Curated OER
Job Interview
Eighth graders write a multi paragraphed, expository composition that explanins how one would conduct themself before, during, and after a job interview. In order to be prepared for the interview, 8th graders complete a thesis, have an...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Creating Original Fiction
Fourth graders create fictional stories and demonstrate the use of various writing techniques. After selecting their main ideas, they find appropriate graphics to use as illustrations. In groups, 4th graders apply Hyperstudio in...
Curated OER
Lewis and Clark Encounters with Native Americans
Students research what the exchange was between the various Native American groups and Lewis and Clark. They are able to write reflections after truly considering the issue with the help of research.
Curated OER
We're On A Mission!
Learners examine the Mars Exploration Rover mission. In groups, they design their own mission while participating in a webquest. They write an essay using the information they gathered to propose their mission to the President. They...
Curated OER
Attic Hunting
Sixth graders investigate how journal writing helps preserve past, present and future history. They discover how different groups of people keep different types of journals and what the journals show about the lives of the writers.
Curated OER
Exploring the History of Canyon De Chelly: The Navajos
Students are introduced to the novel Sing Down The Moon written by Scott O'Dell. Throughout the book, after each chapter is read, class discussions and journal writing is incorporated into the unit.
Curated OER
Traverse City Trouble Makers
Young scholars investigate how to become advocates in an authentic environmental issue, in this case the invasion of the zebra mussel invasion of the Great Lakes. They complete graphic organizers during Internet research, while reading...
Curated OER
Graphing Grazy Crayons
Children create crazy crayons they made to sort and construct a floor bar graph. Then, using technology resources, they make a simple bar graph to compare the top four colors produced. Students will then interpret the printed graph by...
Curated OER
Remarkable Trees of Virginia
Students draw a picture of their favorite tree from memory, and then add detail as they learn more about leaf characteristics of Virginia trees. They will use their writing skills to nominate one or more of their favorite trees to the...
Curated OER
Making Choices
Students work with a partner to write a play, story or ad that teaches about our choices as consumers. Students focus on educating people about how food choices make a difference in their lives.
Curated OER
The Power of Storytelling
Learners are creating their own stories to understand life. The use of history is used to help one to create one's own story. The skill of writing is emphasized as a tool to learn history.
Curated OER
Drawing Into the Imagination
Sixth graders examine the work of artist Saul Steinberg by visiting online galleries of his work and looking at photo reproductions. After viewing and interpreting Steinberg's work, they write and illustrate fantasy stories which are...
Curated OER
Poetry Cut-Ups
Students write with controlled and/or subtle organization. They sustain a logical order. Students include a recognizable beginning, middle and end. Students begin by selecting a narrative poem.
Curated OER
"Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" by David Sedaris
David Sedaris is quite the story-teller. Read "Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa" and follow it up with this two-page instructional activity. Readers will revisit the text to answer higher level thinking questions....
Curated OER
Creating a Life Map
Middle schoolers create their own life map in which they introduce themselves to each other by sharing what they are most proud of. They use a life map to expressive themselves creatively.
Curated OER
Character Traits: Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear
Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...
Carolina K-12
Are You a Democrat or a Republican? Are You Really?
Have new or soon-to-be voters examine different political parties and their platforms as they figure out which one aligns most with their beliefs. After taking a few online quizzes, students split into pairs to discuss and then...
Curated OER
Letters From Rifka
Small groups read assigned chapters from the book, Letters to Rifka, then work together to fill out comprehension worksheets associated with their chapters. This fine, 13-page lesson culminates with each group getting together to meet...
Curated OER
Daughters Come of Age in Women's Fiction
Introduce your young readers to fiction written by women authors. For each story, they explore the way these daughters discover and claim their own identities. Individually, class members use the literature to examine their role in their...
Curated OER
Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
Curated OER
Children Around The World
Students read a multicultural book called "This Is the Way We Go to School" by Edith Baer and Steve Bjorhman. They become culturally aware of the different nationalities around the world and different ways that they may do things on a...
EngageNY
Final Performance Task: Presenting Graphic Novelettes
Let's get graphic. Serving as the final performance task of the unit, scholars complete their graphic novelettes and design covers based on their sketches. Finally, they present their hard work to classmates.
Vanderbilt University
Stories from the Panama Canal
The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a lesson plan about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build, the working...
Curated OER
Literature Review Paragraph
Tenth graders review the structural elements of a literary paragraph and organizational paragraph formats. They author a paragraph examining and reviewing a piece of literature currently being read in class. Students peer-review the...