Teaching Tolerance
Social Media for Social Action
Engage in activism, not slacktivism! Scholars discuss social media and the Internet as tools for social change. Next, they engage in a close reading strategy called Thinking Notes as they read an article about social media activism.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Transformation Creations
Learners "transform" an image into something completely different using critical thinking skills and artistic abilities. They improve skills in using digital cameras and word processors.
Curated OER
Credible Sources on the Internet: What to Trust, What to Dismiss and When to Cite a Source
Wait, you mean researchers don't all use Wikipedia? Teach your class about intelligent research with a lesson about evaluating digital sources. The lesson starts with a quickwrite and includes vocabulary exercises and several...
Curated OER
Habitats: Cactus Hotel
A reading of Brenda Z. Guiberson’s, Cactus Hotel, launches a study of animal habitats. Working with parent volunteers or teacher aides, groups travel outside the classroom to select a habitat, take digital pictures, and incorporate the...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 1: Level 8
Do you have an e-reader? Engage your class with this question before assigning them to read the passage. As they read, encourage them to mark the text. Without referring back to the text, can they complete the 11 reading comprehension...
New York Public Library
What's for Lunch?: New York City Restaurant Menus
Do you remember the days when a cup of coffee cost five cents? At A.W. Dennett restaurant in 1894, you could buy a five-cent cup of coffee and as well as a five-cent slice of pie to accompany it. The menu from that year is a primary...
Curated OER
Wiki Comment: The News and You
Kids explore the world of news media by creating a wiki page. They will create a wiki page on the Internet in order to comment on and question the stories that take place in the world. They will practice creative writing by summarizing...
Henry Ford Museum
You Can Be an Innovator ... Like Henry Ford
Why did Henry Ford want to invent a car for the masses? Why did Henry Ford locate his factory in Detroit? Why did Henry Ford encourage the idea of a 5-day work week? Young innovators find the answers to these and other question in a unit...
Michigan State University
Researching and Compiling Survey Information
Bring Internet research and social issues to your language arts class in this activity. After investigating the topic "Media Violence and How It Affects Teenagers" on the Internet, middle schoolers work in groups to compile their...
Curated OER
That's the Spirit
Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...
Curated OER
Wise Spenders and Savvy Savers
Second graders investigate the business community in their own town. They design interview questions before interviewing business people. They look at what type of good and services are offered in their area. They design a multimedia...
Curated OER
Around Your School - Bonding Students to Staff
Middle schoolers participate in an interview of a school employee. In this interview lesson, students develop appropriate interview questions and carry out an interview of a school employee to show that all jobs well done is worthy of...
Curated OER
Welcome To Middle School Video
Students create questions to pose to adults working in Middle School. In groups, students create a video interviewing the Middle School staff. They edit the video and format present it as an introduction to Middle School for perspective...
New Class Museum
Lesson: An Exploration of Places and Spaces Part II
How does your location alter or impede your movement? An interesting question posed by two artists, who work to show the restrictions of people in various landscapes. Learners analyze both exhibitions, discuss location and movement, then...
Curated OER
What's in the Time Capsule? A Technology-Connected Lesson Plan
Twelfth graders use computers and the Internet to research a specified area, word processors to prepare an essay, a digital camera, a video camera gather visuals, and a scanner to add visuals to a PowerPoint presentation as they discover...
Curated OER
Reading Skills: Prefixes
In this prefixes worksheet, students learn how the addition of one of seven common prefixes changes the meaning of a word. Students answer 15 questions about the use of these seven prefixes.
Prestwick House
Vocabulary Activity Sheet
What does it mean to stream a program? How do you know if you're watching a mash-up? If you don't know these words, reach for your handy Merriam-Webster dictionary, because they're there! A series of fill-in-the-blank questions prompt...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: What Do You Read, and How Do You Read It?
Stimulate discussion with this brief article and series of questions related to reading habits. This resource, from the New York Times' The Learning Network, asks learners to comment on their own reading habits. You could have your class...
Curated OER
Do You Have Good Manners?
Who cares about manners anyway? According to the New York Times, Mrs. Mason does. Learners read and consider an article which addresses the decline of manners and the impact it has on society. They answer seven critical thinking...
Curated OER
Note-Taking: K.I.S.S. "Keep It Short and Simple"
Note-taking is an essential study skill, and it needs to be taught! In the context of a research project on energy sources, learners find multiple sources, evaluating, paraphrasing, and citing them correctly. Two lists with note-taking...
Curated OER
Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?
There are a lot of different ways a learner could respond to this New York Times article discussing the effects of modern culture on childhood. After reading the article, pupils construct a thoughtful blog post. The guiding questions...
K12 Reader
Many Ways to Measure
Measurement tools, yardsticks, scales, and thermometers, are the subject of a reading comprehension worksheet that asks kids to answer a series of questions based on the provided article.
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 2: Level 11
Engage your class by asking them how many passwords they think they currently have. This article brings to light the crazy amount of passwords the average computer user has! After reading the article, kids complete the multiple-choice...
Curated OER
Prepositions
Elementary schoolers view and study ten pictures of the location of a ball adjacent to a box. They decide where the ball is and match it to its appropriate preposition on the right. A good language arts lesson!