Curated OER
Myths of the Wild West
Young scholars examine the Wild West as it was depicted in films and books. In groups, they compare this information to what it was really like as they find out in books. They also discover the role of the Native Americans in the Wild...
Curated OER
America Moves Out!
First graders analyze the events of early American exploration. This is a unit resource for teachers in which there are six lessons about the American Western exploration and expansion. Within each instructional activity there are...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
What Brought Settlers to the Midwest?
Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...
Curated OER
Oregon Trail Diary
Students write a diary. For this writing and creativity lesson, students pretend they are moving west and keep a diary about their adventures. Students study real-life scenarios about families who made the trip out west before writing...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Tell Me a Story”: Moving from Reading to Writing
Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...
Curated OER
Is the Moon out tonight?
Learners talk or read about the way the moon travels across the sky. They then look at the picture of where the moon is and draw where it will be in the picture, later in the evening. Note: The worksheet is intended for third or fourth...
Curated OER
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas
You can keep this printable idea sheet and use when you're in a tight spot. It contains cross-curricular ideas that span every subject while relating to the African tale, "Anasazi the Spider." Learners will act, write, move, count, and...
Curated OER
Delightful Directions
First graders identify and demonstrate how symbols and models are used to represent features of the environment. They identify the directions on a map as east, west, north, and south. Finally, 1st graders play a direction game, move to...
Curated OER
Tornado Brainstorming
While the focus of this instructional activity is on writing about tornadoes, any topic could be substituted. The instructional activity provides a well-thought out overview of the writing process. Learners come up with a thesis...
DePaul University
Settlement
Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Concept Analysis
Use this analysis of My Antonia to help inform your instruction and prepare your pupils for the project and enrichment ideas listed at the end of the resource. The analysis covers big questions related to the text, themes, plot elements,...
Curated OER
Moving West with the Forts: Using an Interactive Map
Students discern a map of Texas and it's forts in the early to mid-1800's. From this map they analyze movement from the moment Texas became a state to its involvement in the Civil War.
Curated OER
Ocean Currents
Learners discover the geography of Earth by analyzing water currents. In this oceanography lesson, students create visual references on a map of the globe where and why major ocean currents are moving water. Learners conduct a water...
Curated OER
Looking at the Water Cycle
In this Looking at the Water Cycle worksheet, read an explanation of the water cycle and fill in missing words. Students also create a poster about the water cycle, deliver a weather forecast, and research further questions.
Rockefeller Archive Center
Understanding Mass Media News
In an age of fake news and photoshopped images, it is vital that 21st century learners development the skills they need to evaluate mass media and assess its validity. A great way to launch such a study is with a carefully crafted lesson...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-activity on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how...
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 lesson, day one...
Curated OER
"Whose (Is)land is This?": topics in Immigration and The Tempest
Class members compare the ways the subject of immigration is treated in The Tempest, Act I, scene ii, Act II, scene i and Act III, scene ii with patterns in American history. After tracing their own family’s journey, a series of...
Curated OER
Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Curated OER
Active and Passive Voice: Finding Examples Online
Incorporate technological fluency with a search for examples of active and passive voice in online resources. Discuss how use of active or passive voice influences mood or tone and contributes to author's purpose. List of...
Curated OER
Off to the Future
Students read a handout and predict the position of the San Andreas Fault far in the future. In this future world activity, students use a map worksheet to demonstrate the path of the Pacific Plate millions of years from now.
Curated OER
Auroras
In this aurora worksheet, students read a description of an aurora observed by Captain Standard in 1859. Students interpret the description with a drawing giving as much detail as possible using colored media to capture what they read.
Curated OER
Tequila's New Sunrise
For this editing/proofreading worksheet, 5th graders read and proofread the text "Tequila's New Sunrise" for spelling mistakes. Students correct each spelling mistake they find.
Curated OER
Comma Exercise 5
For this comma exercise worksheet, students are given seventeen sentences to proofread and edit inserting commas where necessary.