Curated OER
"Killing Chickens" by Meredith Hall
After reading the essay "Killing Chickens" by Meredith Hall, provide your class with these thoughtful questions. After answering the four questions listed, your writers attempt to write their own descriptive essay. Challenge them to...
Virginia Department of Education
Creating Thesis Sentences
Growing writers explore what it takes to develop and support a thesis statement with pre-fabricated ideas provided by the Virginia Department of Education. Learners take notes on what makes a thesis statement and a topic sentence, and...
EngageNY
Illustrating: Geography Icon
For the final step of the performance task for this unit, class members will create an illustration to go with the paragraph on their bookmark. After looking at models, guide pupils toward recognizing the criteria for an effective...
Curated OER
"Champion of the World"
“Champion of the World,” a chapter from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is the subject of a study guide that asks readers to consider the author’s purpose, the function of the chapter in the entire narrative, and...
Curated OER
Arctic Writing
Fifth graders analyze photographs in order to write descriptively. In this descriptive writing instructional activity, 5th graders use the Internet to research and view photographs of the arctic. Students use descriptive...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Gargoyles Galore
Grrrrr, gargoyles are on the loose! Young artists are familiarized with the history of gargoyles, examine pictures of them, and hear a story about them. Then, they draw a gargoyle and write down exactly how they did it (procedural...
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...
Curated OER
Conejito
Third graders read the story "Conejito" and write a descriptive story about the rainforest in Panama. They answer story comprehension questions, complete worksheet questions about a map of Panama, and rewrite a paragraph changing the...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Photograph Art
Take a trip down Pearblossom Highway with this lesson about comparing and contrasting. Using David Hockney's Pearblossom Hwy and another image of the same highway (photograph or other image), young scholars compare and contrast the two...
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how to...
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Japan Society
Changing Times, Changing Styles: New Japanese Literary Styles of the Late Nineteenth Century
Focusing on Doppo's "Unforgettable People" and late nineteenth century Japanese literature, this resource also leads to discussions of form being dictated by content. Explore the development of new literary styles first-hand by...
Curated OER
Current Events Rubric
Here is a rubric that can be used for your next current event assignment. It details what should be included in each paragraph of the event description and analysis, as well as other requirements for work habits and presentation.
Have Fun Teaching
Where Am I? (15)
Guess the setting in a series of reading passages that allow learners to make inferences. Five short descriptions prompt kids to match one of four settings, based on context clues.
Curated OER
Kip Pix Studio Deluxe
After reading The Sign of the Beaver, learners utilize Kid Pix Studio Deluxe to draw a picture from one scene in the story. They also compose a description to accompany their scene. A minimum of two paragraphs must be written, using at...
Curated OER
Advanced Practical Writing
Using a motivating topic as the focus, this activity has learners write an email as though they are describing their new house. English language learners read an example letter, and then practice their own writing skills by writing a...
Curated OER
Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students
What is a KWL chart? Here is a well thought-out lesson that has learners use KWL charts to gain historical perspective. Your class examines primary sources about historical events and identifies what they know, want to know, and,...
Curated OER
Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...
Curated OER
Convince that Jury (Inspired by Roald Dahl's
What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," students write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...
Curated OER
Order! Order!
Polish organization skills in your youngsters. With this lesson, they are introduced to the trait of organization and participate in activities that reinforce organization. They cut apart a familiar story, receive different...
abcteach
Community Walk
Invite your pupils to explore their surroundings with a walk around the neighborhood. Learners use their senses to make observations about their surroundings.
Curated OER
Modern Drama
Upper graders can read all about the origins of modern drama. Each slide provides a paragraph of information related to key players, art movements, and time periods that shaped modern drama. It relates well to many aspects of literature...
Curated OER
1984 by George Orwell
Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four engage in a close reading exercise that directs their focus to the key details Orwell provides in the opening paragraphs to introduce his dystopian society. The included worksheeet is divided into three...
Practical Pages
Famous Artists Lapbook
Create mini books with some of the most beautiful and well-known masterpieces of our time. Learners read short paragraphs about famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and Johannes Vermeer, and create different kinds of...