Curated OER
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Learners complete activities with the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff. For this literature lesson, students listen to the story and then participate in shared reading. This lesson offers three extensions which link the story to...
Media Smarts
Perceptions of Youth and Crime
Explore the potential for bias in the news and in scholars' own attitudes and opinions. Begin with a quiz on youth crime to see how learners perceive crime among their peers. After looking at the correct answers, put individuals in...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Chronicling America: Uncovering a World at War
As part of a study of World War I, class members read newspaper articles from the time that urge American involvement, non-involvement, or neutrality. Using the provided worksheet, groups analyze the articles noting the central argument...
Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 3 Day Lesson
Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents that...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics and Reproduction
Disease prevention or designer babies? Use a set of slides to introduce the growing practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Teens read related articles and then break into groups to address different scenarios. Afterward,...
Media Smarts
Images of Learning: Secondary
Make your scholars more aware of stereotypical portrayals in film and television. Discuss the definition of "stereotypes" and how they are used to present a story. High schoolers look at specific television shows and complete a chart...
Baylor College
Pre-Assessment: The Brain
Break your class in to the general structure and function of the brain. Brainiacs discuss what they know about it and create personalized brain development timelines. They also take a true-false, pre-assessment quiz to get them thinking...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Sugar Crystal Challenge
Blow your learners' minds with a sweet lesson on nanotechnology that uses sugar to demonstrate the difference nanoscale surface area makes in dissolving and crystal formation. Plenty of supportive background information is read to...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Get it Write
In an effort to practice engineering design, STEM classes break out into teams and endeavor to make a working ink pen. To prepare, they read about writing implements through history, patents, and viscosity of liquids. Armed with this...
Curated OER
Fall Literacy Activity: Nuts to you
Students actively listen to the book Nuts To You and learn facts about squirrels. In this squirrels lesson, students listen to the book, and discuss what they learned after.
Newseum
The Medium Shapes the Message
Where do you get your news? Have learners examine four different publications and decide which one they would choose to read on their own time. The resource includes a list of publication types to supply and a worksheet for groups...
Brown University
Following the U.S. Presidential Election
Election years provide the opportunity to evaluate news media as well as the next prospective president. High schoolers read about the same event in several different news sources, varying in type, origin, and political leaning,...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Curated OER
Valuing Different Views: Taking a Stand on Media Violence
Young scholars recognize the value of multiple perspectives and differences of opinion. They build empathy and open-mindedness for other points of view. They study the complexity of social and cultural issues such as violence in media.
Curated OER
Disability in the Media Lesson Plan: Braille
Students determine the workings of the Braille alphabet and how people with visual impairments learn how to use it. In this Braille lesson, students study the associated vocabulary, read about Helen Keller, and complete associated...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment
Concept Muraling
Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded instructional...
Curated OER
Pre-Reading Preparation
Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research instructional activity, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in...
Curated OER
Home Living/ Daily Living: Food Pyramid
What did you have for lunch? Did it contain all four food groups? Help your special education class make good food choices and recognize foods in each of the four food groups. They look at images and discuss the foods on the food pyramid...
Curated OER
Library Media: Poetry
Fifth graders explore different kinds of poetry. They work in groups to collect different styles of poetry. Then they use charts to organize the attributes of various poems. Conclude the lesson by having each individual choose the style...
Media Smarts
Kellogg Special K Ads
Foster class discussion about body image with the resources and questions provided here. Focus on Special K's "look good on your own terms" ad campaign. Learners start by reading about this campaign and analyze a series of print ads,...
King Country
Lesson 4: Relationships - Day 2: Gender Identification
Gender roles and gender identity are the focus of a lesson designed for high school special education classes. Read the introduction to the packet carefully, as it contains advice about how to approach the subject with your...
Media Smarts
Violence and Video Games
Widespread video gaming makes this content relevant and high interest. Developing youth awareness about the impact of violence in games is important to promote literacy, critical thinking, health, and consumer awareness. After reading...
Curated OER
Connotation: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...