Curated OER
Come Fly with Me . . . Open a Book: Travels through Literature
This detailed overview of a curriculum unit suggests using travel literature to engage and stimulate your third graders’ interest in reading. The suggested reading list includes fiction and non-fiction materials and offers urban children...
Curated OER
Conventions - Punctuation Research
Study unusual punctuation marks in this punctuation lesson. Young grammarians work in small groups to research one of the unusual punctuation marks (semi-colon, colon, dash, comma, ellipses, or quotation marks) and discuss how the mark...
Curated OER
Political Cartoons: Literacy
Readers decode and deconstruct political cartoons to heighten critical thinking, extra-textual literacy, and making meaning from symbolism and metaphor. A compatible activity to use in English class when your 8th or 11th graders are...
Advocates for Human Rights
All about Me!
Celebrate the uniqueness of your students with this character building lesson series. In order to learn about and appreciate diversity and individuality, children create All About Me books by cutting out and drawing pictures...
Curated OER
Are Gay Rights "Special"?
Inspire critical thinking with this activity, which prompts students to compare lesbian, gat, bisexual, and transgender rights with the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By collecting topical articles about...
Curated OER
Feelings and Emotions
Students discuss and write about different feelings they or someone else may have. In this feelings lesson plan, students discuss different ways they express their feelings. Then they get a picture with someone who is demonstrating a...
Curated OER
Yellow Bird and Me
Upper elementary artists create works which demonstrate an understanding of the many elements of theater and the visual arts. This four-day plan combines many wonderful aspects of visual, musical, and theatrical arts into one very...
Curated OER
Egyptian Mummy Cases
Here is an activity I'd like to do with my class! They researching the ins and outs of Egyptian culture, hieroglyphs, symbolism, and art, then use what they know to create realistic or stylized Mummy cases. These cases need to include...
Curated OER
Basic Needs
Students examine the unique and diverse historical artifacts that people have designed to fulfill their everyday needs in extraordinary ways. They identify ways humans have used design throughout history to enhance the ways they meet...
Curated OER
The Economics of Information
Create an expert guide to local businesses in this lesson. Through research, young readers consider their local businesses and the services they provide, paying attention to any conflicting information they might find. Working in groups,...
Curated OER
Reading Strategies: Main Idea
Identify the main idea and the supporting details of a story in a literacy resource from Discovery Education. Complete with procedures, vocabulary, and assessment activities, this is a great way for pupils to practice their outlining...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Yellow Journalism
What role did yellow journalism play in bringing the United States into war with Spain? As part of their study of the Spanish-American War, class groups examine newspapers of the times and other texts and then produce their own...
Museum of the Moving Image
Evaluating Information: Focus on the 2008 Election
Just how true is the information contained in political ads? Determining the veracity of campaign ads from the 2008 presidential race is the focus of a lesson that introduces class members to several fact-checking resources.
Carolina K-12
Propaganda, Spin and Soundbite Politics
It's all about the spin! In an introduction to propaganda techniques and soundbite politics, scholars first learn about common propaganda techniques before seeing them in action in the context of the 2016 election cycle. Activities...
ProCon
Social Media
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter—are they good for society? Pupils prepare for a class debate in which they voice their opinions on the issue. They read the main pro and con arguments, explore others' opinions, view videos, and discover the...
Curated OER
Food, Glorious Food?
How are the reactions between American and European consumers different when it comes to genetically modified foods? Use the New York Times article "Consumers in Europe Resist Gene-Altered Foods" to inform your middle schoolers...
Curated OER
Weighing the War
Study opposing viewpoints with this instructional activity, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or...
Curated OER
Animal Homes
Match animals to their environments with a cute lab activity. Kids draw a line between each animal, such as a fish, a rabbit, and an ant, to the place where it lives. For hands-on practice, a science investigation instructs learners to...
Curated OER
What's Fit to Print?
Students evaluate how newspapers are constructed and evaluate the extent to which newspapers serve their readers' interests.
Curated OER
Freedom Of Expression In Special Places
High schoolers learn about First Amendment rights as they pertain to school and school newspapers.
Curated OER
Class of 2000 - Student Loans
Students determine how they will finance their postsecondary education. In this student loan lesson, students create spreadsheets that help them budget their first year of college. Students identify methods to fund the budgets and...
Curated OER
Inquiring Minds Want To Know
In this news stories worksheet, students read a list of four possible headlines. Students choose one and write a news story that might have gotten that headline.
Curated OER
Rebuild Your Community
Students explore the concept of rebuilding a community after a disaster. In this rebuilding after a disaster lesson, students discuss the role of government in rebuilding a community. Students discuss financial issues that occur when...
Curated OER
Anti-drug Shock Tactics
High schoolers evaluate the effectiveness of 'shock tactics' to discourage drug abuse. They view a video about the death of a 21-year-old heroin addict. In small groups they discuss the video and complete comment sheet.