Curated OER
Contemporary Civic-life Issue Research Based Essay
Seventh graders write a five paragraph persuasive essay on a contemporary civic-life issue.
Curated OER
Can you Follow Me? Conventions
Use the present tense to create written assignments. Critical thinkers take a passage written in past or future tense and rewrite it in present tense. They then write a set of instructions in present tense.
Curated OER
Using Details from Text to Identify Author's Purpose
Explore writing techniques by analyzing newspapers and magazines with middle schoolers. They will collaborate in small groups to read local news stories and identify the main ideas and author's intent. They also utilize an information...
Curated OER
Using Details From The Text
Begin this expository writing activity by reading a non-fiction book of your choice and modeling expository writing. The plan suggests The Trip of a Drip by Vicki Cobb but notes that other texts will work. Learners then choose a...
Curated OER
1900 America: Historical Voices, Poetic Visions
High schoolers examine the United States at the turn of the century. Using primary source documents, they interpret them within a specific historical context. Using this information, they write a poem with metaphors and a specific meter...
Curated OER
Aloha From the King
Through this activity pupils learn about King Kamehameha I, and letter writing. It begins with an overview of Hawaiian history, with an emphasis on King Kamehameha I, and then goes on to a letter writing activity. Each person writes a...
Curated OER
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Do your young readers know that poems can be performed as a team? They listen to a few examples from Paul Fleischman's book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, paying attention to how the how readers work together....
Curated OER
Those Baffling Bibliographies!
Are you working on a research and citation unit? Have your young writers listen to a lecture on how to cite research sources correctly and how to distinguish new information that requires citing. They compile a list of works cited from...
Curated OER
Mind Your Pints and Quarts: Making Sense of Liquid Measurement
Elementary and middle schoolers identify different units of liquid measurement. They use the online Visual Thesaurus to learn about the relationships between units of liquid measurement.
Curated OER
It's Happening Where: Graphic Organizer #1 for Newspaper Articles
Planning a newspaper or journalism unit? Use these graphic organizer to help your young reporters organizer their articles. The first page instructs users to plan out the structure of their article, while the second page prompts them to...
Organization for Educational Technology & Curriculum
Introduction to Variables and Algebraic Expressions
Begin your next algebra unit with this introductory lesson on variables and algebraic expressions. This plan requires a SMART board and includes a SMART notebook file. The file contains a guiding question and two learning activities that...
Curated OER
Central America and the Caribbean
Use the library or Internet to find resources on a chosen topic. The class will comprehend the collected information, structure the information with texts and graphics for a presentation. Each presentation focuses on Hispanic culture and...
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Spooky Analysis
Focus on building suspense as well as evaluating web sites through creative writing. After introducing the idea of suspense and holding a discussion, class members complete a WebQuest, during which they find inspiration for their own...
Curated OER
Visible Speech: What is a Sentence?
Use this straightforward presentation as a basic guide to your grammar unit. With explanations of the parts of a simple sentence (subject, verb, direct object), the slideshow is a good way to reinforce students' prior knowledge about...
Curated OER
Indigenous People Day
Do you know why we celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous People? Did you even know we celebrate this day? After reading a short passage about this international celebration, scholars answer true or false questions,...
Curated OER
My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C.
Although this legislative process lesson plan is designed to accompany a specific text, it is valuable independently. Young learners participate in a picture walk (worksheet included) through My Senator and Me:...
Curated OER
Label Length and Weight of the Creatures Worksheet
Although the objective to this measurement worksheet isn't entirely clear, it is definitely usable in a few ways. There are six images of different creatures, each with a height and weight listed. Learners label each creature by filling...
Curated OER
Discovering Saturn, The Real "Lord of the Rings"
Reading, writing, and rings! A instructional activity from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this instructional activity are pre-reading activities, four mini informational...
Louisiana Department of Education
The Metamorphosis
How can something be true even if it didn't happen? Invite your classes to investigate the truths found in the world of magical realism as they analyze short stories, poems, informational texts, video, and art from this genre.
Louisiana Department of Education
Fahrenheit 451
In his 2013 introduction to Fahrenheit 451, Neil Gaiman states, “Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.” In this extraordinary unit plan, readers "explore the power of written language to educate and...
CPO Science
Physics Skill and Practice Worksheets
Stop wasting energy searching for physics resources, this comprehensive collection of worksheets has you covered. Starting with introductions to the scientific method, dimensional analysis, and graphing data, these skills practice...
Curated OER
Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies
Transform your class into a butterfly museum! Research different types of butterflies, their habitat, and life cycle. Interactive components such as PowerPoint presentations, Claymation movies, and webpages add pizzaz to the museum...
Curated OER
Myths, Folktales, & Fairy Tales
Introduce the concept of myths to your class. Using the link to "Myths Around the World," read a story aloud and have learners list characteristics of a myth. Readers then choose their own myths from the site and work in groups to answer...
Curated OER
The Achievements and Challenges of Zimbabwe
Here is an excellent set of five short lessons and activities intended to help learners not only gain an understand of current issues in Africa, but build critical thinking, synthesis, analysis, expository writing, research, and...