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
The Lion and More
Melody, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics; get out those recorders it's time to play music! Your class will work on playing two lion-themed pieces that exemplify two different styles, folk and waltz. They'll discuss the elements of music and...
Curated OER
Gospel Beginnings - Lesson 1
Students identify genres of music that influenced musical style of Aretha Franklin. They identify musical characteristics of gospel and sing a gospel selection. They pay particular attention to the call and response style.
Curated OER
Write a Myth
Students explore myths in ancient times. In this mythology lesson, students read or view a video production of a myth to determine specific characteristics of myths. Students work in groups to write a myth that explains an...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby
Young scholars read "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In groups, they research the events and spirit of the 1920s and relate events in the novel to actual historical events. They compare the characteristics of various genres and...
Curated OER
How Tragic!
Young scholars study and interpret a classical tragedy and role play a character from the play. In this tragedy lesson, students discuss a specific work to discover the form, structure, and characteristics of the genre and...
Curated OER
Design a Book Jacket
Students analyze the book jackets of books and then design one based on the typical characteristics of book jackets.
Curated OER
Narrative Poetry
Sixth graders explore narrative poetry. In this language arts lesson, 6th graders create a group story. Students discuss the characteristics of narrative poetry and use a story elements checklist to determine which poems are narrative...
Curated OER
Gandhi's Voice: Writing as Nonviolent Resistance
Ninth graders identify how Mahatma Gandhi used writing as a means of nonviolent communication. For this nonviolent resistance lesson, 9th graders watch a film about Gandhi as a writer and identify characteristics of nonviolent activism....
Curated OER
Historical Period
Students identify and describe ways in which life was different in the time historical period of Rosa Parks. In this historical time period lesson plan, students explain that one characteristic of a biography is that it takes place in a...
Curated OER
Realistic Fiction
Explore the characteristics of realistic fiction by reading and then analyzing the book, Allie’s Basketball Dream by Barbara E. Barber. Using the I do, we do, you do model, learners practice identifying realistic fiction...
Curated OER
From George to Martha: Writing a Sonnet Using Primary Sources
What was the relationship like between George and Martha Washington? To protect their privacy, Martha Washington destroyed all her husband’s letters after his death so historians have little evidence of their lives together. Two letters...
Curated OER
Music from Across America
Students complete a unit of lessons on a variety of types of American music. They record their impressions of music samples on a worksheet, identify types of instruments, and choose a musical selection for their family to respond to.
Curated OER
Learning the Blues
Young scholars take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes...
Curated OER
Multicultural Music: Israel
Do a grapevine to the left, lift your hands in the air, and sing out, "Hey!" These are the steps second graders will do when they sing and dance the Israeli folk song, "Achshav.” They will explore the concept of multicultural music...