Curated OER
Allusions to Shakespeare in Popular Culture
Send your high schoolers on a scavenger hunt through popular culture (music, television, video games, movies) to find allusions to Shakespeare. They must each provide three to share with the class, and the one they present cannot have...
Curated OER
Telling Stories: Symbols of a Life
Art and literature can go hand in hand, they both are used to express elements of the self in a creative and interesting way. Budding story tellers interpret and analyze the narrative elements they find in a work of art. They focus on...
Curated OER
Literature and Telecommunications
High schoolers read a novel and write short journal entries about the characters, setting and interesting facts. Using email, they share their responses to the novel with other students at a different school. Student also create slide...
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Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
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It's All in the Way You Say It
High schoolers unearth multiple meanings based on connotation and cadence. After defining denotation, connotation, and cadence, readers evaluate similar words to compare connotations. They then play with how cadence affects meaning by...
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Comparing Themes
Compare and contrast the themes of two works by J.R.R. Tolkien. High schoolers read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, Then they write an essay that compares the themes found in each novel.
Indiana University
British Literature Restoration Unit: The Pillow Book – Sei Shonagon
First drafted in the year 996, The Pillow Book contains reflections of those met by a lady-in-waiting in the Japanese court. A brief summary, historical context, and discussion questions are provided on the first two pages. Then, two...
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...
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Ancient Greece
Students explore the origins of modern language. In this etymology lesson, students discuss the cultural influences of Ancient Greece on modern society. Students design and complete charts that demonstrate the original and contemporary...
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Bark Art
Students examine Aborigines, a group of people indigenous, or native, to Australia. They view examples of Aboriginal bark art and create pictures in the style of Aboriginal bark art.
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Foreign Language And Culture
Students consider the importance of appreciating a different culture in connection with the language associated with it. They explore how international politics, celebrations and relations are affected by language and culture.
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High Frequency Word Work
First graders make an "All About Me" book. In this high fluency words instructional activity students use a computer program to create a book about themselves. Students write their own text.
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Schools for Sale
Young scholars explore the concept of for-profit companies running schools. In this privatizing schools lesson plan, students simulate a meeting of school board members, community leaders, and other stakeholders to determine the...
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All About My School
Students construct a website with several links to pages they create. The site weaves logo titles, photos, animation, and textured backgrounds created and edited in PhotoShop into pages created using Dreamweaver software. The project...
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Our School's News
Students work collaboratively in small groups to create and edit various publications to promote their school's activities and accomplishments. Groups work to complete these publications and publish or update them bi-monthly.
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Sense of Place: Our School
Students explore the concept of 'sense of place' through journaling and class discussion. For this community lesson, students discuss what makes them feel like they belong. Students give three speeches that develop the sense of place...
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Writing About Art: Objective vs. Subjective
Students examine the sculpture "Head With Horns" by Paul Gauguin. In this perspectives lesson, students discuss what the terms "objective" and "subjective" means. Students are shown the sculpture and write their subjective and objective...
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Human Rights at School
Students evaluate the human rights climate for their school. For this human rights lesson, students complete activities to identify the human rights climate at their school using the lesson plan on the given link.
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Discovering Shakespeare's Language through Sonnet 27
Students explore the language of Shakespeare. In this poetry lesson, students watch a video of illuminated images that accompany Sonnet 27. Students analyze the language of the poem and the image selections.
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Learning Festival ~ Book Buddies Visit High School
High schoolers work together to develop a festival for book lovers. High schoolers work with young children and practice their reading. Traveling between reading stations, they focus on different reading standards. They act as...
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Many Ways of Seeing
Investigate themes and issues in art such as the concept of originality, interpretation of visual language, symbolism, and examination of the categories of fine art and folk art.
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Adapting Narratives for Skits to Teach Language Through Drama
Students in a Spanish foreign language class are giving topics to develop a skit to preform in front of the class. As a class, they are introduced to new vocabulary and the concept of paraphrasing. After performing their skit, they...
National First Ladies' Library
Designing an Appalachian Folk Art Museum
Learners investigate the concepts related to the Appalachian area and the movement of Folk Art. They conduct research using a variety of resources and use the samples as inspiration for creating their own works of art. They could...
Curated OER
Career Planning and Research
What do you want to do when you finish school? Most high schoolers have an idea of what they'd want to do, but little idea of how to achieve this goal. After researching a career of their choosing, learners identify qualifications,...