iCivics
I Can’t Wear What?
Can schools ban t-shirts picturing musical groups or bands? Your young citizens will find out with this resource, which includes a summary of a United States Supreme Court case from the 1960s about a similar dispute over learners wearing...
Code.org
Practice PT - The Internet and Society
Speaking of the Internet. The culminating lesson for the unit on the Internet challenges pupils to prepare short, two-minute speeches on an issue facing society. The pupils chose from three topics that connect the Internet and...
Curated OER
How Do Adjectives Improve Writing?
Using adjectives to create vivid descriptions is the focus of exercises in this resource. A cloze reading activity asks class members to add missing adjectives to passages from Mark Teague's The Lost and Found. They then read...
C-SPAN
Historical Presidential Campaign Announcement Analysis
Using the announcements of presidential candidacies, pupils consider how contenders make their initial arguments to the public. A worksheet helps structure collaborative work to analyze 10 video clips. Writing prompts allow for extension...
The New York Times
Stress Less: Understanding How Your Mind and Body Respond to Anxiety
What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...
Heritage Foundation
The Amendment Process and the Bill of Rights
Did you know that lawmakers have proposed more than 5,000 bills to amend the US Constitution in Congress? Your class learns intriguing facts about the process of choosing amendments. A variety of activities including before and after...
Curated OER
Enough About I — Let’s Talk About Me
Students review parts of speech and share informative usage presentations to their classmates. In this grammar lesson plan, students discuss the importance of using appropriate speech and then read "The I's Have It." Students create...
Curated OER
Intro to Parts of Speech
Pupils define eight parts of speech, classify words as specific parts of speech, describe their function, and explain how parts of speech help us to communicate more clearly.
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing and Speaking
Rhetorical appeals (pathos, logos, and ethos) are the focus of a series of exercises that asks class members to brainstorm topics for persuasive speeches, groups to craft a persuasive speech about one of the topics, and individuals to...
Super Duper Publications
Let’s Wrap It Up!
Believe it or not the end of the year has arrived, which means it's time to wrap things up with this collection of activities. From creating personal yearbooks and packets of fun activities for the summer, to having a class field day,...
Curated OER
Collective Nouns and Verb Agreement Practice
Break down subject and verb agreement with this exercise. This activity only deals with present tense verbs and collective nouns. Pupils learn how to make the verb of a sentence agree with the collective noun by reading sentences and,...
Curated OER
Pronunciation: The Sounds /s/, /z/ or, /iz/? Consonant Clusters with "s"
Instruct your class on how to pronounce /s/ sounds with this resource. Learners fill in the final /s/ sound into blanks, listen to plural sounds, learn about the rules of the target sound, write sentences, and work with consonant...
Curated OER
Extending a Simple Sentence
Here is a very nice presentation which shows students how to extend their sentences by incorporating adverbs and adjectives. After viewing what these words are and how they are used, pupils practice extending some sentences embedded in...
Curated OER
Writing Skills: Statistical Report
A simple text analysis instructional activity, language learners transfer, order, and group information so that it is presentable. No apparent link to the five required worksheets.
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Mr Twit Gets a Horrid Shock
Mr. and Mrs. Twit do not treat each other very nicely. The sixth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl explores the way the characters talk to and treat one another. Role play and writing activities...
Curated OER
Editing Marks, Part 1
Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson plan that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...
Reading Shakespeare
Shakespeare Literature Circles Role Sheets
Tired of those blank stares after your class reads a particularly complex passage from a Shakespearean play? Help high schoolers untangle that prose with a literature circle activity. Ten different roles prompt class members to focus on...
Curated OER
Object Pronouns
Work on replacing the object of a sentence with object pronouns. A handy grammar worksheet prompts language arts learners to read 20 sentences and choose the correct pronoun to fill in the blank from the word box above.
Curated OER
Persuasion as Text: Organizational, Grammatical, and Lexical Moves in Barbara Jordan’s "All Together Now"
A thorough lesson on persuasive writing takes middle schoolers through several activities, including group discussion, collaborative posters, and independent writing. They compare historical speeches and analyze the persuasive techniques...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Rhetoric of JFK’s Inaugural Address
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your. country.” Did you know that John Kenneth Galbraith, Adlai Stevenson, and Theodore Sorensen helped John F. Kennedy craft his 1961...
Curated OER
Determining Author's Point of View: The Sneeches
Determine the author's point of view in a text. Young readers read Dr. Seuss' The Sneeches and identify the author's purpose in the story. They identify persuasive techniques in writing, asking and answering questions to better...
Curated OER
Wild Horses
What a terrific resource! This presentation focuses on wild horses and what should be done about them. While the questions found in the presentation focus on grammar and comprehension, this set of slides could do so much more. Learners...
Curated OER
"I Have a Dream" Presentation Speeches
Students write their own speech about their hopes and dreams and deliver it to the class. In this "I Have a Dream" lesson plan, students create a speech using the Martin Luther King, Jr. speech as a model and for inspiration. ...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
Students discuss the importance of using adjectives in writing. They separate into five groups, each group is given a bag with an object inside to describe using just one sense. They write a description of a Hershey's Kiss using adjectives.