Curated OER
Defining Character Traits
Students read and analyze an extended definition in preparation for writing an extended definition of a CHARACTER TRAIT. They use analogy as a definition strategy to tailor writing to a particular audience. Finally, students SHARE...
Curated OER
Humpty Dumpty: The Whole Story
Fifth graders analyze a nursery rhyme to explore the writing process. In this writing process lesson, 5th graders recite Humpty Dumpty and chart the plot of the story. Students select their own nursery rhyme and write a creative story...
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Separate But Equal Video
Eighth graders watch the video "Separate But Equal." They choose an incident or event from the video that is interesting or meaningful to them and write an objective news article and an editorial.
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Thanksgiving Literacy Activity
Students explore why Thanksgiving is celebrated. In this cross-curriculum lesson, students listen to the book Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, and complete the sentence frame "I am thankful for ____." Students practice phonemic...
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Adjective Riddles
Students create adjective riddles for various candies. They describe the sound, taste, appearance, and smell of the candy, using at least 10 different adjectives. Classmates try to guess the candy name.
National Endowment for the Humanities
“House by the Railroad”: A Painting and a Poem for the Common Core
Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading of the two...
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ELA Unit Planning Template Style One
Work with your department or on your own to create organized unit plans that connect to all parts of the Common Core standards. The three-page template includes space to summarize the unit, list standards for each category of the ELA...
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Rock N Rhythm & Rhyme
Students explore rhyming and rhythm. In this rhythm and rhyme lesson, students listen to the song, "A-Hunting We Will Go" and add new verses to the song with words that rhyme. Students use an interactive tool to create these new verses.
Curated OER
Entrepreneurship: Is it for me?
Students get an introduction to entrepreneurship and business plans in the first lesson of this series. They attempt to determine what personal factors to consider in deciding if the time is right to become an entrepreneur.
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Working Together to Improve Our Community
Learners from the fourth grade research a solution to a community problem and converse with eighth graders via email. Eighth graders study the political process and work with the fourth graders to present information to the public to...
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Plant Needs
Students explore the needs of plants. In this plants biology activity, students work in groups to perform an experiment with tomato plants. Each group records observations in a journal, takes pictures, and interprets the results of...
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The Hurricane
Students analyze three different ways a story is told, determine truth and fiction in each story, and discover and apply techniques to narrate a good story.
Students listen to Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" and watch the "R" rated movie,...
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Adjectives in Dialogue
Ninth graders use adjectives to depict setting and reveal character and incorporate adjectives into dialogue appropriate for setting.
Curated OER
Father Time
Students create a memory book and acrostic poem for Father's Day. In this Father's Day lesson, students appreciate unique things their fathers do for them. Students create an original project for their father.
Curated OER
Pinckney Benedict's "The Sutton Pie Safe" from Town Smokes
Students read Pinckney Benedict's "The Sutton Pie Safe" to learn about family symbols and social commentary. In this close reading lesson, students read four journal prompts for the story and answer the listed questions for each section.
Curated OER
What's in Our Woods?
Students observe their local forest and document the change that occurs over the school year. For this forestry lesson, students utilize a GPS to mark a certain area of the woods as their study area for the remainder of the year....
Curated OER
Data Analysis and Data Explorer
Students use the Data Explorer software to organize and display the test scores for the classes in stacked box-and-whisker plots, then analyze the results in paragraph form.