Curated OER
The Dancing Flute
Young scholars use a cardboard tubes as props as they create their own dance steps to express the emotions invoked in a portion of The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.
Curated OER
Caring
Students investigate the concept of developing the social skill of caring for others and self. The lesson includes a silent time of reflection on how one can care. Then students read a story that illustrates the concept of caring and...
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Paper Puppet
Students create hand puppets using basic art supplies, paper cups, cotton balls, and yarn in this 1st and 2nd grade Art lesson plan.  Emphasis is placed on the history of puppets and puppetry.  The lesson plan includes a short vocabulary...
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What Can I Do For You?
Students explore philanthropic acts within the school. In this philanthropy lesson, students list acts of philanthropy they can do at school and sing songs about philanthropic acts.
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Character Education Courage
Students listen to a Mariah Carey song and chose words that explain courage. In this courage lesson, students explore the traits that make a hero. Students pair share what traits make someone a hero and then discuss their results with...
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Storymaking Through Pantomime
Pupils explore performing arts by participating in a role-play activity. In this storytelling lesson, students utilize their physical expressions to particpate in a pantomime performance. Pupils evaluate performances in their class and...
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Scarecrow: A Lesson Against Hate Crimes
Students analyze and discuss different types of hate crimes. They listen to and discuss the background behind the song, "Scarecrow" by Melissa Etheridge. They research a hate crime and imagine how the victims must have felt. Finally they...
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...But What Does It Mean? Symbolism in Artwork
Young scholars analyze the symbolism in the portrait The Artist in His Museum. In this symbolism lesson plan, students analyze the portrait and then create their own portrait containing symbolism.
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Sports Personalities in Advertising
During a series of four activities, class members examine and deconstruct advertising that features famous athletes. They determine target audiences, analyze ads, explore "emotional climate," and role play a meeting between a sports...
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Candles in the Dark
Young scholars analyze and apply their personal responses through poetry and film to a challenging and disturbing event-the Holocaust. They use a digital video camera to film each student reading their poem.
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Families and Neighborhoods
Students study family structure. For this family structure lesson, students read the book The Family Book and discuss families. Students create a bulletin board of family photos and draw their families on paper. Students dance and play...
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Show and Teach
Second graders write "how to" sequences for tasks so that another person can follow the sequence to perform the action. They write a "show and teach" once a month for evaluation.
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Poetic Devices in Songs
By teaching about poetic devices in music teachers can provide a creative way to practice reading, writing, and language skills.
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Trees-Whiz
A unique series of lessons on trees is here for you. The series has learners utilize visual art, musical compositions, and literature in order to examine how trees have a place in a culture. The classic tale, The Giving Tree is one...
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When a Country Loses Its Songs
Students explore music as a cultural tradition. In this global studies instructional activity, students consider the implications of the loss of childhood songs to a cultural group. Students determine the type of musical "treasures" that...
Brain Targeted Teaching
Tuck Everlasting Novel Study
The broad ideas included here provide clear ideas on how to use brain-targeted learning, what activities work best with Tuck Everlasting, how to apply the knowledge gained from their reading, and ideas for evaluation.  Not teaching...
Curated OER
Night: Guided Imagery Activity
Prior to reading Night, class members engage in a guided imagery activity that helps them make text-to-self connections to Elie Wiesel’s account of his experiences with his father in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Complete directions, as well...
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Personal Narrative Paragraphs: Class Quilt
Begin this activity by asking third graders to bring from home pieces of cloth that represent something important to them. (Have extras for students who need them.) They reflect on important events in their lives, compose narrative...
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How to Write an Essay: Secondary ed.
Whether introducing the structure of expository essays or reviewing the format with your high schoolers, take the time to check out this resource. Examples of seven common forms of introductory paragraphs and six types of conclusions, as...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
Your assessment is to figure out if I am being figurative or connotative with this statement: This is a great resource. Can’t do it? Then you had better review how to break down Common Core skill RL.11-12.4. In simple language that you...
Curated OER
Literacy Lesson: Guided Reading
Here is a wonderful lesson designed for pupils with special needs. This well-thought-out lesson uses Big Books, familiar stories, and has a lot of review learning built into it. The book, The Keeping Quilt is used in the main part of the...
Curated OER
Poetry: The Most Compact Form of Literature
Introducing or need to review literary devices and terms for a study of poetry? Though text heavy, the explanations and examples of key poetic devices will provide learners with the vocabulary they need to discuss and craft poems.
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Biopoem
Reinforce the actions, emotions, and characteristics that determine what a character is like by having your middle schoolers create a biopoem using the model presented here. You could engage them first by having them write a poem about...
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VH1 Storytellers for Save the Music Starring Billy Joel
Students use a Billy Joel song to write a scenerio about it.