Curriculum Corner
Informational Text Graphic Organizers
Analyze informational text with a set of three worksheets that focus on the main idea and supporting details, and reinforces note taking skills, and the use of context clues to define new words.
Teaching Tolerance
Community Newsletter
What does it take to develop and publish a newsletter? Young academics create a newsletter with original artwork for their school or community. They explore social justice themes and spread messages of tolerance and inclusion. Scholars...
Curated OER
"The Midwife's Apprentice"
Here is an inventive, and educationally rich way to conduct a literature study of the book, The Midwife's Apprentice. After the book has been read, learners get into three groups. One group is assigned the task of being the writers....
Curated OER
Writing Process- Expository Writing
Expository writing is the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, young writers review what expository writing is through a class discussion and teacher demonstration. Then, learners write expository text that describes...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing About Waiting for the Biblioburro
Ask your learners to synthesize what they know about Waiting for the Biblioburro by writing a well-organized paragraph. Young writers focus on using transition words and including specific details in their paragraphs. The plan allows for...
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Revising for Organization and Style: Bold Beginnings
Get young writers thinking about how to write a great beginning for their narratives. After examining examples of solid beginnings in literary text, young writers discuss the criteria for a compelling introduction. Then, independently,...
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Peer Critique for Organization and Style
Put another set of eyes on your class's historical fiction narratives with one of the final lessons in the unit. Fourth graders use feedback from their peers to annotate their drafts for revision, particularly their bold beginnings and...
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Publishing Historical Fiction Narratives
Class members discover what it means to publish their works. Working on a computer, young writers use an online dictionary to edit their spellings and conventions based on the information added to the rubric. From here, and most of the...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 15
The terrible truth begins in a instructional activity that focuses on the final act of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As ninth graders collect evidence that details the origin of Oedipus and how his birth relates to the prophecy everyone...
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Launching Researching: Reading for Gist and Gathering Evidence Using the Research Guide
Let's get to the gist! Pupils work in research teams to gather information about specific refugee experiences from Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Kurdistan. Scholars then try to find the gist of informational texts about their topics,...
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Mid-Unit 3 Assessment and Independent Reading Check
It's time for scholars to be on their own. Individuals work independently reviewing sources to answer their research questions. Learners read "Are Your Clothes Made in Sweatshops?" to help complete the mid-unit assessment. After...
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Performance Task: Publishing the Final Brochure
Add your final touches! Seventh graders finish the final draft of the brochure they began in the previous lesson. They then reflect by talking with other learners to discuss their work. Peers talk about the choices they made in layout as...
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Performance Task: Create a Counter Ad
Do a 360. After completing their ad analyses, scholars now begin working on their counter ads. Once again, they use the model performance task for reference and guidance. When finished, pupils talk with one another about their work.
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Clarifying Thinking on Water Management: Revisiting the Gallery Walk
One, two, three, go! Scholars gather in triads and number themselves one to three. Each number is responsible for sharing a section of the map homework completed the night before as learners discuss domain-specific vocabulary terms using...
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Planning for Writing: Introduction and Conclusion of a Literary Analysis
It's all about the introduction. Scholars work on the introductory paragraph for their essays, connecting the theme of a myth and The Lightning Thief. They use a graphic organizer to help focus their work and then move to working on the...
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End of Unit Assessment, Part 2: Final Draft of Literary Analysis
Row, row, row, row four. Classmates take a look at row four in the writing rubric and begin the exercise by identifying any unfamiliar words. Literary scholars then use feedback from their initial drafts and the writing rubric to begin...
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Evaluating Evidence: Adversities Faced in the Middle Ages
How is that relevant? Scholars gain an understanding of the words relevant and compelling. They then go back to the End of Unit 1 Assessment Prompt: Adversity in the Middle Ages and look at the second bullet that pertains to relevant and...
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Drafting Body Paragraphs
That's just the style. Learners begin with a mini-lesson about formal writing style. They then use what they learned about formal writing to begin the body paragraphs for their End of Unit 1 Assessment Prompt: Adversity in the Middle...
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End of Unit Assessment: Final Essay
This is just the transition phase. Scholars participate in a mini lesson plan about using transitions in writing. They then have a brief peer critique of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs for their end of unit assessment....
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Developing an Opinion Based on the Textual Evidence: Jackie Robinson’s Legacy (Promises to Keep, Pages 58–63)
Jackie Robinson left a legacy beyond the field. Readers look at pages 58-63 of Promises to Keep and summarize Robinson's legacy. They then form and opinion about the legacy and support it with evidence. Working with partners, class...
Curated OER
What are the Main Ideas?
Prior to beginning Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks, model for your class members how to determine the main idea of a text. Exercepts from another story are provided to use for the demonstration. The focus then shifts to Rosa...
Curated OER
And Others?
Having integrity is often easier said than done. After completing the first lesson in a unit on being true to themselves and their values, learners engage in a discussion about three different people in difficult situations that call for...
Curated OER
Satchel Page
Bring a lesson about Negro League Baseball to your Black history unit, or any other research unit throughout the year. While the lesson plan itself is simplistic, there are several good ideas that you could use, such as creating trading...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 9: Climax
Conduct a close reading of chapter 9 of The Cay. Read the chapter again and ask pupils to respond to a list of included text-dependent questions. Finish the class with the provided writing assignment, which asks learners to use textual...