Curated OER
Message in a Bottle
Students acquire a pen pal in a foreign country and write letters at least twice a month throughout the year to exchange with them. At the end of the year, they write an essay that compares one important difference and one important...
Curated OER
From Formal To Slang
Tenth graders define the term slang, explaining its various social, historical, and racial contexts, so as to articulate when it can be appropriately used as a means of effective communication. They use their own personal slang lexicon,...
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The Shape of Things
Fourth graders develop their writing skills. In this paragraph structure instructional activity, 4th graders research natural disasters, compile their findings, create mobiles and write stories based on the mobiles.
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,...
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Consumer Scams
Letter writing may be outdated but it's a great way to practice English conventions, grammar, and spelling. The class researches consumer scams, then writes a letter about them. They each choose a scam to write about paying close...
Curated OER
Email Buddies
Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...
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...
Curated OER
I'm Published! A Parts of Speech Book
Reinforce the importance of the writing process with this publication instructional activity. Elementary and middle schoolers compose a parts of speech book which includes one page each for nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,...
Curated OER
The Missing Link
What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...
Curated OER
Using a Magazine/Non-Fiction Texts
Working with magazine articles and other informational texts, students identify the parts of a non-fiction work. The learners use SMART board files to guide instruction, as well as a transition to writing their own non-fiction article in...
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Conversations about childhood
Encourage your class to discuss their childhood with other classmates using the six questions listed here. After sharing their answers, learners write a paragraph detailing general information about their childhood. This plan is designed...
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Native American Crafts Worksheet
Deepen understanding of Native American craftspeople through biography and research. For this essay project, learners sift through online biographies about Native Americans in Louisiana. After looking through the given resources,...
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Famous Poems and Poets: Enjoy the World of Words
Class members select a culture from a provided list and research the customs, beliefs, traditions, clothing, and environment of this group. They then create an idea web and craft this information into a poem. The lesson is short on...
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Write to the Author
Learners orally present information about a favorite book to their classmates. They construct pop-up cards that depict a character in the author's book and include a question for the author written from the point of view of the character.
Curated OER
Writing an Essay- The Circulatory System
Fifth graders write an essay. In this writing lesson plan, 5th graders research the circulatory system and organize their notes into an outline. Students write an informational essay on the circulatory system.
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...
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...
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Picture This
Elementary writers practice writing descriptive paragraphs by adding adjectives and sensory words to their writing. They use a picture of a monster for their descriptive paragraph. This 12-page lesson plan should increase your charges...
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Best Websites for English Teachers
Bookmark these grammar, writing, and literature websites to build your teaching arsenal, making life just a little bit easier.
Curated OER
Adventures in Creating Hypertext Stories
Use hypertext to make a multimedia choose-your-own adventure story! Young writers incorporate knowledge of story writing elements to write their own stories, and rewrite the adventure with various scenarios and endings. Use technology to...
Curated OER
Active Reading with American History
Explore connections within and between informational texts with this lesson about encyclopedia articles. Middle schoolers write encyclopedia articles focusing on topics in American history. They discuss how to determine credibility...
Curated OER
Hey Teachers! Get to Know Me!
Foster community in your classroom and encourage learners to get up and get to know each other. Individuals each receive the classmate inventory handout included and use it to fill in information about their fellow scholars. Once they...
California Academy of Science
What's on a Penny?
As a instructional activity on scientific observation, have your class investigate the features of a penny and a nickel. Working in pairs, they practice writing detailed descriptions using their senses and a ruler to gather information....
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...