Curated OER
There Must Be Something in the Water
Students read a New York Times article as a class and discuss how groundwater near a nuclear test site may have been contaminated. They explore how groundwater contamination can spread through aquifers by participating in a simulation.
Curated OER
Procedures of the Court
Students examine the role of the Michigan Supreme Court. They diagram the procedure one must follow to bring a case before the Court. They discuss the order of business for oral arguments as well.
Curated OER
Ida Tarbell: Hysterical Woman vs. Historical Facts
Young scholars examine journalism and its different styles. In this effective communication instructional activity students create an editorial message and articulate an article.
Curated OER
Forest Grump
Students consider the definition of an ecosystem, its parts, and how these parts can be affected when the ecosystem is endangered. They examine dangers being faced by the Canadian boreal forest by reading "For Billions of Birds, an...
Curated OER
Speak Up, Speak Out
Fourth graders examine, compare, and summarize the speeches of Sojourner Truth and Patrick Henry. They review the parts of a good speech and design and give their own speech that expresses an opinion and persuades the listener..
Nazareth College
Create Your Own Tornado
Third graders identify key concepts and definitions about tornados. They work in small groups of three to four to create mini-tornados. After reading Tornado Alert as a class, 3rd graders discuss tornados and fill out a KWL chart.
Curated OER
Opinion Polls And Surveys As Research Tools
Eleventh graders determine, evaluate, and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, prefaces, appendices,...
Curated OER
The Great Paragraph Race
Students construct and analyze paragraphs. In groups, students place given sentences in order to form a paragraph. They determine the main idea of the paragraph. Students perform activities to determine the concept of topic sentence,...
Curated OER
The Power of the Pen
Young scholars discuss the personal and historical significance of journals, analyze the issues raised in a N.Y. Times article regarding Anne Frank's diary, and evaluate a Letter to the Editor written in response to the article.
Curated OER
The Energy Task Force
Students simulate a meeting of the President's energy task force in order to observe how energy policy may be developed with the input of various groups. Students will form groups with the following roles: lobbyists, members of the...
Curated OER
Honour killings: What do we need to understand in looking for solutions?
Students prepare a chart with four columns: things we know, things we think we know but need to check, things we wonder about, and new things we have learned. Each group is given a case study and they discuss the three cases of "honor...
Curated OER
When Athletes Are Off-Base
Students explore whether or not athletes have a responsibility to be role models in society.
Curated OER
Information Fluency Unit
Fourth graders, after defining the task and searching for some creative strategies, role play being a Park Ranger who tries to save Big Bend from being removed from the National Park system in Texas. They support the keeping of Big Bend...
Curated OER
What Are Legal Briefs?
Twelfth graders read examples of legal briefs and identify their components. Using the text, they develop a list of the components necessary for a brief and which ones they are going to use in the mock court activities. They also...
Curated OER
Polythene: Bags Of Trouble
Students investigate the use of polythene bags in the community and measure the possible impact upon the environment. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create an evaluative opintion...
Curated OER
Can I Take Action?
Students create a solution to a problem related to the environment. They work together to develop the plan and pitch the plan to their class. They discuss the action steps taken in a story they were read.
Curated OER
For Pete's Sake
Learners investigate the proposed Gazprom City in St. Petersburg, Russia. They review proposals from international architects and consider the pros and cons of the Gazprom City development. Students conduct a mock public hearing to...
Curated OER
Constrating Cinderellas/ Connecting LA Cenerentola
Students contrast the traditional Cinderella character with a modern, independent and socially conscious Cinderella. To activate prior knowledge by eliciting from the students some of the familiar story elements of the traditional...
Curated OER
The Nuclear Option
Students explore the history behind judicial nominations as well as the filibuster process. They discuss and debate filibuster merits and detractions, its use and alleged misuse, and what some Congressional leaders are currently doing...
Curated OER
Inventors Timelines
Young scholars create a class timeline using the patent year for their selected inventor or invention. Using a piece of yarn, they physically create a timeline, and create and answer math word problems using the years from the timeline.
Other
Teachers Network: A Trip to Baseball Hall of Fame (Writing a Persuasive Letter)
This lesson focuses on improving students' persuasive writing skills. Students reseach baseball and then write a persuasive essay to convince the baseball coach that a trip the Baseball Hall in Fame would be beneficial to the members of...
Love To Know Media
Your Dictionary: Lesson Plan for Writing a Movie Summary
This lesson focuses on teaching high school students to write a movie summary that provides a plot summary without sharing too much of the storyline but includes the following: brevity, conflict, theme, tone, and persuades others to want...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Writing a Persuasive Essay
In this lesson students research opposing viewpoints on controversial issues and develop their own position papers. Though primarily for English classes, this lesson could be easily adapted for an interdisciplinary unit with social...