Valhalla Free Union School District
End of the Year Writing Portfolio Project
Ask class members to reflect on their year-long writing experience by creating a portfolio of their work. Here's a resource that details what should be included in such a portfolio, and provides a rubric that can be used to assess...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
We Can Work It Out: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 7)
Listen, look, speak, and move are the routine steps of the English language development lessons found in a We Can Work It Out themed unit. Language proficiency is reinforced through picture cards, poems, and grand discussions about...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to the Works of Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson tackles challenging topics for teens. An educator's guide shares activities for many of her novels such as Prom, Shout, and Wintergirls. Questions, perfect to use as either discussion or as essay prompts, accompany...
EngageNY
Volume of Composite Solids
Take finding volume of 3-D figures to the next level. In the 22nd lesson plan of the series, learners find the volume of composite solids. The lesson plan the asks them to deconstruct the composites into familiar figures and use volume...
US Department of State
Reader's Theater: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The opening chapters of Mark Twain's masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, can be daunting for some readers. A reader's theater assignment divides the second chapter of the novel into a seven-role script, allowing...
EngageNY
Making a Claim: Moon Shadow’s Point of View of the Immediate Aftermath
Body paragraphs are the building blocks of every essay. Pupils view and discuss a model essay using a rubric to evaluate one of its supporting paragraphs. Next, scholars use what they've learned to continue drafting their own literary...
Curated OER
Parts of a Friendly Letter
The art of writing a letter has not been lost to email and texting! Teach kids how to format a friendly letter with a presentation about the parts of a letter, as well as prompting them to write a letter about their favorite holiday.
Curated OER
Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban: KWHL Strategy
J.K. Rowling's world of wizards and magic focuses on some topics that relate to our own society, especially in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Have kids complete a KWHL chart (what they know, what they want to know, how...
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Problematic Situation
To prepare for a reading of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, kids must prioritize a list of items to take with them on a journey to Texas.
EngageNY
Point of View: Comparing Esperanza's and Isabel's Perspectives About Life in the Camp (Chapter 7: "Las Cebollas/Onions")
Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Parts of Speech Verbs: Building Blocks of Grammar
Pupils begin with a brain teaser, take notes, and formatively check understanding with a Chinese proverb. In addition to parts of speech, the resource also includes information about parts of a sentence. Teachers may extend instruction...
Art Institute of Chicago
Act It Out
Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...
Curated OER
Medieval and Renaissance Art at the Art Institute
Students examine several Medieval and Renaissance works of art, including painting and sculpture, at the Art Institute of Chicago. They use worksheets and discussion questions to enhance their interpretation of the pieces.
Creative Competitions, Inc.
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Fantastic Fairy Tale
Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...
Curated OER
Lesson: Younger Than Jesus: Understanding, Looking at, Making Abstract Art
Before the class makes abstract art, they see contemporary examples and analyze them. They look at art made by abstract artists under the age of 33 then use similar techniques to create an interesting collection of their own. The lesson...
Curated OER
Creating a Newspaper
Get the scoop with a fun, engaging newspaper project. After analyzing the parts of a newspaper, including the headline, subtitles, and pictures or images, young journalists get to work by writing their own stories in a newspaper article...
Ford's Theatre
How Perspective Shapes Understanding of History
The Boston Massacre may be an iconic event in American history, but perhaps the British soldiers had another point of view. Using primary sources, including reports from Boston newspapers and secondary sources from the British...
Northern Nevada Council for the Social Studies
What Are the Origins and Influences of Rap Music?
Considered an American art form, rap has its roots in places from Jamaica to the Bronx. Using a series of readings, comprehension questions, and videos, scholars explore the history of rap and its connections to the African diaspora....
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
EngageNY
Reading Closely and Introducing Rhetoric Toolbox: Unions as Agents of Change—Part 1
Scholars explore the question of whether labor unions are the agents of change as they continue reading César Chávez's 1984 speech, "Address to the Commonwealth Club of California." They discuss rhetoric in Chávez's speech and discover...
Prestwick House
Poe’s “The Raven” – Unity of Effect
How do Poe's choices of imagery, rhythm and rhyme scheme, and structure help build the desired single effect of "The Raven"? After listening to a dramatic reading of the poem, class members consider whether Poe's choices do...
Curated OER
Autobiographical Art
Students explore how one artist portrays her own experiences and interests through her art. Students then choose themes in their own lives and create works of art inspired by those themes.
Curated OER
Let's Talk About Painting
Discuss art and read Matthew's Dream. For this visual arts lesson, students recognize that there are different styles of art, each with its own techniques. Use simple techniques to understand art and work at stations to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Wangechi Mutu
Social issues of gender and media stereotypes, begins with a multi-sensory experience. Learners view the painting Backlash Blues and make critical comments based on what they see. They then read the Langston Hughes poem and listen to the...