Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second...
Curated OER
Happy Birthday!: Internet Research and Historic Events
Talk about intrinsic motivation! Begin where your students' natural interests lie -- with themselves -- and launch a variety of projects with this activity. Class members research important events that took place on their...
Curated OER
A Theme Is...
Colorful contemporary images contained in a PowerPoint presentation will capture the attention of class members and model for them the how to distinguish between the subject and the theme of a work. A great want to introduce this...
EngageNY
Taking Notes Using a Graphic Organizer: Inferring About the Importance of Religion in Colonial America
Improve class understanding of colonial times by reading an informational text and filling out the accompanying graphic organizer. Class members work with a partner to read, take notes, make inferences, and synthesize information.The...
Curated OER
Author In The Spotlight
Complete an in-depth study of the works or a specific author. Working in pairs, students read at least four works by the same author. After completing the reading, they create an essay comparing and contrasting the works and create an...
Curated OER
Cardboard Radial Weaving
Students explore cultural history by participating in an arts and crafts activity. In this weaving lesson, students identify the many cultures that used weaving methods and local plant life to create baskets and other useful tools....
Curated OER
Exploring Adlai E. Stevenson II
Fifth graders research work to research six areas in the life of Adlai E. Stevenson II: His Early life, Governor of Illinois, Campaigns for president, Ambassador to the UN, famous quotes, later years. They create a supply of notecards...
Curated OER
Mexican Americans Role In The United States
Students investigate the role of Mexican Americans in the history of the United States. They use the information to answer guided questions. Students conduct class discussion about the varying roles of Mexican Americans. Also they write...
Curated OER
Indian Story Bag
Students use an object to tell an interesting story from their lives. They write and present a short story about an interesting episode from their life and gather objects in a story bag, which illustrates their story to the class.
Curated OER
Subject and Verb Agreement
Students practice subject predicate agreement through the activities of this lesson. Selecting the correct verb to agree with the subject of the sentence is used in the preparation of documents, resumes, memos, letters, and presentations...
Curated OER
Poetry From Photos: A Great Depression Activity
Students view photographs of migrant families during the Great Depression, try to interpret the photos to answer questions about the subject's life, and then write a Cinquain poem based on their interpretations.
Curated OER
CCC: Credible sources, Creative Commons Images, and Citing Your Sources
As part of a unit devoted to the study of autobiographies, this one-day library session focuses on developing research skills. Class members locate and properly cite a sketch of a Creative Commons image, as well as record the call...
Denver Art Museum
The Poetry in Non-Events
The photograph, Nellie and her Italian Soda is viewed and discussed by the class. They are instructed to use the photograph as inspiration to write a poem about non-events, or things that are beautiful in every day life. Pupils use...
Curated OER
Presenting Your Case
Pupils write letter from historical figure's point of view using proper letter writing conventions, write about two props/artifacts that are representative of their subject's life, and use Internet resources to gather images to use in...
Curated OER
Exploring Contrasting Story Elements Through Tapestry and Poetry
Young thinkers view two narrative art tapestries and study the images included that tell a story about the Roman Emperor Constantine. As they examine the details of the tapestries, pupils use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and...
Curated OER
Tom Sawyer
This instructional activity kicks off with a PowerPoint presentation on Mark Twain. Learners examine the dialect, slang, viewpoint and setting. Then use e-mail to address three topics utilizing comprehension, synthesis, and evaluation...
Curated OER
Women Call Out: The Personal Narrative
After reading and discussing several personal narratives written by women in the 1920's, class members write a personal narrative of their own about a time in their lives they felt controlled. Sample narratives can be accessed through...
Teach-nology
What Went Bump in the Night?
What would you do if you found a monster watching your TV? Take a walk on the scary side with a fun cloze reading activity. As kids read the passage, they use the words on the bottom of the page to fill in the eight blank...
Curated OER
Recognizing Cause and Effect
Pupils define cause and effect and recognize an effect as something that happens as a result of a cause. They apply information they have learned about cause and effect to their study of literature.
Curated OER
Ten Prompts for Student Writing
Build writing skills and creative thinking. Writers are given a variety of thought-provoking writing prompts to choose from. After they choose what they will write about they share their pieces with the class.
Curated OER
Prairie Poetry
Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.
Curated OER
A Wanderer's Point of View
Students write an imaginative story using a specific point of view. Students imagine what life along the Mississippi River is like and pretend they are there. Students may use the scenario provided, or create their own for their story.
Curated OER
100 Questions
Gather around to play a game! Middle and high schoolers answer questions (provided here) using various reference materials. Bring encyclopedias and other reference materials to class, as each group has limited Internet access! An answer...
Curated OER
A Day in the life of...
Students read about and study insects--their distinguishing characteristics, habitats, camouflage methods, defense mechanisms, etc. They draw pictures and write a story from the viewpoint of an insect and share their pictures and stories...