Curated OER
Understanding Cause and Effect
Identify the author's organizational pattern for expressing ideas. After reading an article on the California Gold Rush, middle schoolers determine the author's purpose for writing a passage of informational text. A full list of...
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
Those "Other Rights:" The Constitution and Slavery
Did the United States Constitution uphold the institution of slavery, or did it help to destroy it? Young historians study Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution and evaluate the rights of slaveowners as they compared to...
Curated OER
Let's Get it Together! Reading to Learn
Let’s learn about frogs! Young readers are led through “Freaky Frogs,” a non-fiction article. Teach learners how to edit an article so there are fewer details to sift through. After talking through the article, they learn the six steps...
Curated OER
Learning From the Past
Coming up on the Olympics? Be sure your middle schoolers understand the dynamic and ancient history of this global tradition. They begin by recalling traditions parents have passed down, considering their relevance and ways they might be...
Curated OER
Butterfly, Butterfly: Teaching Vocabulary
Kindergarteners practice new words through listening to and reading the science book Butterfly by Jenny Feely. The teacher will first choose words that are essential for understanding the text. Then, using pictures in the text,...
Curated OER
Local Motives
Investigate current local elections across the United States with this New York Times reading lesson. Using informational text, middle and high schoolers research local elections and create their own news reports about what they...
Curated OER
Weighing the War
Study opposing viewpoints with this instructional activity, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or...
Curated OER
Bias and Crime in Media
Critical thinking and social justice are central themes for this resource on bias and crime in media. The class views and discusses an incisive PSA that highlights assumptions based on race. Small groups read newspaper opinion pieces...
Curated OER
Does Mother Nature Know Best?
Investigate herbal medicine in the science or health classroom with this lesson from the New York Times. After a discussion about class members beliefs about and experiences with herbal medicines, pupils read an article that might...
Curated OER
Create a Public Opinion Survey: The Middle East in the News
Though the discrete content here is a pair of New York Times articles about a 1998 military strike on Iraq and the coincident impeachment by the House of Representatives of then-President Clinton, this detailed plan for creating,...
Curated OER
Reading Strategies: Main Idea
Identify the main idea and the supporting details of a story in a literacy resource from Discovery Education. Complete with procedures, vocabulary, and assessment activities, this is a great way for pupils to practice their outlining...
Prestwick House
Writing Arguments in Response to Nonfiction
Emotional appeal or argument? That is the question. An informative lesson helps your class recognize the difference between a logical argument and an emotional appeal and learn how to craft an argumentative response. Writers develop a...
Curated OER
Prisoner in One's Own Home
Examine the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After reading an article from the New York Times and exploring the author's word choice, young readers find the central idea in the text and work on researching...
Curated OER
Validating Votes
Explore the discrepancies in Florida's vote counting process in 2000 and 2002 with this New York Times reading lesson. Middle schoolers study the viewpoints presented in informational text, paying attention to how word choice can...
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
Picture This
A unique writing lesson plan, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...
Macmillan Education
Christmas: #SadTree
Christmas trees can be as large and elaborate as the tree in Rockefeller Center, or as small and understated as Charlie Brown's tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But where did the tradition of Christmas trees come from? An engaging...
Civil War Trust
Contrasting the North and South before the War
Learners create a standing cube with four panels that display information on the North and South's economy, geography and climate, society, and means of transportation before the Civil War. Through discussion and reading...
Curated OER
Playing Vocabulary Basketball
Learners view a slide show featuring famous athletes and educational institutions that have played a part in the history of basketball. They participate in a game in which a basketball is tossed from person to person as facts and...
Curated OER
Deep Impact
How can acknowledging opposing viewpoints reinforce one's argument? Use this New York Times instructional activity to study consumerism and the environmental impact of new products. After reading the article "Whether a Hummer or a...
Curated OER
Fact vs. Opinion (Part II)
How can you tell the difference between fact and opinion? Using newspapers, learners determine which articles contain statements of fact, and which articles reflect the writer's opinion. The lesson plan includes a discussion format and a...
National Park Service
A Tale of Two Men
Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores were both born in 1858, and both came to the Dakota territory in 1883, but they influenced the developing country of America in different ways. Elementary and middle schoolers apply written and...
Curated OER
Trade Secrets
Young analysists explore how global trade and free market policies might personally affect them. They read an article, view a series of documenteries, and engage in a class discussion. Great lesson!
Curated OER
Worried Sick
Is health insurance a luxury? The class examine the increasing number of uninsured middle class Americans; they then research and present information on various aspects of medical coverage and care at a classroom forum entitled "The...