Curated OER
Soaring High with Kites
Students make kites from patterns. They write haiku poetry. They listen to stories about kite festivals in different countries.
Curated OER
First Lady Fashions
Sixth graders research and explore the fashion of a certain time while identifying with the personal convictions and tastes of the famous first ladies of the past. They practice what they explore adjectives to describe what they see and...
Curated OER
Check Comprehension & Apply Writing
Young scholars check their comprehension skills and apply what they've learned to their own writing. They write two or three sentences that tell what happened to make the Learning Tower of Pisa dangerous and describe what was done to...
Curated OER
How-To Books
Students apply their knowledge and create a how-to book of their own. In this early childhood language arts worksheet, students learn about non-fiction books and write their own procedural non-fiction booklets.
Curated OER
Reader's Review
Pupils create booklets to provide information on elements of a novel, including plot, setting, character, major and minor conflicts and theme.
Curated OER
Crazy Critters are Figuratively Fantastic
Eighth graders use creatures created from their imaginations to practice hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and alliteration in association with creative writing. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to guide their writing.
Curated OER
The Human Jigsaw
Fourth graders, using Thomas Paine's "The Crisis, No. 1" from The American Crisis, form a human jigsaw.
Curated OER
Growing Flowers
Students grow flowers from seeds. They plant quick-growing seeds in a flower pot and consider what a seed needs to grow. They observe and record the growth of the planted seeds in science journals.
Curated OER
How Logical is Garfield?
Third graders analyze comics found in the newspaper for samples of logical, emotional, and ethical appeal. They write a paragraph for each selected comic strip explaining how the comic strip represents the use of logic, emotions, or ethics.
Curated OER
Native American Legends
Students work together in groups to research a Native American legend. They present the information they gathered in a format they chose. They write their own legend based on their research.
Curated OER
What Makes Shadows? Observing and Drawing Shadows
Students make accurate drawings of a classmate's shadow. They note position of the sun in the sky. They identify a connection between the direction of the shadow and the location of the sun. They observe changes in shadows over time.
The New York Times
Writing Fiction Based on Real Science - NYTimes.com
Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...
Alabama Learning Exchange
J. Alfred Hyperbolizes
Mermaids will sing to your class members as they engage in an activity related to T.S. Eliot's famous dramatic interior monologue. After engaging in a socratic seminar about literary devices in the poem, individuals choose one...
Curated OER
Inside the Mind of the Unreliable Narrator
Create interdisciplinary connections and promote high-level inferences by studying unreliable narrators.
Curated OER
Greed is Good?
From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...
Curated OER
Chasing Lincoln's Killer: A Novel Study
James Swanson's novel, Chasing Lincoln's Killer, provides an engaging unit of study for all readers.
Prestwick House
Understanding Language: Slant, Spin, and Bias in the News
We live in a time of fake news, alternative realities, and media bias. What could be more timely than an activity that asks class members to research how different sources report the same topic in the news?
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
Going Graph-y
Second graders listen to and dicuss the story Where the Wild Things Are. They play a pantomime game and act out various feelings so their classmates can guess. They listen for the frequency of certain words, and record their findings on...
Curated OER
Can You Build a Better Mousetrap?
Learners use a variety of linked sites to research information about student inventions and contests that are available for them. They research an invention they would like to see become available. They communicate their results to their...
Curated OER
Christopher Columbus: The Man, the Myth, the Legend
Learn more about maps by examining Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. Kindergartners will learn about basic map skills and how to identify the compass rose, oceans, and land masses. They will also discover the purpose of...
Curated OER
Probability or Ability?
Students use their non-dominant hand to catch candy which they tossed in the air. They estimate how many they catch in a second round. They record and determine how the probability changed the second time.
Curated OER
Dr. Teeth and Dr. Gums To The Rescue
Second graders role play as dentists researching teeth and their care. They create a slide show showing how a character, Bear, can take care of this teeth explaining habitats, diets and teeth.