Curated OER
Expressing Your Views to the Letter
Analyze the motivation, purpose, and value of letters to the editor by examining letters written in response to the violence at Columbine High School. For homework, middle and high schoolers write their own letters to the editor about an...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Seasons and Weather: Read-Aloud Anthology
Kindergartners explore the cycle of the seasons in a 10-lesson language arts unit. Through a series of picture-supported read-aloud activities, children are able to identify the sequence of seasons and the types of weather...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Seasons and Weather: Supplemental Guide
From warm summer days to cold winter nights, this 10-lesson unit takes children on an exploration of seasons. Using the included reading passages and images, a series of read-aloud lessons and vocabulary activities...
BrainPOP
Civil Rights Lesson Plan: Tracking History Through Timelines
Use the accompanying assessment to determine your class's prior knowledge on Martin Luther King, Jr. before beginning a instructional activity on the famous civil rights movement leader. The resource has young historians thinking about...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing: Lesson 2 of 5
Introduce expository writing to your elementary learners. Young authors write a three-paragraph informational paper using the steps of the writing process. They follow guided lessons to experience each of five steps. Included are tons of...
Achieve3000
Context Clues and Idioms
Kids practice using five types of context clues (definition, synonym, antonym, example, and general) to decode idiomatic language.
Curated OER
Proofreading: Lesson 2
Identify and develop strategies for proofreading with your class. They read and identify the grammar rules for capitalization, end punctuation, and commas, correct errors as a class, and complete three worksheets. This resource includes...
For the Teachers
Sequence Plot Chart
Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events.
What So Proudly We Hail
A Lesson on Benjamin Franklin’s “Project for Moral Perfection”
Benjamin Franklin identified 13 virtues that he felt would strengthen his character if he could focus on each one. A thorough lesson explores high schoolers' personal values in the context of their lives, and compels them to strive for...
Curated OER
Convey Ideas in Writing
Use the platforms of the 2004 presidential candidates to bring persuasive writing to your class. Young voters identify the three issues most important to them in the election and research the issues and candidates' positions. They write...
EngageNY
Comparing an Author’s Presentation of Ideas: “Rachel Carson: Sounding the Alarm on Pollution”
It's all in the presentation. Readers take a look at author's presentation in the article Rachel Carson: Sounding the Alarm on Pollution. Scholars work together to complete a Comparing
and Contrasting Authors’ Presentation graphic...
Curated OER
Our Wonderful Stories: Lesson Plan 5
The fifth installment in a writing unit that culminates with a Hyperstudio illustrated group story project, this plan is ripe with ideas for ways to design group writing projects for elementary writers. Use the whole unit as a base from...
Curated OER
"Blackbeard's Ghost" Differentiated Lesson Plan
Develop a better understanding of "Blackbeard's Ghost" with this differentiated lesson. Working in groups on a creative project, middle schoolers can reinforce their reading comprehension and literary analysis skills. Use this...
EngageNY
Revising for Organization: Timely Transitions
During the eighth lesson in a historical fiction unit, pupils practice thoughtfully transitioning their ideas sequentially. After the teacher models how to add these transitions using the Wheelwright draft created in a previous lesson,...
Weber County Library
Abstract Ideas Explored: Writing with Extended Metaphor
A 25-page packet includes eight detailed lesson plans centered around poems by Emily Dickinson. Each lesson begins with a burning question that learners attempt to answer by using evidence from Dickinson's poems.
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin Franklin and Learning a Lesson
Examine stories with a moral in a character development instructional activity. The class reads a short story written by Benjamin Franklin in which he pays too much for a toy whistle. Individuals then make text-to-self connections and...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 4: Proverbs
"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 2
The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...
Curated OER
My Secret War: Lesson 1
Fifth graders explore historical fiction. In this genre study lesson plan, 5th graders go on a text feature scavenger hunt to identify the parts of a historical fiction text. Additionally, students read the book, My Secret War and...
Curated OER
My Secret War: Lesson 4
Fifth graders write a speech. For this history lesson, 5th graders define the word infamy and listen to a speech by FDR. Students work in groups to summarize his speech and rewrite sections of the speech.
Curated OER
High School Literary Paragraph Development
You can cover literary elements, writing organization, and proofreading skills in this SMART board activity. Using student paragraphs from a previous assignment, the class reviews the best examples of writing. A SMART board activity...
Curated OER
Creative Writing Lesson
It's hard to find inspiration; have your learners bring in a slew of magazines and search for inspiring pictures! They look for characters, setting, and possibly even conflict clues. They analyze the pictures they select, turn their...
EngageNY
Revising: Developing Topic Sentences for My Accessing Books Around the World Informative Paragraph
Revision is an important part of the writing process. Focus on revising topic sentences and details with the plan described here. This is part of a unit, so pupils have already filled out a graphic organizer about traveling...
All for KIDZ
Building Relationships: The Orphan of Ellis Island
Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource...