Prestwick House
The Sign of the Beaver Student Response Journal
Discuss the themes and events of Elizabeth George Speare's The Sign of the Beaver with a collection of journal topics. Each chapter contains two or three questions for kids to consider and write about, for a total of 24 questions.
Curated OER
Thanksgiving Writing Prompts to Kick-off the Holiday Season
Writing prompts, classroom warm-ups, and even research starters focused on the Thanksgiving holiday.
Facing History and Ourselves
A Scene from a Middle School Classroom
Citizens in the modern world can't imagine making the same social choices made by many Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, but they don't realize that they actually do it every day by ostracizing others. A case study of middle schoolers...
Nemours KidsHealth
Screen Time: Grades 6-8
How much screen time is too much screen time? Even before COVID, tweens were spending hours watching TV, playing video games, and connecting with their friends by smartphone and computers. Two activities from Kids Health get young...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Finding the Positive
To instill the importance of a positive classroom community small groups create a collage out of magazine clippings that highlight three characteristics of self-awareness. Written examples accompany the finished product. Groups turn in...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: The Economic Paradox
It's a classic conundrum of economics: voters want jobs, but don't want to spend the money required for businesses to hire. This political cartoon analysis worksheet has students analyzing this enigma and responding to 3 talking points...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Who Drew it Best?
Assess the Cash for Clunkers program with your scholars through 3 political cartoons, which they will analyze to determine who drew it best. Background information helps pupils gain context to assess the cartoons, and 3 talking points...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is the focus of an 11-page packet that includes three lesson plans, three worksheets, and a homework assignment. The first lesson introduces readers to the historical context of the novel. At the same time,...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
An 11-page packet contains three activities designed for readers of Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience. In one exercise, groups debate whether Thoreau would today be considered liberal or conservative. For another,...
Curated OER
It Matters to Me: Iowa quarter reverse
What matters to your pupils? What values do they hold dear and how does that shape your classroom community? These are some the questions you'll get your class thinking about when they engage in this lesson from the US Mint. They will...
Curated OER
Talking with the Author
Encourage your class to interact with complex texts through dialectical journal writing.
Curated OER
Reaching Students through Literacy Centers
Continue the celebration of literacy this month by integrating reading centers into the classroom.
Curated OER
Making Lewis and Clark's Journals Come Alive
Learners are presented daily excerpts from Lewis and Clark's experiences. The dates and activities are tracked on a classroom map.
Schools United to Provide Enhanced Resources Network
AP English Project: Journal of Literary Terms and Devices
To prepare for the AP English exams, individuals are asked to create a notebook of literary terms and devices. The terms must be defined, accompanied by representative artwork, and illustrated by an example drawn for a named source. A...
Facing History and Ourselves
Defining Human Rights
Eleanor Roosevelt leads the drive to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To begin a study of universal rights, class members create a definition of a right and compare it to the 1947 version. They then investigate Eleanor's...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
Journal Writing
Students investigate the life of Martha Wayles Jefferson. In this American history lesson, students examine excerpts of the journals kept by Thomas Jefferson's wife. Students infer what life at Monticello may have been like. Students...
Curated OER
Celebrating Halloween through Language and Literature
Use the theme of Halloween to spice up campfire stories, journal writing, and presentations in your classroom.
Curated OER
Little Black Book
Young artists construct and create a journal. They develop the book using black construction paper, acrylic paint, glue, and tape. The art lessons from this source are among the best I've seen. The products produced by the students are...
Curated OER
The 4th of July Inspires Reflection and Creativity
Watch the fireworks go off in your learner's minds as you creatively bring the 4th of July into your classroom
Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: What Teacher Do You Appreciate?
This online resource is composed of a writing sample about teacher appreciation and a writing prompt for learners. You could use this as an in-class journal activity or you could have class members post their responses on the New York...
Teaching Tolerance
Poetry and Storytelling Café
Academics take turns as actors in an engaging poetry cafe. Elementary learners work in small groups to create original poems or stories addressing community issues and read their work in front of a live audience. Scholars also reflect...
University of Oklahoma
Learning About Special Education
The lessons in the second unit in a three-unit series provide students with the historical background of disability education. After reading about events that impacted attitudes towards disabilities and how learners are identified for...