Curated OER
Letters to Poets
Add a strong poetry lesson to your literature unit. Middle and high schoolers investigate their writing voices with journaling and group discussion, then choose a famous poet to study. They write letters to their chosen poets, explaining...
Virginia Department of Education
Developing an Essay: Word Choice
Grading essays after reading a novel written by a lyrical master (think Nabokov, Morrison, Chabon) is a deflating experience. Why can’t your student’s display the same skill in diction as your favorite writers? Because you did not use...
Curated OER
By Heart
To memorize, or not to memorize: that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the fear and anguish of committing a poem to memory, to endure the heartache, to shuffle off this fear, and face the stares of classmates with the hue...
Vancouver Island University
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
A good story is a great way to support skills that are necessary for encouraging strong reading skills. Here is a class I do, You do, We do style lesson that stars the tale, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. Included are two fun pre-reading...
Fairfax Public Schools
Walter Dean Myers
If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...
King County
Reproductive System
It's every health and science teacher's favorite subject to cover: the reproductive system. This comprehensive lesson introduces adolescents to the reproductive anatomy of men and women with the help of a series of diagrams,...
ESL Kid Stuff
Toys
The world is a rainbow of colors in a set of lessons for English learners. Kids review colors with matching games and hide-and-seek, before singing songs about colors and reading a class story.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Quotation Station: Using Quotes in the Classroom
An informative list compiled with quotes, authors, and discussion questions, along with 20 out-of-the-box application ideas, make up the collection of lessons geared to spark dialogue and creative thinking about quotations.
Edmentum
Roald Dahl Day
Who's your favorite Roald Dahl character? What book by Roald Dahl is the most exciting for you? Explore the wacky world of Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, and more with a helpful resource pack for...
Curated OER
Learning From the Past
Coming up on the Olympics? Be sure your middle schoolers understand the dynamic and ancient history of this global tradition. They begin by recalling traditions parents have passed down, considering their relevance and ways they might be...
Curated OER
Rockin' Round New York State
Students discuss their favorite rock groups and bands. They create rock groups that will be touring New York State. Students research cities in New York, determine dates of concerts, create touring itineraries, and develop Inspiration...
Curated OER
Dog's Best Friend
Students learn about and identify feelings of happiness, sadness and disappointment. In this feelings lesson, students have a show and tell time about their pets and discuss how it would feel if they lost their pet. Students watch a...
Curated OER
Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
Curated OER
So Much Depends Upon...Sixteen-Word Imagery Poems Inspired by Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: To Kill a Mockingbird
Teaching tools designed to support student-centered literature study. Geared toward homeschoolers reading Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird, I would use these in my classroom. The materials are applicable to any text: graphic...
Curated OER
Spinning My Tale
Begin writing personal narratives in this writing lesson. Junior high writers start by writing a journal about their favorite holiday. They read a book at their skill level and use graphic organizers to record their ideas for writing....
Curated OER
Water Cycle Worksheets
A website links you to several water cycle worksheets geared toward an upper elementary or middle school level. Diagrams, word search, crossword, and fill-in-the-blank worksheets are available. As an added bonus, there are links to...
Curated OER
Ready . . . Set . . . Read! Teaching Reading Fluency
There are many activities and lesson ideas that teachers can use to reinforce reading fluency skills. This article brings a variety of strategies to light, including how to incorporate fluency instruction within novel units and...
Curated OER
Exploring China: One Educator's Experience
Visiting new places can inspire a wide range of teaching activities.
University of Arizona
Fusing Firecrackers with Narrative
Improve your youngsters' descriptive writing. They study an object and write about what they see as a warm-up, then they read an excerpt from Paul Guest's memoir, One More Theory about Happiness. The next part of the...
Key Stage Fun
Squeebles Fractions
We are not exactly sure what a Squeeble is, but apparently they love cake and fractions, and your little bakers-turned-mathematicians will also. This app focuses on the basics of fractions including modeling fractions, equivalent...
ARKive
Endangered Animal Easter Eggs
I love any lesson that addresses more than one subject area. You and your class will discuss endangered animals; each child will choose one animal and then create a decorated egg to represent their animal. After the eggs are decorated,...
Khan Academy
Project: Ad Design
Let your young programmers' creativity and programming knowledge shine with this culminating activity. Coders put together everything they know about using text commands, drawing, and animation to create a unique ad. This activity could...
Heidi Songs
Th Sound (Th- Family Words)
Think about using these worksheets that focus on the th digraph! These materials provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to practice their spelling and phoneme recognition.