Curated OER
Shared Birthdays
Students gather information on their classmates birthdays and create a spreadsheet with the dates. Using the internet, they find a famous person who shares their own birthday. They research the life of the famous person and develop a...
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What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Students use the internet to research the location of their summer vacation trip. Given the demographics, they plot the location on a world map. They create a brochure using the information they collected. Using PowerPoint, they develop...
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Looting and its Punishment
Students research the concepts of looting and possible punishments. The outcomes of students research is important for this instructional activity. They write an article that publishes the results of new knowledge.
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The Civil War Through a Child's Eyes
Students focus upon the Civil War era using research methods of drawing information from primary sources. Literature and photographic images reflect, communicate, and influence human perspectives of historical events. The lesson helps...
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Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal
Learners conduct research in order to create an understanding of The Eerie Canal and its place in history and the world. students use a variety of primary and secondary resources to aid in the research process.
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Understanding the Declaration of Independence
Learners work in groups to do a document analyxix of several documents. Students view the Martin Luther King speech, "I Have a Dream." They discuss the Battle of Saratoge. Learners give a personal view of the reason the Declaration of...
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Censorship In Fahrenheit 451
Tenth graders explore the concept of censorship through a reading of Fahrenheit 451. They discuss the issue and its relation to contemporary society. Students work in groups to debate the pros and cons of censorship in our society.
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Characteristics of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. Working in pairs, 8th graders determine what qualities and characteristics they would assign to her from their selected diary entry.
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Close Reading
Eleventh graders read and study Hamlet. Then they are introduced to close reading as a means of understanding what is being read--not only understanding the printed word, but also the nuances and connotations of language as it is used by...
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Learning about the Holocaust
Students participate in learning about the Holocaust including the Japanese Internment Camps. They view the movie, "Schindler's List," in order to gain an even better understanding of the Holocaust. They develop a Power Point...
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William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Fate Versus Free Will
Young scholars relate legends of lucky objects such as a rabbit's foot and principles of Feng Shui to fate and free will concepts that are expressed in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Casear". In small groups, they redesign the palace of...
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Analyzing Poetry with TPCASTT
Middle schoolers read a poem and complete a TPCASTT chart. They make a prediction about the title (T) , paraphrase each line (P), identify poetic devices and nuances (C-connotation), explore mood and tone (A-attitude), point out shifts...
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Slavery in Colonial America
Students examine the experience of the middle passage of slaves. They review slave songs and discuss their common themes. They develop a monologue in which they integrate a fragment of an actual slave song into a poem they have written.
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Dancing through Poetry
Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...
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Goodbye snail mail, hello email
Sixth graders send a picture as an attachment in an email and define email vocabulary. In this email lesson plan, 6th graders learn how to properly send an email and the etiquette that goes along with it.
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Water: A Source of Life and Culture
Students explore water as a feature of culture. In this visual arts lesson, students consider the necessity of water in every culture. Students select water symbols and use their artistic skills to create water symbol silhouettes.
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Storytelling: Performance and Art Learning Center
Tenth graders explore the process of telling stories without words. In this literature lesson, 10th graders watch a music video performance made by Alaska Native students, and then examine art objects that may be used to tell a story,...
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Exploring Biomes Lesson 3: Endangered Biomes
Future environmental scientists compare data from two different conservation strategies. Alone this lesson plan is sufficient, but as part of the Exploring Biomes unit produced by the Arizona Fish and Game Department, it becomes top-notch.
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Literary Response and Analysis
Learners analyze the archetype of 'the fall' in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In this literary analysis lesson, students work in tiered learning groups to analyze the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Learners use the book of Genesis as...
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Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe
Before reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in your class, walk learners through this scavenger hunt that teaches them about Poe's life and works. Though the lesson is designed for 15:1 special education class, it could work in any...
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Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago - Chicago Blues
Watching Great Performances’ Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago launches an investigation into and discussion of how the electric guitar and guitarists have changed the sound of the blues over time. An engaging way to...
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The Kite Runner: Personality File
Readers of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner assume the voice of one of the characters from the novel and draft eight reflective journal entries and a one-page collage that depicts the character's interests, personal beliefs, etc.
Curated OER
Walk Two Moons: DR-TA, Chapter 17: “In the Course of a Lifetime”
Use this question and answer worksheet as an assignment for Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons. The questions listed support better comprehension and critical thinking of chapter seventeen.
Poets.org
Ghosts and Spirits
Connect poetry to a naturally kid-friendly topic: ghosts! Draw on your class's prior knowledge of the paranormal to help them access the classic poem "Haunted House" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After a fun warm-up activity describing...