San Francisco Symphony
Dear Mr. Copland and Mr. Ellington
After a teacher-led demonstration on the lives and music of Aaron Copland and Duke Ellington, learners write a letter to them which shows their understanding of how a person's life experiences can be reflected in a composer's music. They...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing Using the Book Rumpelstiltskin
Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...
Federal Reserve Bank
Income Taxes
Most adults dread April 15 — tax day! Tax preparation can be intimidating even for adults. Build confidence by leading individuals through the process and then give them a scenario to practice. The exercise uses tax vocabulary to give...
Curated OER
Perky Prefixes
First graders create games of their choice to be played with the class to reinforce their knowledge of prefixes. This six-day lesson plan includes an excellent worksheet and assessment. I like the use of educational games!
Curated OER
Biographical Poems
Students write a biographical poem about themselves. They observe a teacher-led demonstration, write an autobiographical poem and a biographical poem about a famous person using a template form, and display the poems side-by-side.
Baylor College
What Is the Water Cycle?
Small groups place sand and ice in a covered box, place the box in the sunlight, then observe as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation occur. These models serve as miniature water cycles and demonstrations of the three phases of...
New York State Education Department
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 13
The six instructional shifts in this workshop definitely move math and science teachers' understanding of instruction. The workshop, 13th out of a series of 15, asks participants to examine sample tests and to look at how the six...
Baylor College
Reebops: A “Model” Organism for Teaching Genetic Concepts
In a sweet simulation, junior geneticists examine the chromosomes of a fictitious Reebop marshmallow animal, combine chromosomes to produce offspring, and then make a model of the resulting Reebop baby. Phenotypes include number of...
American Art Clay Co., Inc.
Ceramic Tile Wall Murals
Science, social studies, language arts, and art classes work together with administrators to produce a permanent, ceramic tile wall mural to install at their school.
Curated OER
The Blend Game
Students become stars of their own educational video in this project that allows learning in several different styles.
Curated OER
Car For Sale!
Car For sale! In this GED prep lesson plan, writers develop a classified advertisement to sell a car. After a discussion of precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language, sellers draft their ad for review, revision and...
Curated OER
Kaffee - und Teegesellschaften: German Foods
Introduce your Language students to the culture and 19th century German custom of serving coffee and cake at small parties. They read old cookbooks, sort recipes, prepare foods, compare old German recipes to recipes from home and convert...
Curated OER
Exceptional Expression!
Young elementary learners develop expression while reading. They listen as the teacher demonstrates expression when reading aloud. Individual learners read with a partner and practice using expression in their reading. When their partner...
Curated OER
Women
A close study of two works of art provides the introduction to this cross-curricular writing assignment. After comparing the clothing, facial expressions, body language, setting, and color in the two 19th century paintings Tissout’s...
National First Ladies' Library
Designing the Common School: The First Educational Reform
Middle schoolers perform preliminary research to explore education before public (common) education was in place. They design a public educational system of their own. Students construct a report outlining challenges and solutions for...
Curated OER
Expression Direction: Growing Independence and Fluency
Looking to move children away from monotone reading? That's what they will practice here. In a guided learning lesson, the class reviews punctuation marks and practices what type of intonation should accompany each. They then listen...
Curated OER
Blast-Off to Blending
Practice working with different phonemes in consonants and vowels. Sounds are written on squares that get put on a rocket to "blast off" and meet other sounds. The teacher first models blending, then reads the new words. Young readers...
Curated OER
Health Education: Tobacco Products
Second graders analyze the dangers of using tobacco products. In this health lesson plan, 2nd graders learn about the dangers of tobacco products as they watch a teacher-led puppet show and sing a new song.
Curated OER
Old Ladies Say A?
The letter a produces so many sounds! Increase your class's awareness of concepts related to reading and spelling. They identify the digraphs /ea/ and /ai/ in spoken language and spelling as a long vowel sound. After a brief discussion,...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Native Americans and Onomatopoeias
Fifth graders read the Native American tale, "The Frog and the Crane," focusing on the use of onomatopoeia in it. In groups, they brainstorm list of words that are examples of the device. Finally, 5th graders write their own stories...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...
Curated OER
Mmm, Mmm ... Good!
Help primary students learn the /m/ sound. As they listen as the teacher introduces the "Secret Code" of language they will practice the /m/ sound by rubbing their tummies as if eating something good. They also practice hearing and...
Curated OER
1, 2, 3, Read!
Explain to your readers a variety of decoding strategies to improve their reading fluency. They observe the teacher modeling blending, then in pairs take turns reading the book Clifford the Big Red Dog. Learners then time each other...
Curated OER
Summarizing with James and the Giant Peach
Elementary readers in literature groups practice summarizing chapter-by-chapter with Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Focus on main idea, supporting details, and the 5 Ws. Unfortunately, a clever "peach" graphic organizer to which...