Smithsonian Institution
Singing for Justice: Following the Musical Journey of “This Little Light of Mine”
Scholars go on a musical journey to discover the origin, importance, and evolution of the song, "This Little Light of Mine". Class members boost their voice talents and clap to the beat while learning the lyrics in both English and Zulu....
Curated OER
Cool Commercials Critique
Students investigate advertising by critiquing commercials in class. In this media lesson, students view several commercials on their computers while completing a worksheet which helps them critique the ads. Students define several...
Curated OER
Photography: Beyond the Snapshot
Students explore news photography skills. In this photojournalism lesson plan, students examine photographs from newspapers and magazines and discuss the attributes of quality photographs. Students complete a webquest at the Kodak...
Curated OER
Click! Writing Through Digital Photography
Students take their own digital photographs and scan them onto the computer. For each photograph, they write about them and use the internet to research their subject in the photo more throughly. They are graded based on a rubric and...
Curated OER
My Digital Story
Learners write and direct digital stories to be presented to their classmates. In this digital stories lesson plan, students can use camcorders, microphones, headphones, storyboards, and more. Learners edit their story and present it to...
Smithsonian Institution
Dia de los Muertos: Honoring our Ancestors Through Community Celebration
Oral storytelling has been an important part of every culture. The time-honored practice uses stories as a conduit for a culture's values and customs from one generation to the next. Keep the tradition going with a family interview...
Curated OER
Communicating Through Pictures
Students examine photographs, paintings and drawings convey meaning and mood. The ability to 'read' a picture is an important literary skill. This activity gives students the opportunity to tell a story through pictures by creating a...
Film Space
Whale Rider
Ready for an educational movie day? Use a resource based on the movie Whale Rider to learn more about the Maori culture. Class members answer a variety of questions and listen to music from the soundtrack to further analyze and...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: One Hundred Dollar Laptop Computer
In this one hundred dollar laptop computer worksheet, students read the article, answer true and false questions, complete synonym matching, complete phrase matching, complete a gap fill, answer short answer questions, answer discussion...
Curated OER
Personal Stories of the National Parks
Middle schoolers explore historical information about U.S. national parks using the stories of Edward and Margaret Gehrke as a primary source document. In this United States geography, history, and literacy lesson, students view the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Dictionary Cube
Young scholars investigate new vocabulary words with a fun, collaborative activity. Given a deck of word cards, pairs of students flip over one at a time and independently look up the term in a dictionary. They then take turns rolling a...
Curated OER
Creating Scrolls Based on the illustrated TALE OF GENJI
Students identify formal elements that characterize the scroll, work in a variety of media, from traditional to digital, to create their own scrolls, work into digital printout with at least two media, and engage in meaningful critiques...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Paraphrasing Research Material
Students visit the school media center to research their favorite historical figures. Following a discussion of paraphrasing, they find information in library materials about their figure. Once students compile their information, they...
Curated OER
Stock Character Lesson Plan
Students examine multiple types of media in order to properly define different types of character that include static, stock, and dynamic characters. They respond to the question of finding someone they respect. They give examples of...
Curated OER
Fishing for Facts!
First graders visit the library or media center to research sea creatures using encyclopedia. They find two facts and research the Internet to find a picture of the sea creature. They create a class sea creature booklet.
Common Sense Media
ABC Searching
Students explore English by completing an interactive computer activity. In this alphabet lesson, students research the Internet to create a picture dictionary which they share with classmates. Students locate digital images of words...
Curated OER
Stepping Stones
Students listen to stories read aloud. They examine a work of art by a known artist. Students take a picture using the digital camera. They listen as the teacher reads "Where the Wild Things Are." Students compare and contrast the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Fluency Letter Wheel
Young scholars spin their way to letter sound fluency. While tomes, pairs spin a spinner and make the sound of the letter on which it lands. They add a counter to their cup for each sound they make correctly. At the end of the game,...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter Recognition, Speedy Alphabet Arc
On your mark, get set, match! Learners use a complete set of letters, matching each to its outlined letter on an arc. As they choose letters, they name them aloud. For added difficulty, another arc is missing most of its letters to...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Letter Recognition: Tap Stack
Practice letter recognition using this fun alphabet game! Focusing on a suggested six target letters, this partner activity has learners saying and recognizing letter names as quickly as possible. Using a randomly chosen letter as the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Make a Match
A memory activity engages young learners in letter-sound correspondence. Pairs take turns examining two sets of cards lying face down. They flip one image card and one letter card, then name the initial sound. If the sounds match, pupils...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Letter Flash
Scholars work in pairs to drill and practice alphabet sounds, keeping track of their progress on a chart. Working one at a time, each partner flips letter cards, saying the sound and letter. If they get it correct, it goes in the YES...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Letter-Sound Mix-Up
Scholars time each other as they work through a sheet of all 26 letters. They test each other to see how many letters sounds they can identify in one minute.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fluency: Words, Speedy Rime Words
Learners time each other as they read as many rime words as possible.