Curated OER
World Religion Day: Reading Activities
If your class is observing World Religion Day in January, use this resource to provide a research and response opportunity. A short informational reading (available as an MP3 download for auditory learners and listening exercises) is the...
K5 Learning
The Coat
The moral of the story: listen to your parents! A concise reading passage introduces learners to Tom and the consequences of his choice to go out without a coat.
EngageNY
Close Read, Part 1: “Hugo, the Lord’s Nephew”
Fourth time is a charm. Learners complete multiple reads of Hugo, the Lord’s Nephew. On the fourth read, they make notes about each page on sticky notes. They then complete a think-pair-share activity with a partner to determine the...
Curated OER
Media Awareness: the Basics of Advertising
Young scholars explore marketing techniques. In this media awareness lesson, students watch instructor-selected advertising and identify the marketing techniques used in each of them. Young scholars then create advertisements for products.
Curated OER
Media Literacy in Presentations
Middle schoolers study the three types of mass media messages: visual media, written media, and audio media. After a class discussion which has them list examples of each, learners get into pairs and work on analyzing the "Four A's" in...
Smithsonian Institution
POWs
Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars? To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the...
Curated OER
Youth Emergency Preparedness
What is an emergency, why is preparing for one important, and how can your pupils help others prepare for an emergency? Answer these questions and more with a short unit. Learners will participate in a variety of collaborative,...
Curated OER
Creating a Literacy-Rich Learning Environment
Students in a teacher education program use a jigsaw method to identify the six areas of language arts to be taught in an early childhood classroom. They describe their vision of a literacy rich environment and practices uses a KWL...
Curated OER
Literacy: Each One Teach One
Students read the book, Amber on the Mountain and discuss its philanthropic implications. They determine the literacy needs of their own communities. They ask family members to complete reading recollection forms about when and how they...
Curated OER
Texas Kid Writes Book About Presidents
Arranged into small groups, learners read a paragraph of the news story "Texas Kid Writes Book About Presidents." As one reads, others mark the text (underlining important information and writing notes in the margin of the story). After...
Perkins School for the Blind
Student Store
Vocational training activities are extremely important for learners with intellectual or physical disabilities. Here is a great idea that will help your class become skilled at money handling, basic economic concepts, interpersonal...
Curated OER
Unit 1: Water is Life: The Heart and Science Behind this Phrase
Water, water, everywhere — but will there be enough to drink? Check out these detailed lesson plans to meet NGSS water cycle and CCSS literacy standards in your science classroom. Learners do a close reading of a challenging, poetic text...
Curated OER
Burr Airlines Flight to Asia: Building Inquiry Skills
What a wonderful way to explore this topic! Learners take an imaginary trip to Asia, take a visual tour, and formulate questions for a research project. As a final project, they create a travel brochure.
Curated OER
Create a Word
Brainstorm new words for a class dictionary. In small groups, young learners read and discuss an article about how words get into dictionaries. They then develop a new word, use it in a sentence, and share their creations with their...
Curated OER
Reading a Comparison-Contrast Essay
Turn your passive readers into active readers with an engaging lesson on reading informational text. Focused on compare and contrast structured essays, the activity prompts elementary learners to jot down questions and think-aloud...
PBS
Analyzing Stop and Frisk Through Personal Stories and Infographics
How much can you learn about an important topic from a single image? High schoolers analyze an infographic that represents the number of stops performed during the Stop and Frisk police procedure. After building background information...
Teaching Tolerance
Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System
Explore the impact of the war on drugs in a thought-provoking lesson for high school academics. Young historians delve into the world of the criminal justice system and the racial disparity that occurs in the US. The resource provides...
Curated OER
Technological Grand Conversations
Conduct a written literary discussion and diminish stress about public writing. Class members, already arranged into literature circles, compose and post responses to novels, signing with initials or class number. The process continues...
Curated OER
Plagiarism: Avoiding Accidental Internet Plagiarism
Demonstrate how to cite information from Internet sources without plagiarizing. If your class is working on an Internet research paper, and you have observed learners cutting and pasting directly from the Internet, the activities and...
Curated OER
Exploring Careers
The world is full of possibilities for your ELLs. Help them explore their career options with a lesson that incorporates Internet research and expository writing. Not only will they learn more about their careers of choice, but both...
Curated OER
Paper Dragon Fairy Tale
Imagine a beautiful rainbow-colored dragon flying free in the air. With powerful imagery and sensory language, a reading passage prompts learners to follow the plot of a short story and answer five comprehension questions.
Curated OER
Commonly Misspelled Words
Display this list of commonly misspelled and frequently confused words for your learners. Though there is no interactive component, this handout is a great reference tool comparing many homophones such as sole and soul. One tip...
Practical Money Skills
Saving and Investing
Learn the difference between saving money and investing money, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. Kids review banking and personal finance terms before studying the different ways that people can reach their financial...
Health Smart Virginia
How the Namuhs Learned to be Content with Who They Are
The Namuhs have a lot to teach humans how idealized images presented in advertising can impact self-perception and self-worth. After brainstorming 10 traits the media sets as the perfect body, class members read a short story about the...