Curated OER
Antony and Cleopatra: Fun Trivia Quiz
As with most Fun Trivia quizzes, this quiz focuses on the factual knowledge of the reader rather than higher-order thinking tasks such as analysis and evaluation. This quiz in particular focuses heavily on names of characters and when...
Curated OER
King Lear - Another Shakespearean Massacre: Fun Trivia Quiz
Capture your learners' attention with this online quiz on the characters who die in William Shakespeare's King Lear. Readers of The Bard answer ten multiple choice questions that detail 10 ways that different characters die during the...
Curated OER
Poetry for the Elementary Classroom
Use Shel Silverstein's poem "Batty" to introduce poetry to young readers. This lesson is not formatted well, but the plan does suggest learners memorize a poem, recite the poem individually, and then recite the poem as a class. Poetry...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fun Trivia Quiz
Online quizzes can be fun for readers to test their basic understanding. This Fun Trivia quiz on Macbeth asks ten reading comprehension questions; however, it does not require any analysis. Additionally, anyone can create a quiz at Fun...
Curated OER
A Christmas Carol: Fun Trivia Quiz
Online quizzes can be fun for testing reading comprehension; however, this Fun Trivia quiz on A Christmas Carol does not have the rigor necessary for a class assignment. Instead, you may want to suggest your readers take it on their own...
Curated OER
The French Revolution According to Dickens
After your readers complete A Tale of Two Cities, test their basic reading comprehension with this short quiz.
PBS
Setting in To Kill a Mockingbird
Can you understand more about how a person acts by learning about how that person lives? An interactive resource explores the setting of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with several slides discussing the location, social conditions,...
NASA
Discovering the Milky Way
What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical graphing....
American Press Institute
Creating a Classroom Newspaper
Hot off the press: a mini-unit for class members to create their own newspaper. Complete with graphic organizers, extension activities, and helpful learning targets that teach parts of a newspaper, the resource contains everything needed...
Curated OER
The Banking Mouse
First graders learn about another culture and its language. For this Spanish lesson, 1st graders listen to a Cuban folktale. Students identify the Spanish words. Students reread the story independently. Students listen to a guest...
Curated OER
Genetic Engineering
Students will apply their knowledge acquired from two guest speakers to writing a three hundred-word essay on either the pros or cons of genetic engineering. They will try to persuade the reader of their essays to agree with their stance...
Curated OER
Dive into Reading During National Book Month!
Cultivate a passion for literature with fun, easy to incorporate reading activities.
Curated OER
Like It Or Not?
Write a review of the film adaptation of Holes. After viewing the film, your young reviewers make recommendations about viewing the film. Using details to support their opinions, they highlight the important parts of the movie without...
PBS
Figuring Out Figurative Language in The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is well known for its relatable characters and plot, but don't forget how effective the book's figurative language can be! Check out an interactive resource that explores how figurative language comes alive...
Curated OER
Making Lewis and Clark's Journals Come Alive
Learners are presented daily excerpts from Lewis and Clark's experiences. The dates and activities are tracked on a classroom map.
Curated OER
A Lesson in "Comma Sense"
Young grammarians punctuate an unedited letter to give it meaning. They explore how misplaced and erroneous punctuation can result in giving text a completely different meaning than intended. The lesson is a fun way to reinforce basic...
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...
Curated OER
Shopping at the Market
Bring a Mexican marketplace to your classroom! Your middle schoolers will practice buying and selling items and learn more about marketplace culture. Set up booths with props beforehand, and consider adding a few products they're...
Curated OER
Reflection/Evaluation
Students practice the skills of reflection and evaluation. In this reflection lesson, students are grouped together and asked to brainstorm what they have learned during a particular unit. Students decide what they want to share with the...
Curated OER
You Have to Live in Somebody Else's Country to Understand
Students reflect on emotions commonly expressed by outsiders. They identify feelings of people who have just arrived in America. They read and analyze a poem about immigration.
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Fun Trivia Quiz
While I don't recommend this online, interactive quiz, you may want to review it for possible quotes to use in your own assessment on Of Mice and Men. It includes 10 quotes for character identification, but the fill-in-the-blank format...
Curated OER
Using Comic Strips to Teach the Use of Quotation Marks
Students identify when and why quotations are used. Using comic strips and speech bubbles, they read and discuss examples of quotation marks, and in pairs write text for a cartoon on a piece of paper using quotation marks around the...
Curated OER
Lights, Camera, Action...Crossing the Delaware in 9 Scenes
How does reading a drama differ from reading a novel? Middle schoolers become playwrights and explore these differences. After viewing the A&E movie,"The Crossing," groups create stage directions, write dialogue, and design sets and...
Curated OER
Reaching Across Borders In Southern Africa
Students gain a greater understanding of how political borders impact human and environmental development. Then, either individually or as a class, establish a correspondence with a Peace Corps volunteer working in Africa.