Curated OER
How Current Events Affect Us
Elementary and middle schoolers research a current event using various resources. They participate in a class discussion to evaluate the information they gathered on a particular event. Additionally, they discuss the concepts of common...
Curated OER
Credible Sources on the Internet: What to Trust, What to Dismiss and When to Cite a Source
Wait, you mean researchers don't all use Wikipedia? Teach your class about intelligent research with a instructional activity about evaluating digital sources. The instructional activity starts with a quickwrite and includes...
Curated OER
Dr. King's Dream
Students explore life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., reflect on section of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, discuss inequities that still exist in the United States, and create picture books about their own dreams of freedom for...
Trinity University
Julius Caesar: The Power of Persuasion
"Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..." Those words begin one of the most persuasive speeches in literature. Explore the elements of persuasion in a series of lessons related to William Shakespeare's Julius...
Curated OER
What's Legal with Music on the Web?
Student research legalities of downloading music from Internet, gather information on citizens who have been charged with downloading/copyright crimes, find out who is working to create new laws dealing with this technology, explore what...
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Purpose and Audience
Build the writing skills of your junior high wordsmiths with activities that introduce many essential skills of writing. As a class, they develop working definitions of formal vs. informal writing, explore different categories of...
Curated OER
One Grain of Rice
Upper graders read the story One Grain of Rice, and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast topics found in the story to current event topics today. Groups of three learners work together to create their diagram. The topics they must...
Curated OER
Newspapers in the Digital Age
Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...
Minnesota Courts
Inside Straight: the Third Branch
Learners use the worksheet as they view the film Inside Straight: the Third Branch. Multiple case studies and the history of the judicial branch of the US government are included via hyperlink and act as the topics of discussion...
Curated OER
Christmas Candy
Here is a tasty topic for a instructional activity: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create...
C-SPAN
Presidential Candidate Research
Don't let the young citizens in your social studies class get all their election information from inflammatory commercials and arguing pundits. Use a lesson plan from C-SPAN to guide class members through an election season with a...
Curated OER
All Eyes on Iowa
Guid your learners as they become informed members of our community. They'll consider each of the seven questions as they read the New York Times article "All Eye on Iowa." This article relates topics dealing with the 2012 presidential...
Curated OER
“The Story of an Hour” Extension Activities: Teacher’s Guide and Notes
Enhance and extend instruction of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin with one or all of these ideas. You might want to cover characterization and summary, or improve understanding of context clues and irony. You can cover any...
Curated OER
All's Well That Ends Well
Students examine and discuss the parts of a speech and how to organize them. They read sample speeches, then write a short presentation to read to the class, identifying the beginning, middle, and ending of their speech.
Curated OER
Preparing & Delivering Oral Presentations
High schoolers consider the important characteristis of an effective oral presentation. Students participate in an activity to discover the essential elements of evaluation an audience, timeliness of the topic, and delivery of the...
Curated OER
Rhetorical Devices
Twelfth graders identify and analyze examples of rhetorical devices as valid or invalid inferences. In this text analysis lesson, 12th graders research a controversial topic in teams and identify rhetorical devices for the topic....
Curated OER
Perspectives on Civil Rights
Students examine speeches of the Civil Rights Era. In this American history lesson, students listen to speeches delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Students respond to guiding questions as they listen to the...
Curated OER
Reading: Chief Seattle
In this reading a speech learning exercise, students read the words of Chief Seattle from 1857. Students analyze the words in bold type and answer 6 multiple choice questions.
Curated OER
To Be or Not to Be
Learners gather information about setting goals through a variety of activities. In this setting goals lesson, students view a PowerPoint that explains the outcomes of the project, take notes, interview a local business person, write a...
Curated OER
Opinion Polls And Surveys As Research Tools
Eleventh graders determine, evaluate, and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, prefaces, appendices,...
Curated OER
Cambodia's Quest for Justice
Students observe pictures, articles, maps, charts and other gathered information concerning the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia by participating in a gallery walk. Afterward, they discuss war crimes and the significance of...
Curated OER
Motivating and Speaking Activities
Students participate in various activities to encourage speaking. They design a board game using the questions, dice and counters. Students are given partial information about a topic. They exchange information with their classmates...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
Where to begin? With the vocational education that provides the skills necessary to gain economic security or with a Liberal Arts education? As part of a study of leaders of the civil rights movement, class members compare and...
Curated OER
Cultural "I Amm" Speech Project
Eleventh graders use the internet and other sources to research a selected individual. They explore important events, challenges, and the impact and influence the person had on US History. Using the information gathered, 11th graders...