Curated OER
American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Young scholars explore daily life and its influences in the late 1700s for two families in different colonies- Delaware and Massachusetts by becoming historical detectives. After gathering information from artifacts to make inferences...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Comparing Key Ideas and Details in Fiction and Nonfiction
Students recognize the differences between fiction and nonfiction texts. In this genre study instructional activity, students discuss what nonfiction means and write the definition. Students listen to a read aloud and vote whether the...
Curated OER
Seeing Art in Historical Context: An Activity to Promote Visual Literacy
Young scholars consider works of art in their historical context. In this art in historical context instructional activity, students are encouraged to think about and record their prior knowledge of the historical period and to make...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: Jamaica Louise James
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students cut out 5 bookmarks. Each bookmark focuses on a story element in the book Jamaica Louise James by Amy Hest. Students answer the questions on the bookmarks. Included are: making...
Curated OER
Lead Critical Reading
Students read opposing views on the lead contamination issue, identify the facts and opinions in each article, and infer the opinion of the author. They create an essay expressing their opinion on the issue complete with citations.
Curated OER
Transcendentalism and Epiphany in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine
Twelfth graders examine the characteristics of transcendentalism. For this transcendentalism lesson, 12th graders determine what this type of writing entails before reading a passage from, Ray Bradbury's, Dandelion Wine. They cite three...
Curated OER
Child Labor in the Carolinas
Fifth graders explore child labor and how children were exploited and used in the work place. In this Industrial Revolution instructional activity, 5th graders research child labor by reading, looking at photographs and drawing...
Curated OER
Conflict in the Frontier town of Deerfield
Students use primary sources to investigate, explore and represent varying perspectives on the 1704 Deerfield Raid. They consider the reasons Deerfield was at the center of English, French and Native American conflicts in the early 18th...
Curated OER
What's Significant in Today's Notes from the Trail?
For this lesson, you will need access to "Notes from the Trail." Your learners will read the day's text, and identify the most important or significant event in the journal entry. Not many prompting questions are provided, and some of...
Curated OER
Inference Activity
In this inference worksheet, learners look at pictures and read sentences, writing yes or no on a line to indicate whether the statement "sounds right."
Curated OER
Traveling With Limited Funds; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Students participate in a pre-reading activity which helps them see what it would be like to live in poverty. In this reading comprehension lesson, students make a list of items they take on a trip considering they have very limited...
Curated OER
“THE LORAX” by Dr. Seuss
Few children's books convey the message of conservation as well as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Read the story aloud, emphasizing the interconnectedness of plants and animals in an ecosystem and discussing different ways people can help...
Prestwick House
Teaching Shakespeare: Sonnet 73
It's that time of year to consider how Shakespeare selects his images and structures his Sonnet 73 to develop the meaning of the poem. Class members examine the rhyme scheme, the indented lines, the conceit, and the images used in each...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 19: Synthesis
Wrap up your unit on The Cay with an engaging argumentative writing assignment. Writers must decide if they believe The Cay should be banned. The resource includes links to several articles, which have been addressed and examined in...
UAF Geophysical Institute
Carbon Footprint
Your young environmentalists can calculate their carbon footprint and discuss ways to reduce it with a worksheet about climate change. After reading a handout about what impact one's carbon footprint can have on the environment, kids...
Roald Dahl
Fantastic Mr. Fox
A fancifully illustrated guide to Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, this series of lessons, activities, and tasks could be used in its entirety or picked apart and used piecemeal. Have young readers investigate the role of dialogue in...
Great Books Foundation
On the Origin of Species
How did Charles Darwin support his controversial theory of evolution with evidence? Use an excerpt from his 1859 work On the Origin of Species to reinforce the importance of making inferences within an informational text, and to...
Pottsgrove School District
Tall Tales
Young readers compare and contrast digital and print versions of tall tale text. The resource includes a character analysis in which pupils compare and contrast traits, and make inferences about what the characters do and say. They...
California Education Partners
The Road Not Taken
An effective lesson plan truly can make all the difference. Seventh graders read, analyze, and annotate Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" before writing an essay about what they believe to be the theme of the iconic poem.
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 5
Building on the previous activity in this series of lesson seeds, this plan focuses on the use of dialect in Theodore Taylor's novel, The Cay. Class members examine specific lines of text, use their reading journals to respond to the...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 3
If you're looking to set your class up for writing effective arguments, try out this idea. While originally created with freedom as a guiding idea, the activity could easily be adapted for other themes. As a class, create a chart of...
Reed Novel Studies
The Incredible Journey: Novel Study
There's no place like home. Three family pets prove this in The Incredible Journey as they head out to find their way back home. Scholars read about the dangers the pets face on their journey while they learn eight vocabulary words from...
Reed Novel Studies
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg: Novel Study
What was the purpose of the Enrollment Act of 1863? Pupils consider the topic while completing the novel study for The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. They write original similes and answer reading...
Reed Novel Studies
Mr. Stink: Novel Study
Some literary characters are interesting, some are helpful, and some are ... well, stinky. Using the novel study in conjunction with reading Mr. Stink, scholars meet a smelly but kind person named Mr. Stink. Pupils illustrate the plot,...