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...
Curated OER
Reading Olympics
Celebrate the joy of reading with activities that center on having fun with books. The teacher creates a variety of "Reading Olympics" categories for the class to compete in, including who can find the longest word, or create the longest...
Curated OER
The Personal Narrative - Part One
Read to write! The class lists sensory details based on the plot of a story they have recently read. They create a drawing of a bracelet and use the bracelet's jewels or charms to list sensory details included in the story. They then use...
Curated OER
Structured Diamante Poem
Youngsters review nouns, adjectives and verbs. In this poetry lesson, readers choose a set of antonyms and create a list of synonyms, verbs and adjective for each. Students use the words to write a Diamante poem.
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Magic Squares Vocabulary Activity for Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
What are magic squares? First, review the activity with your class (there is a description available for you in the resource). Then, match terms from Ella Enchanted to their definitions. When your puzzle, or square, is finished, the...
Endangered Species Coalition
Endangered Species Day Art
Albrecht Durer created a highly textured stamp or print of a rhinoceros. To better understand which animals are near extinction, upper graders create similar prints of endangered animals they've researched. The six-day lesson includes...
Curated OER
Setting Details in Of Mice and Men
After completing John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, groups are assigned a chapter to reread. Members list major conflicts and events and quote setting details. They then make observations about how the setting prepares the reader for the...
Curated OER
Eating Up Idioms
Ah, food idioms! Now that sounds tasty. Class members read and discuss various food-related idioms, create an illustration of a food-related idiom, and develop a class book or bulletin board to celebrate figurative language and National...
Curated OER
Cooperative Group Spelling Game
Partners or groups work together to practice the correct spelling of words. They speed-cut letters from print sources and arrange them into correctly spelled words from their lists. Newspapers are suggested, but magazines might result in...
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Popping Problems!
Turn your math lesson into a carnival game with this fun, outdoor activity. After reviewing the concept your class will be practicing briefly, split your class up into teams and head outdoors. These teams work to solve math questions and...
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Weather
Sixth graders hear the book "Tornadoes" by Peter Murray, they use a hot list to research information on tornadoes. Then they create a group PowerPoint on the information they have gained on their research. They share these PowerPoint...
Curated OER
Sense and Sensibility Vocabulary Strategy: Desk Top Teaching
Amicably dispel “the prejudices of…young mind(s)” by exposing them to the language of Jane Austen. Readers of Sense and Sensibility use desk-top strategies to teach one another the vocabulary from this classic romance novel. The resource...
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...
Reed Novel Studies
Wolf Hollow: Novel Study
Annabelle, a young character in Wolf Hollow, discovers one bully can ruin everything when Betty walkes into her classroom. Betty bullies others and targets a war veteran. Individuals read how one person changed Annabelle's life. They...
Curated OER
Deutschland und die Europäische Union (Germany and the European Union)
Introduce your language students in German class to the European Union, including the historic developments, the current structure, and some of the political and social principles behind it with this lesson plan. In small groups,...
Curated OER
Creatasaurus
Upper elementary children still are intrigued by dinosaurs. Here is a dinosaur lesson that is geared toward their age group! The learners consider a list of prefixes and suffixes. Using the list, they can analyze the names of their...
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Elements of Poetry
Prepare your learners to identify figurative language in poetry. Tips for reading poetry and what to look for are listed on these slides. Rhetorical devices are defined and plenty of examples are given.
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The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Provided here is a packet of worksheets to accompany The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. To start, readers research words commonly associated with the time period. Then, a list of 30 tough vocabulary words are listed (including...
Teaching Tolerance
Collage of Concerns
A picture can speak louder than words. An interesting lesson introduces the themes of social justice and diversity to young learners by having them create artwork. Scholars create collages from a variety of sources to showcase what...
Curated OER
Trading Cards
Students create trading cards based on historical individuals that helped people with disabilities. In this disabilities lesson plan, students put the name, picture, description, and graphic on the card.
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Persuasive Writing -- Commercial Style
Students create persuasive TV commercials for common products. They develop a list of products, write the script for a commercial, and act-out and videotape the commercial to present to the class.
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The Mulch Mystery!
Fourth graders make a detailed observations about non-native and native grasses. They define reasonable policies that they expect to follow while working in the CRWA. Students list, in small groups, two treatments that have been used in...
Curated OER
Salmon in the Classroom
Students list the salmon life cycle stages in order. They draw a stream with the vegetation, animals, and water quality parameters that are necessary for salmon survival. Students explain the connection between animal morphology and...
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100 Famous Quotes
Students explore famous quotes from throughout history. In this multicultural literacy instructional activity, students work as a team to read and memorize a list of 100 quotes. Students participate in a game in which the first half of a...