Curated OER
A Modest Proposal: Irony Made Understandable with Rock and Roll
Who doesn't love music? Poems and songs will engage your high school class in a discussion about irony. Use songs like "Rockin' in the Free World" or "Born in the U.S.A." to illustrate the ironic point of view. Print the lyrics so...
Curated OER
The Art and Science of Impressionist Color
Discover Impressionist painting as students investigate the 19th century combinations of colors characteristically used. Students experiment with their own paintings, utilizing primary and secondary colors.
National Association of Writers in Education
Character and Situation
Delve into narrative writing that puts choice in the hands of the writers. Kids pick their own characters, emotions, items, and places from a list and tie them together in the exposition. Several questions help guide the writers toward...
Curated OER
Character in a Box
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
Curated OER
For the Love of Publication!
What is a ‘Zine? Although the referenced PBS video that launches this study of self-published magazines is not available, the activities detailed and the step-by-step directions for creating ‘Zines would engage young writers. This...
Curated OER
Holocaust Studies: Five Poems by Dan Pagis
Teaching a unit on the Holocaust? Consider using the personal statements of Dan Pagis’s poetry to contrast with the more “distanced” historical accounts found in textbooks. Five poems, discussion questions, and background notes are...
Center for Civic Education
Historical Analysis of Constitutional Amendments
Each of the 27 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were adopted within specific economic, political, social or cultural, and international contexts. As part of their Constitution Day/Week studies, seniors investigate these factors for...
Curated OER
Outstanding Women
Research the lives of famous women in this social studies lesson. Middle schoolers use various sources to research a famous woman and create a presentation about the accomplishments of the woman. They can find the central idea throughout...
Curated OER
Banco de Palabras de Contenido
Grappling with words in context helps learners build vocabulary skills. As your Spanish class is reading new Spanish literature, have them complete this graphic organizer. They record new vocabulary words and use the context to define...
Curated OER
Banco de palabras de dibujo
While reading either a non-fiction or fictional text, have your class record new and unknown words. This graphic organizer has space for six words and their definitions, so challenge your kids to find at least six unknown words.
Curated OER
Tú eres el Líder
Start by having your class list words (specifically names, verbs, and adjectives) that would be necessary to know if you worked for the government. Then, using their lists, they create a story and/or write a speech that uses this...
Curated OER
Como Resumir
Improve the reading ability of your intermediate and advanced Spanish speakers. As they read, they record 10 words they deem important to the text. Then, they summarize the main points, and finally they write an entire paragraph...
Curated OER
Mapa de la historia
Is your advanced Spanish class reading Spanish literature? Give them this graphic organizer to help them sift through the story. Where does it take place? When? What happens in the story?
Curated OER
¿Por qué es importante el Servicio Comunitario?
Why is it important to do community service? Read these paragraphs to discover Barack Obama and Joe Biden's stance on community service. After reading the difficult text, high schoolers must identify the principal idea and decide their...
Curated OER
Creador de Oraciones
Start by selecting a topic. What do you want your class to learn more about? Then, distribute this helpful note-taking guide. They record their topic, a list of names that could be associated with it, a list of verbs that come up when...
Polk Bros Foundation
John F. Kennedy: Remarks in the Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin
“Ich bin ein Berliner.” Here’s the full text of John F. Kennedy’s famous address delivered to the people of Berlin on June 26, 1963. The resource could be used as part of a study of Kennedy’s presidency, of rhetorical devices, or as...
Curated OER
Fredrick Douglass' Speech on Women's Suffrage
“When a great truth once gets abroad in the world, no power on earth can imprison it, or prescribe its limits, or suppress it.” These words come from Frederick Douglass’ April, 1888 speech to the International Council of Women. One of...
Polk Bros Foundation
Comprehensive Nonfiction Reading Questions
Analyze any nonfiction text with the set of questions on this sheet. Class members practice inferring by noting the main idea and purpose of a passage. They also analyze an opinion in the passage and write a brief summary. See the...
Polk Bros Foundation
Contrast Points of View
Compare two positions on the same topic and assess the positions for logical argument with a basic worksheet. Pupils fill in information about each position, note down which position is more logical, and compose a few sentences...
Polk Bros Foundation
Common Core Constructed Response Organizer
Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...
Polk Bros Foundation
How to Summarize a Non-Fiction Passage
After reading a text, one way to find out how much your class comprehended is to ask your pupils to summarize. This worksheet helps class members prepare for writing a summary of a nonfiction text. They note down the topic, up to eight...
Polk Bros Foundation
Preview Reading
Scanning a text before getting started is a reading strategy that your pupils can use to get a general idea about a text before diving in. Give some direction to their scanning with a worksheet that includes items to check for and space...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Infer Motive and Effects for an Action
Help your pupils determine just what makes a character or person tick by zooming in on one character or person. This graphic organizer is dedicated to analyzing one person and asks pupils to infer a personality trait, note down an action...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Infer Predictions Based on an Analysis of Motive
Use a character or person's motivation as the basis for a prediction of that character or person's next action. Pupils select an individual from their reading, copy a quote, write down an inference about that character's motives, and...