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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using a Matrix to Compare, Contrast, and Analyze Connections

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. In this literature analysis lesson, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Students...
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Activity
2
2
Dr. Seuss Enterprises

Dr. Seuss in the Classroom

For Teachers 6th Standards
Explore the works of Dr. Seuss, such as Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches and Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. Each story lesson includes reading...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Themes Frame: A Historian's Tool

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners research the scientific, economic, and cultural themes that connect Paleolithic and Neolithic inhabitants. They complete Paleolithic and Neolithic Theme Frames, comparing/contrasting the two cultures in an essay or Venn diagram.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Common Theme in Folktale: 900 Versions of Cinderella

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine various stories that have a Cinderella theme.  In this Language Arts lesson, 7th graders compare and contrast stories.  Students write various journal assignments in regards to the stories. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Compare and Contrast the French Cinderella with Other Cultural Versions

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Learners first compare and contrast the traditional French Cinderella with Cinderella stories from around the world as well as the opera synopsis. Students write their own Cinderella stories, personalizing them with aspects from their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hooray for Birds!

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Students explore the theme of birds through both indoor and outdoor activities. In this bird studies lesson, students go bird watching and compare the types of birds seen. They also study bird calls, bird environments, and bird pictures...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Narrative Writing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students create new sentences using adverb clauses identified from a book.  In this narrative writing lesson, students write new sentences from some of the dependent clauses used in a book read to them by the teacher.  Students put the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Graphing and Analyzing Biome Data

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore biome data. In this world geography and weather data analysis lesson, students record data about weather conditions in North Carolina, Las Vegas, and Brazil. Students convert Fahrenheit degrees to Celsius degrees and use...
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Lesson Plan
Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Elements of Music—How do Composers Plan?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

I Need A (Super)Hero: Literary Elements And Narrative Writing

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Need a hero? Super! Groups create their modern-day marvel and craft a narrative with all the elements required in such a tale.
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Lesson Plan
Hampton-Brown

Esperanza Rising

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Accompany a reading of the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, with a series of lessons that dive deep into the literary world of a young girl and the journey she takes to start a new life. Lessons and their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drama from Animal Characters

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Learn about animal habitats, characteristics, and writing in a different perspective. The class composes a narrative from the perspective of a fresh water animal, they include a problem and the animal's reaction to the problem. The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Debate

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Groups of learners investigate the persuasive genre of writing as they research and present on an issue. They research the Internet (possible websites are included) for a topic and locate information to present to the opposing team. In...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Helpful Animals and Compassionate Humans in Folklore

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students define elements of stories from around the world that include helpful animals. They explore animal character motivations and use graphic organizers to compare and contrast animal stories from different cultures.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Born on a Mountaintop? Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compare and contrast the details from the life of the real David Crockett and the legendary folk hero he later became. They identify the characteristics of a tall tale and follow a rubric to create a tall tale of their own.
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eBook
Library of Congress

A Selection of Stories from The Æsop for Children

For Students K - 8th Standards
Read and incorporate a variety of Aesop's Fables into a fable genre study with an eBook produced by the Library of Congress. The interactive eBook contains 146 fables written by Aesop and includes colorful interactive illustrations by...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing the 1945 Vietnam Declaration of Independence and Constitution of 1992 with the United States Declaration of Independence and Constitution

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students compare and contrast the Vietnamese and American plans for government. In this government systems instructional activity, students analyze and compare excerpts of the 1945 Vietnam Declaration of Independence, the Vietnam...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pain and suffering do not have to be inevitable in a study of Crime and Punishment. A carefully scaffolded lesson plan introduces readers to the divided natures of the characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's complex novel. Groups use the...
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Activity
Infobased Learning

Bloom's Literature: How to Write about Nineteen Eighty Four

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
A good prompt is hard to find, especially ones that encourage application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of a text. Help is here in the form of a prompt list for George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four that offers essay topics that...
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Lesson Plan
August House

The Clever Monkey Rides Again

For Teachers 1st - 2nd Standards
Use a West African folktale to practice several different skills in your first grade classroom. Learners read The Clever Monkey Rides Again and focus on rhyming words, reading comprehension, measurement, art, movement, and word order.
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Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Myself and Others

For Teachers K
Self reflection is an important skill to reinforce in our children, and it's especially helpful to help them realize who they are in the context of their environment. A collection of lessons about self image and community encourage...
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Activity
1
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Pearl Harbor Activity #7: Pop Up Video Activity

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A pop-up video version of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech engages scholars in depending their understanding of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After watching the video, class members select five new things that they learned and research how...
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Is it possible to have too much concern for others? Can we be trapped by our expectations as well as those of society? Edith Wharton's chilling tale of Ethan Frome asks these and other disquieting questions. Signet's guide to Ethan Frome...