Curated OER
Search Warranted?
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism...
Curated OER
Creating Compassionate Communities
Have you ever lost someone? Middle and high school learners journal about a time they experienced the loss of someone through death, divorce, moving, or another type of change. They share their responses and discuss an article relating...
Curated OER
Welcome To Middle School Video
Young scholars create questions to pose to adults working in Middle School. In groups, students create a video interviewing the Middle School staff. They edit the video and format present it as an introduction to Middle School for...
Curated OER
The End?
This lesson asks young readers to predict what will happen to Harry Potter. While the question has been answered by the last book and film in the series, the concept and links provided by The New York Times’ Learning Network are...
Curated OER
Wall Reading
In this wall reading worksheet, students read ten paragraphs and answer three questions for each paragraph in how the information relates to themselves. Students then answer twenty eight multiple choice questions about the reading.
Curated OER
Writing Lesson Plan: Homework Books
What a way to end the day! Class members recall important events that occurred throughout day. These events are posted on the chart board for class members to copy into their Homework Book. Books are sent home for parents to read, sign,...
Curated OER
Casting Doubt: "Color-blind" and Nontraditional Casting Decisions
In his article about color-blind casting entitled, "Willy Loman Is Lost, Still Looking for Stimulus Plan and Some Dignity," Charles Isherwood quotes August Wilson as saying, "To mount an all-black production of a 'Death of a...
Curated OER
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Vocabulary Strategy
To prepare for a reading of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, kids research vocabulary drawn from the novel and share their findings with their groups.
Curated OER
By Heart
To memorize, or not to memorize: that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the fear and anguish of committing a poem to memory, to endure the heartache, to shuffle off this fear, and face the stares of classmates with the hue...
Washoe County School District
Three Skeleton Key
Conduct a close reading of George G. Toudouze's well-known horror story "Three Skeleton Key." This plan breaks up the reading into several steps and provides text-dependent questions to ask along the way. Learners will have the chance to...
ESL Kid Stuff
Time Frequency - "How Often ...?"
How often do you ride a bike? Time frequency words are featured in a lesson designed for ESL/ELD classrooms.
Curated OER
Get the Message?
Remember Morse Code? High schoolers investigate ways in which people communicate and assess which communication methods are appropriate and effective in different situations. They evaluate how constant changes in the world of technology...
Curated OER
Quiet on the Set!
In pairs learners perform a silent skit portraying relationships between two known characters from a popular book or a play for their classmates. Next, the class will read and discuss a NYTimes article about a film school in the Bronx...
Curated OER
A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson includes several options to complete...
Museum of Disability
Rolling Along
Kindness and empathy can be as important as reading comprehension skills, especially for younger learners. Reinforce both with a lesson based on Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair by Jamee Riggio Heelan. As...
Curated OER
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Students examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...
Curated OER
Be That As It Maya
Creative projects are a great way to engage your class and can be a fun way to assess mastery! Learners create brochures and postcards that might have been created by and for travelers to ancient Mayan cities. They read and discuss the...
Curated OER
What Makes Our Community Special?
Explore websites, complete research, and use technological tools to create a final multimedia presentation on what makes a community special. Learners of all ages work with a partner to research an interesting aspect of their community,...
Curated OER
Budget Busters
Use this economic activity to focus on writing summaries of informational text. First, middle schoolers define common economic terms used to describe news about the economy. They closely read news about the federal budget deficit and...
Curated OER
Warm Thoughts About the Cold
“What do you think life is like at the South Pole?” After responding to this journal prompt, class members read and discuss the New York Times article, “At South Pole, New Home for a New Era.” Using resources available from the Times’...
Curated OER
Let There Be Peace: Nobel Prize Winners
What is the Nobel Peace Prize? After they establish criteria for great leadership, secondary learners read a New York Times article about President Jimmy Carter's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Individuals research the...
Curated OER
Fit to Be Tied (In)
How do the films we watch affect our purchasing behavior? Considering the profiles of given consumer demographics, the class analyzes real advertisements and the effectiveness of their power on consumerism. THey create posters that...
Curated OER
Playground Safety Check
Students study a playground safety checklist, conduct a safety check of the schoolyard and/or local playground and write a report about their findings, # present the report to school or community leaders
Curated OER
Critically Surfing the Web
The New York Times article “Online Diary,” launches this study of websites and how to assess them. Richly detailed, the lesson includes warm-up activities, procedures, journal prompts, discussion questions, and links to valuable...