Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Early American Poets
The poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the focus of a unit that asks readers to consider how an artist's life and changes in society influences his or her work. After careful study of Whitman's and Dickinson's perspectives on...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Safety and Managing Risk
Teenagers love to take risks to test their personal boundaries, but many risks are too dangerous to try. The set of exercises in this packet teach your class about the ways they can stay safe and protect themselves while still having fun.
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: Herber Readiness Activity
Delve into Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis before opening the book with a lesson on literary themes. High schoolers engage in a word association activity before reading a list of statements based on the book's...
Museum of Tolerance
Music Evokes Memories and Emotions
Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...
Novelinks
Sense and Sensibility: Anticipation Guide Reading Strategy
Begin your discussion about Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility before you even open the book. Kids fill in a worksheet that lists five statements about the literary themes of the novel, and then discuss their opinions as a...
Habits of Mind
Thinking Interdependently
Transform your class into a team with a lesson about thinking and working interdependently. As they reflect on important roles for a group, elementary and middle schoolers learn to work together and think of ways that compliment...
Curated OER
Famous Authors Vocabulary Multiple Choice Worksheet
Don't let the title fool you, this worksheet has little to do with authors! Instead, it tests your middle schoolers on their knowledge of language arts vocabulary. Words like audience, intrigue, novel, and recognition are covered.
Curated OER
Wanted Poster
Students examine a fairy tale character of their choice in great detail. They create a wanted poster that includes the following: a picture of the character, a written description of his/her appearance, a reward amount, and reasonthe...
Curated OER
It's All Part of the Story
Students explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the class.
Curated OER
Celebrations
Second graders answer questions after listening to the the story "Celebrating Life Around the World" and verbally identify three ways in which people celebrate special occasions. They then make two verbal connections from their own...
Curated OER
From Missions to Ranchos
Fourth graders examine the conversion of the California missions into ranchos. They develop a pros and cons chart, write a first person narrative describing the changing life from the missions to the ranchos, and create a poster of...
Curated OER
Autobiographical Talking Sticks
Students begin the lesson by developing a map of their lives. Individually, they take this information and write a personal narrative. They create symbols to represent the various times in their lives and introduce them into their...
Curated OER
YANG AND THE YOUNGEST AND HIS TERRIBLE EAR
Students perform a web scavenger hunt to find information about the author of the book, YANG THE YOUNGEST AND HIS TERRIBLE EAR. They develop an understanding of how writers use personal experience to add voice to their writing.
Curated OER
Poetry
Students write a poem. In this language arts lesson plan, students discuss what they hear and see in a garden. Students write a poem about the sights, sounds and smells of the garden.
Curated OER
Timely Tolerance
Eighth graders examine issues of prejudice and intolerance in the context of historical and comtemporary events. They discover the structure and tools necessary to plan, write, and create a museum exhibit.
Curated OER
Digital Storytelling
Students write a personal narrative and convert the story into digital format. In this digital storytelling lesson, students write a personal narrative, record the story, create images for the story, add animations or transitions, and...
Curated OER
Comparison Contrast Essay
Students compare and contrast the experience of the migrant worker as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath with the experiences of migrant children as depicted in the narratives and poems provided.
Curated OER
Classic Poetry
Fifth graders review the terms narrative and classic poetry. They are introduced to SMUGGLER'S SONG and compare the structure to recently read poetry. They join in on the refrain reading the story together as a class.
Curated OER
Ku Klux Klan
Students discuss, write, and identify symbols of the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's in Indiana. In this Ku Klux Klan lesson plan, students also take a field trip to view the Thomas Hart Benton Murals at Indiana University.
Curated OER
A Closer Look at the Klan
Fourth graders learn vocabulary, answer discussion questions, complete writing assignments, and identify symbols connected to the Ku Klux Klan. In this Ku Klux Klan lesson plan, 4th graders also go on a field trip to the Thomas Hart...
Curated OER
Shifting Gears
In this activity, students will write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.
Curated OER
Creating an Instructional Manual
Ninth graders create an instructional manual about using a mechanical device. In this technical writing lesson, 9th graders create a PowerPoint presentation that includes the step by step process of how to use the mechanical device.
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
Students act out and interpret the story for their peers. They study the simplest form of an organized reading to a more elaborate activity involving props, costumes, or a reinterpretation of the narrative into another art form.