Curated OER
Dream Killers
Third graders explore figurative language in Jacob Have I Loved and define what is a dream killer.
Curated OER
Spring Similes
Students write similes with a partner. In this spring similes instructional activity, students discuss the season an write a story using a minimum number of similes.
Curated OER
Doors to Knowledge
Students identify symbols on a pylon and explain why the names of the Great TEachers the symbols represent. They interpret what religion is to them and sing a song about religion lead by the teacher. Finally, students construct a...
Curated OER
Apples Personified
Students write a creative writing piece by personifying apples. In this creative writing instructional activity, students view a PowerPoint about the writing process and brainstorm about apples. Students write a rough draft about their...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for English-Using Negatives in a Sentence
Students explore "negatives" in English grammar. In this grammar activity, students generate a list of "negative" words such as "not" and "nowhere." Students listen to the teacher read examples of sentences with double negatives,...
Curated OER
What's On Your Plate?
Students keep running record of the activities they engage in and the food they eat. In this instructional activity on healthy living, students discuss the dangers of anorexia and bulimia, record their activity level and food consumption...
Curated OER
What's On Your Plate?
Students explore the use of sensory details in writing. In this journal writing lesson, students write four journal entries after group discussion about a variety of topics such as their weekend, poverty in the United States, and...
Curated OER
Connotation and Denotation: How Word Choice Affects a Paragraph
Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation...
Curated OER
Almost Famous: Three People Who Aren't in the History Books
Enrich your history lessons with books about three little known figures: Thomas Banning, Annie Taylor, and Tony Sarg.
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Learning About the Historical and Geographical Setting of Esperanza Rising (Chapter 1: “Aguascalientes, Mexico, 1924”)
Set up your class to read Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, through a class read-aloud and exploration of the setting. The detailed instructional activity outlines each step. First, class members read over the first few pages and...
Curated OER
Carl Sandburg's "Chicago": Bringing a Great City Alive
Carl Sandburg composed poetry that conveyed a time and place in American Literature and history. Learners identify the literary techniques he uses to describe the historical and cultural context of living in Chicago. They define the...
Curated OER
What Shapes Can You See?
Students investigate shapes in art. In this visual arts lesson, students examine the ancient Panamanian "Plaque" and identify the geometric shapes in the art piece. Students combine basic shapes to make an artistic picture of their own.
Time Warp Trio
The Seven Blunders of the World
Learners explore the cultures and civilizations of Mesopotamia. They take a look at the factors that shaped the region, and study the history of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and other ancient wonders of the world. The class is divided...
California Academy of Science
Poetic Reflections
Poetry is a wonderful way to explore language, express topical understanding, and incite creative thinking. After a trip to the local natural history museum (or zoo), learners write an acrostic or a cinquain poem describing one of their...
Novelinks
Tuck Everlasting: Bio-Poem
Learn about the characters of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a character biopoem. Readers fill in a poem format to detail the character traits of Winnie, Jesse, Miles, and Mae, and share their finished poems...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Energy at Play
Get the ball rolling and challenge your class to figure out how to make a ball move. The instruction segment is between two STEM activities devoted to doing just that. The first is simple and involves making a ball move from some...
Curated OER
A Story on a Vase
Learners associate a hydria with Greek myths. In this Greek art and mythology lesson, students examine a scene on a hydria, then choose a Greek myth to illustrate on their own painting.
Curated OER
Those Tear-Me-Apart, Put-Me-Back-Together, Never-Be-the-Same-Again Blues
Learners discuss what it might be like to be the new person in a group, choose the correct words for an apology, learn a vivid lesson about how unking words can hurt others, and write a paragraph to explain what they learned from the...
Curated OER
Change the Face of History
Middle schoolers create and write a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story as they investigate the Revolutionary War. They choose a historical figure who played a key role in the war who meets other influential figures and has the opportunity...
Curated OER
Mission Accomplished
Second graders describe the impact of certain figures in United States history, including Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They describe experiences of early American explorers and compose narratives from the perspectives of others.
Curated OER
A History of Journal Writing
Students articulate their prior knowledge concerning the purposes of journal writing. They explore what function journal writing has fulfilled for various cultures and peoples. Students read and analyze various journal entries by famous...
Curated OER
Telling Stories in Art: Witness to a Brawl
Students examine how a piece of art tells a story. In this visual art lesson, students interpret a piece of art work by writing a newspaper article that tells the story of the moment in time that is depicted in a picture. They work with...
Curated OER
Getting the Message: What Did You Say?
Students listen to and compare the first sentence of the Gettysburg Address spoken in different languages. They also compare frequency readings for each and discuss how the brain interprets spoken words.
Curated OER
Pilgrims: The First Americans
Fifth graders become familar with the pilgrims and first Thanksgiving through essays about important people of the time. In this Thanksgiving activity, 5th graders choose an important figure from the time of the Pilgrims and write...