Curated OER
The Meaning Behind the Mask
Students explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.
Curated OER
Magic Tree House #13: Reading Questions
Reading comprehension questions for the 13th Magic Tree House book, Vacation Under the Volcano, are divided by chapter. Each chapter warrants three to five questions. They cover basic comprehension, vocabulary, and some inference.
Curated OER
The Star-Spangled Banner
Get your kids moving as they learn about the history of the United States National Anthem. Scholars examine the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key, and the meaning behind The Star Spangled Banner as they listen to an 18-minute...
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
A Case Study of Memory Loss in Mice
Using a short news article, high school or college biologists examine the scientific method in practice. The article, which focuses on an Alzheimer's experiment performed on rats, has very limited information, so learners must be...
Curated OER
Cooperative Learning Groups Cooperate
Students apply Bloom's Taxonomy to reading selections. They prepare questions for each level of Bloom's Taxonomy and exchange them with other groups to answer. They answer another group's questions and report to one another.
Curated OER
Archeology: Weapons of the Texanos
Students develop archaeological context skills through a simulation which places them in the year 2500. After listening to the teacher read, "Weapons of the Texanos," they record what they think the weapon is. Next, in groups, they...
Curated OER
A'ama and Pipipi Adaptations
Students explore ocean creatures. In this crustacean lesson, students determine how Black Nerite snails and Sally Light-foot crabs have adapted to their ocean habitats. Students complete diagrams and hypothesize about the necessity...
Curated OER
What's the Big Idea?
Students choose a paragraph from a book of their choice, identify the main idea, and draw an illustration of the main idea. They write original paragraphs, illustrate them, and trade with a partner, identifying the main idea of the...
Curated OER
Piecing Together the Story of Glenn Cunningham: A Kansas Champion
Learners use primary and secondary sources to conduct research about Glenn Cunningham. In this Glenn Cunningham lesson plan, students tell why he was a hero, and tell facts from what they learned.
Curated OER
Money Circulation: A Story of Trade and Commerce
Students are introduced to the meaning, symbolism, and value of the quarter. They determine the percentage of total monetary value held in quarters and graph the results. Students infer about the U.S. Mint's distrubution of coins. They...
Curated OER
Traditional Stories about Wind
Students observe and talk about wind using no weather instruments. In this wind lesson plan, students use their senses to observe wind. They also interview an Elder about wind.
Curated OER
The Story of How Deerfield Came to Be
Eleventh graders explore how the native peoples had lived in the Connecticut Valley for nearly 10,000 years, prior to the English settlement and how their culture and life ways were markedly different from that of the English settlers.
Curated OER
The Battle of Stones River: The Soldiers' Story
Learners organize items in a "doohickey kit" distributed by the teachers, creating categories using classification schemes. In this classification instructional activity, students compare systems within groups and write questions that...
Novelinks
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Picture Book Strategy
Picture books aren't just for primary learners. Your scholars compare and contrast literary themes between the novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and the children's book, The Dream Tree by Winfried...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Body Biography Book Report
Examine the characters in Willa Cather's My Antonia with a group project. Small groups illustrate their chosen character on a large piece of paper and choose quotes from the text that tell about the character. Where learners choose...
Curated OER
Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
K5 Learning
Humming Birds
Seeing a hummingbird in the wild can be a magical experience. Learn more about these delicate members of the animal kingdom with a short reading passage, complete with four short-answer questions.
National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
Curated OER
The Study of the Spanish-Speaking People of Texas: Understanding Primary Sources
High schoolers analyze Russell Lee's photo essay as a sign of segregation in Texas. They consider the differences between primary and secondary sources and how historians use these sources.
Curated OER
It's All in the Rocks
Students think critically to determine fact or inference when examining sedimentary layers with embedded fossils. They are being introduced to geology as well as evolutionary biology.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Drawing Conclusions Based on Literary Elements
Students compare versions of Cinderella and draw conclusions based on the story elements identified. In this literacy comprehension and story elements lesson, students read several versions of Cinderella, complete a "Comparing Folklore"...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Analyzing Literary Elements in Fiction
Young scholars analyze the characters and events in fictional writing. In this literary elements lesson, students study the meaning of the words characterization and fiction. They listen to the story Pigsty by Mark Teague, or any other...
Curated OER
Recycling!
The students recall events from Dr. Seuss' story The Lorax and make connections to environmental issues affecting their lives. They are expected to reflect on the facts of the story and respond verbally stating the inferences they made...
Curated OER
The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore
Students explore and identify family treasures and research the history to each one. They also organize a variety of artifacts into various categories and research traditional Louisiana artifacts online. Each student draws inferences...