Curated OER
Using Environmental Models to Determine the Effect of Acid Rain on an Ecosystem
Demonstrate to your middle school science learners how chalk breaks down in a weak acid. Discuss what affects acidic rain might have on ecosystems. Lab groups then choose one of two questions: "How does acid precipitation affect an...
Curated OER
The Dance of the Butterfly
Students explore butterfly life cycles and movement. In this integrated fine arts and biology life cycle lesson, students listen to the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and identify the related life cycle stages....
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day instructional...
Curated OER
River Reading Circle
Students participate in a reading circle as a means of studying river-related poetry. They meet in small groups to discuss provided poems about the Mississippi River and use written or drawn notes
to guide their part of the discussion.
Curated OER
Put A Scientific Spin on Teen Read Week!
Celebrate Teen Read Week by incorporating literature into your science curriculum.
Curated OER
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Getting Started with Literature Circles
Students complete novel analysis activities for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this novel analysis lesson, students work in literature circle groups to complete close reading activities for the novel. Students keep...
Curated OER
Our Treasured Trees
Students discuss natural resources and renewable resources with trees being considered renewable resources which need special attention. In this Earth science lesson plan, students write a list of reasons for why it would be good to stop...
Curated OER
AN INTERNATIONAL MENU
Studentsl expand vocabulary through word study, literature and class discussion (e.g. word origins, roots and affixes, meaning in context, levels of usage, etc.). They recognize food-related words that have entered the English language...
Curated OER
You and the Military
Do military recruiters plan to visit your campus? If so, the visit presents an opportunity for class members to engage in a series of action projects. Class members interview recruiters, propose a PTA meeting to discuss the pros and cons...
Curated OER
Hip Hip Hooray! Happy Birthday to Who?
Recognize Dr. Seuss Day with fun and creative activities in your classroom.
Curated OER
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
Seventh graders read Sherlock Holmes silently and work together to demonstrate an understanding of the story. They participate in small group and whole class discussions and analyze Holmes' method of deducing details about an object and...
Curated OER
Alexander And The Wind-Up Mouse
Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 11: Setting
Encourage your learners to examine the setting in Theodore Taylor's The Cay. Pupils work in small groups to put together a description of the setting before reading two more chapters of the book. They use their double-entry journals to...
Curated OER
Friendships and Differences
Students complete a variety of activities related to the book "My Friend Jacob" by Lucille Clifton. They complete a graphic organizer web about friendship qualities, and participate in a discussion about friendship. In small groups...
Curated OER
Learning Through Autobiographical Situations
A special education classroom examines a variety of literature from Latin American authors. In groups, they read excerpts from many autobiographies and compare them with their own life. After writing their own autobiographies, they...
Curated OER
A Year in Review: The Memoir
If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...
Curated OER
Our “Civilized” Society
The Scarlet Letter is the anchor text in a four-week unit that examines Hawthorne's novel through the lens of the intolerances found in a supposed civilized society. In addition to their reading, class members watch clips from...
Curated OER
How Much Carbon is Held by the World's Forests?
Seventh graders identify how much carbon is held by the world's forests. For this forestry lesson, 7th graders study the carbon cycle and discuss what role humans have had on climate change. Students write a one page paper on how...
Curated OER
The Secret School
Fourth graders read THe Secret School. In this language arts lesson, 4th graders make predictions prior to reading and discussing the story. Students write a summary of the chapter.
John F. Kennedy Center
Folktale Theatre
Introduce your middle schoolers to a performance and movement activity that uses their favorite stories from fairytales and folklore. They practice basic acting skills, create dialogues with a partner, and then as guided practice,...
Shakespeare in American Life
"We Few, We Happy Few": Motivational Speech in Henry V
Class members may "think themselves accurs'd" when they first hear of an assignment that asks them to create a motivational speech. After studying the Saint Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V; however, they will count...
Curated OER
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
Do you want to live forever? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” class groups adopt the roles of an ethics committee, product manufacturers, concerned scientists, and potential users of an...
Sundance
Teaching Strategies: The Giver
Can utopia be achieved? Included here are three literature worksheets to pair with Lois Lowry's The Giver. Pupils work in groups to come up with solutions to society's issues, individuals back up a statement related to a topic in the...
Curated OER
"The Wind" by James Reeves
Inntroduce primary learners to essential critical reading strategies with an activity based on James Reeves' poem, "The Wind." Learners listen as the poem is read, first as a riddle, and then re-read with the title visible. The...