Curated OER
Early Explorers
Fifth graders research European explorers. In this world history lesson, 5th graders will compare eight European explorers and identify important factual information about each. Students will be engaged through game-play and...
Curated OER
Utilizing Art, Literature and Film to Teach Black History
Fifth graders are introduced to different aspects of African-American history through literature, art, and films. As a class, they are read a story about the Underground Railroad, identify the main characters and put the events into...
Curated OER
Paraphrasing
Seventh graders practice paraphrasing. As a class, they review previous lessons and discuss the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism. Students begin by paraphrasing sentences orally and then they complete a worksheet,...
Curated OER
Instant Spelling Activity: Homographs
Students identify homographs. In this homograph lesson, students listen to a sentence that contains a homograph to identify the homograph. Students choose 16 homographs to put in a BINGO grid. Students write sentences that contain a...
Curated OER
Mr. Peabody's Apples
Students read Mr. Peabody's Apples. For this reading lesson, students complete pre-and post-reading activities to improve comprehension skills. Students role play scenes from the story to analyze.
Curated OER
'And Maybe I Can Change That Too'
Students consider their own prejudices and stereotypes. In this social justice lesson, students monitor their own reactions to people who are different from themselves. Students watch a video featuring Toni Morrison that presents a...
Education World
Remembering Jackie Robinson
A four-paragraph informational text details the life of the famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson. A prompt challenges scholars to write or discuss a time in their life when they were not included and how that made them feel.
EngageNY
Choosing Songs for the Film Soundtrack
Music has the power to bring topics alive. Learners take on the role of sound director in their film planning and choose the songs to accompany their photographs. They must also support their decisions with evidence and reasoning as they...
Curated OER
Classic Short Stories - Locked Room Settings
Students read "The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle and explore the mystery genre. In this mystery genre lesson, students read the short story and discuss the author's inclusion of locked room settings. Students then write their...
Curated OER
George Mason and the Constitution
Young scholars read various articles about the political beliefs of George Mason. In groups, they describe the major events of his life that formed his beliefs and values. They also analyze his contributions to the Constitution and the...
Curated OER
Harry Potter: Early Grades Activity
Students analyze labels and explore the social hierarchy found in Harry Potter. They expore inclusion and exclusion in social groups.
Curated OER
Speaker Report
Fifth through eighth graders think of themselves as newspaper reporters as they listen to a presentation by a guest speaker. As reporters, they take notes during the presentation. Using these notes, they create a rough draft and then a...
Curated OER
Creating a Found Poem
Teach your English learners about theme through this found poem project. Class members read two versions of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi": the original version and a synopsis. After learning about themes and connecting theme to their...
Curated OER
Introduction to Classification
Fourth graders design a classification system to categorize animate and inanimate objects. They discuss the advantages of grouping things as they classify buttons, leaves, shells.
Curated OER
Greek Inquiry Report and Presentation
Sixth graders choose from a list of researchable inquiry questions. They engage in all phases of inquiry/research process.
Curated OER
Tall Tales
Students examine the characteristics of tall tales and how exaggerations are used. They create a character that is larger than life, they brainstorm attributes for their character, before writing a Tall Tale. They plan out their story,...
Curated OER
Integers - Graphical Representation
For this integers of graphical representation worksheet, 7th graders solve 23 various types of problems that include graphing on a number line and writing an integer to represent each statement given. Then they write an equation using...
Curated OER
Mocking Modern Life
Twelfth graders read "The Nun's Priest's Tale" and "The Rape of the Lock" then brainstorm possible topics for a contemporary mock epic and possible
"grandiose" words and phrases for common objects and activities. They write a mock epic...
Curated OER
What's In A Name
Second graders read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. They then discuss where various names come from. They create a individualized biopoem and publish it on word processing software. Their poems are compiled into a class book and presented...
Curated OER
Acting Like a Bunch of Animals: Fables and Human
The video "The Tales of Aesop" traces for viewers the history of fables and identifies their characteristics. The class then goes to the web site "The Fisherman and the Little Fish" where they examine the classic and a modern version of...
Curated OER
Using Technology For Vocabulary Development, reading Comprehension, and Word Identification
Fourth graders define unknown vocabulary words and decode unknown words in their reading using a Quicktionary Reading Pen and Franklin Spell Checker. They create reading comprehension questions that are incorporated into a classroom Web...
Curated OER
Create a Community that Promotes Academic Language
Set your elementary, middle, and high schoolers up for success by implementing a variety of strategies to build academic language.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Night to Life is Beautiful
After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...
San Francisco Symphony
Music and Early Man
Creative projects are great ways to increase interest in topical research. Middle schoolers learning about primitive life styles in the Americas explore the importance of music to hunter gatherers. They research and create musical...