Arts Midwest
The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe: Biographical Criticism and the Speaker of a Poem
Author's are often influenced by events in their own lives as they write. Use Edgar Allan Poe's poems "Ulalume" and "Annabel Lee" to take a look at how the death of Poe's wife affected his poetry. Ask students to discuss and compare the...
Curated OER
Scripting The Great Train Robbery
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the activity...
Mikva Challenge
The Great Electoral Race Kickoff
Do young people care about elections? Host a discussion about the role of young citizens in the electoral process with an engaging social studies lesson. As high schoolers read and respond to four statements about youth interest in...
Curated OER
Electricity and Food: From Glowing Pickles in Citrus Batteries
Fifth graders explore electrical concepts and host a guest speaker. This lesson sets up guidelines for students to follow when they have a guest speaker. Students are primed to become actively involved in a lecture or discussion, while...
Curated OER
Famous Person: Yushiko Uchida
Third, fourth, and fifth graders read the book The Bracelet by Yushiko Uchida and examine the events of Uchida's life. They participate in a guided discussion of Japanese culture, perform a reader's theater, listen to a guest speaker,...
Curated OER
Sor Juana, la monja y la escritora: Las Redondillas y La Respuesta
Sor Juana, considered one of the first feminist writers and a great Latin American poet, is the topic and inspiration for this excellent activity. Use the introduction, guiding questions, and learning objectives to lead your class into a...
Curated OER
People in the Depression
Students discover what it was like to live in 1930's America. In this Great Depression lesson, students listen a guest speaker talk about his/her experience during the time period in American history. Students take notes on the...
Arts Midwest
The Joy Luck Club: Culture and History
Explore San Francisco's Chinatown in a lesson about the first few chapters of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Kids research Chinatown on the Internet and create a virtual tour of the neighborhood, including the foods, cultural events, and...
Curated OER
The Great Water Hunt
Students create a model of the land to water ratio in a large group and search for all the places water is used at their school while on a Great Water Hunt. They identify where water can be found and compare how much of world is covered...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Dig in deeper with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Learners will read and discuss poems by Robert Frost and learn the meaning of terms such as narrative and personal. They journal, collaborate, and present poetry...
Curated OER
The Presidents Song
Remember learning to spell “encyclopedia” by singing along with Jiminy Cricket? How about using a singing exercise to learn the names of the presidents? “The Presidents Song,” includes the names, in order, from Washington to Coolidge....
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: A Compare and Contrast Lesson Plan
Two great men, one time period, and one purpose; it sounds like a movie trailer, but it's not. It's a very good comparative analysis lesson focused on Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Learners will research and read informational...
Scholastic
Awesome Adaptations
Engaged learners discover how an owl beak works and how animals adapt to their environment. This task is part one of a three-part series.
Center for History Education
Blockbusting: Social and Economic Change through Real Estate
"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a lesson that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...
Curated OER
The Hobbit
Here’s a series of exercises designed to be used after readers have finished reading The Hobbit. Pairs identify the speaker of a series of quotes, match characters with qualities, and provide evidence from the story to support their...
Curated OER
The House
Oú est la cuisine? Several activities are suggested here to develop and further vocabulary acquisition for your beginning French speakers. They draw pictures of different rooms in a house and place objects around the room. Then, using...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Poetry Aloud/Poetry Out Loud
To appreciate the value of seeing and hearing a poetry performance, groups prepare readings of selected poems and then compare and critique their interpretations and videotaped versions of the same poem. Included in the resource are...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
NPR
This Isn't Right: A History of Women in Industry
Women were in the workplace long before Rosie the Riveter pushed up her sleeve. Learn about the working options available to women during the Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, and the Great Depression with a lesson that prompts...
EngageNY
Group Discussions and Revision: Editorial Essay
Great minds think aloud! Pupils participate in the Fishbowl protocol, discussing their opinions about the Mary River mine proposal. As they share their thoughts, peers provide feedback about their thesis and supporting ideas.
Curated OER
Long Vowels
Now here is a great set of activities that will make learning about long vowel sounds a snap. The activities cover two days and include vowel identification, reading, and several great games. Kids will hunt for long vowel words, play...
Curated OER
Alfonso Ball
Joey Alphonso made up this game, which is played using a gator skin ball and a tennis racket on a basketball court. The simple rules and strategy of the game are explained. This is a high-scoring, run around activity. Everyone can...
Curated OER
Fats Waller, Handful of Keys
Playing piano is great fun and playing jazz is even better. Kids watch a video of Fats Waller playing the song, "Handful of Keys," they then use either a piano key print out or Orff instruments to practice his signature stride piano...