Curated OER
Critical Literacy in the 21st Century: Sitti's Secrets
Fourth graders write persuasive letters. For this letter writing lesson, 4th graders read Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye and discuss their areas or topics of concern. Students select a person to write a letter to and how they...
Curated OER
Go for the Gold!
The options are vast with this Ancient Greece and Olympics research project! Using Scholastic online resources, historians have interactive and educational supports to guide them through researching and writing about the 2004 Olympics in...
Curated OER
Say Hi to Haibun Fun
What is a haibun? With this interesting lesson, writers will experience the Japanese writing form haibun, identify elements important to Japanese writing styles, analyze a haibun, and compose their own. Different from the typical journal...
Curated OER
5 Broken Cameras: How Storytellers Shape the Story
5 Broken Cameras, the award-winning documentary nominated for a 2013 Academy Award and winner of the Sundance 2012 Directors Award is the focus of a resource packet that includes a lesson plan, discussion guide, reading lists, background...
SeaWorld
Shark!
Here is an impressive collection of lessons on sharks. In them, pupils undertake a serious study of sharks, their habitats, their social structure, and how humans adversely impact their existence. These lessons effectively integrate...
Curated OER
Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
Participate in the 100th anniversary of the first flight. In groups, learners use the internet to research the roles the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart played in promoting the use of flight. They use the information to write and...
Curated OER
What's in a Picture? An Introduction to Subject in the Visual Art
Learners discuss the subject and meaning of examples of visual art. They analyze various paintings found on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website, answer discussion questions, complete online interactive activities, and write an essay.
Curated OER
Realistic Impressions: Investigating Movements in the Visual Arts
You and your high school class can examine the idea of artistic movements with this instructional activity. Explore various websites, compare/contrast paintings, after which the assignments are to complete a chart, and write an essay.
Curated OER
The Insurgency In Iraq: A Quandary for the U.S.
Learners read articles, conduct Internet research and participate in a mock debate to explore the pros and cons of withdrawing from Iraq or remaining in conflict with the insurgency. They consider the difficulties of consensus building...
Curated OER
Jack of All Tails
After reading the book Jack of All Tails, learners complete vocabulary activities, play charades, consider a list of questions, and complete a list of verbs. There are also several suggestions for how to connect this language...
Curated OER
Erosion
Young scientists identify erosion, explain the causes of erosion, and name some techniques that can slow the process of erosion. Learners are divided up into groups of four and perform a simulation of soil erosion in class. The...
Curated OER
Art Criticism: Understanding Wayne Thiebaud's Salads, Sandwiches, and Desserts
Analysis consists of an understanding and interpretation of evidence and elements found in any number of expressive mediums. Upper graders critique the work of American Realist Wayne Thiebaud through a series of excellent guided...
Curated OER
Galaxy Adventure
Working in groups, learners create a mnemonic device, give an oral presentation, and create a pictorial representation of the correct sequence of the planets and asteroid belt from the sun. An assessment rubric is included in the lesson.
National Endowment for the Humanities
James Madison: Madison Was There
Madison was there! Scholars go on a journey to discover the person behind the founding father label as they explore James Madison's role in the formation of the United States government. The culmination is a writing assignment and...
Curated OER
Listening to History
Middle schoolers consider the insight to the past that oral histories can provide. They, in groups, analyze oral histories, prepare to interview a family member on their recollections of a historical event and then write a historical...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Boston Massacre: You Be the Judge!
The importance of considering multiple perspectives of the same event is the big idea in this exercise that focuses on the Boston Massacre. Class groups examine photos of four depictions of the massacre, an English and an American...
Growing Minds
Potato Exploration: Projects All About Potatoes!
How many potatoes tall are you? Unearth this rich resource! A reading of John Coy’s Two Old Potatoes begins a cross-curricular exploration of potatoes. Class members read, write, weigh, measure, and experiment with potatoes. Additional...
University of Minnesota
Ethics of Dissection
There's an elephant in your classroom. That's right — a big, awkward elephant named Dissection. Sure, you'd like to talk about him ... but how? Whether you're a seasoned teacher or fresh out of student teaching, the topic of dissection...
Curated OER
Hammurabi's Code: What Does It Tell Us About Old Babylonia?
High schoolers examine life in Babylonia during the time of King Hammurabi. They read and discuss excerpts of the Code of Hammurabi, participate in a simulation of advisors to the king, complete an online interactive activity, answer...
Curated OER
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Students create a writing selection with a well-developed plot. They use a personal photograph in which they are visible to base their autobiographical writing. They write a description of the events surrounding the photograph in the...
Curated OER
Charlotte's Web
Students complete a variety of activities related to the book "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. They create a comic strip based on the characters, setting, and plot of the story, and examine the author's writing process. In small groups...
Curated OER
Writing
Students discover the process of writing,. including the different steps to be taken in accomplishing the writing process to come up with the final published pieces.
Curated OER
Travlin' Through the Basin: Guided Imagery
Students listen to a story. In this imagery lesson, students listen to nature sounds of the Everglades, water and forest. Students listen to a reading of the Tangipahoa River guided imagery passage. Students share their feelings inspired...
Curated OER
The Food Guide Pyramid - Daily Food Journals
Students examine the Food Guide Pyramid, then keep daily food journals. They evaluate their current nutritional habits and create plans for developing healthier eating habits.