Curated OER
Researching Stocks on New York Stock Exchange
Sixth graders research to find background information and stock history over the last year about a company listed on the NYSE. They evaluate whether or not they should "invest" in that company. They write a persuasive essay outlining...
National First Ladies' Library
Get Ready, Get Set, We're Moving!
Students use the internet and other sources to research the culture and history of the Philippines. In groups, they discover why William Taft moved to the Philippines. Students participate in a scenario where they make preparations to...
Curated OER
One Thing Leads to Another
Second graders rediscover cause and effect situations using the story The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. They gain an understanding of how one thing leads to another.
Curated OER
Awesome Audio Book
Students choose a written piece and present it aloud in a student-made recording. They analyze how sounds are used to elicit emotion.
Curated OER
Karst Topography
Young scholars observe a movie about karst topography over the Internet and note nonpoint source pollution. They discuss ways to manage pollution and their experiences with any polltion sources.
Curated OER
All About Titan and the Huygens Probe
Students examine the characterisitics of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. They discuss what they think is on Titan and what the Huygens probe can tell them about the moon. They write a summary about the information they gathered during...
Curated OER
Freckle Juice
Working in groups of four, the students will use the computer to draw an imaginary potion that will cure other children their age from physical traits (they can not control) including all ingredients and one text box.
Curated OER
Underground Travelers
Young scholars are introduced to new vocabulary associated with the Underground Railroad. Using primary sources, they evaluate the railroad's impact on society in the past and today. They also make a judgment about the morality of the...
Curated OER
Tasmanian Time Travel
Sixth graders perform research using the Internet about the Tasmanian Devil. The project can be presented in a variety of ways. The use of computer software is important for students to know, specifically Hyperstudio.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Survival Diaries
Pupils are able to compose a dialectical journal entry which analyzes information presented in a text. They are able to compose a creative journal entry which develops characters, presents events in logical order, and includes sensory...
National First Ladies' Library
Science: The Purloined Letter
Young scholars examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students...
Curated OER
The Student Newspaper on World War I
Students explore WW I through the publication of a completely student-compiled newspaper.
Curated OER
Famous Virginians
Fourth graders research the lives of famous people from Virginia. Using the internet, they take notes in a blank flipbook given to them by their teacher. They write a speech in first person of the famous Virginian they researched and...
Curated OER
Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
National First Ladies' Library
Fitness for Life
Young scholars discuss their favorite activities and determine which activities are suitable for older people. In groups, students research the benefits of aerobic exercises and the equipment needed. Young scholars share their...
National First Ladies' Library
Rock the Vote! But When?
Middle schoolers research and examine about voting turnouts in the United States and around the world. They assess about various aspects of the so-called "youth vote," and have an opportunity to consider the meaning of the vote in a...
Curated OER
Journal of Children of the World
Students explore the lives of other children. In this comparing and contrasting lesson, students complete a KWL chart on children around the world and use the Internet to compare and contrast these children using different categories....
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Using Thieves to Preview Nonfiction Texts
Contains plans for three lessons that introduce a nonfiction prereading strategy with the acronym THIEVES, which stands for Title, Headings, Introduction, Every first sentence, Visuals and vocabulary, End Questions, and Summary. In...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Identify, Compare, Write Nonfiction
Lesson that introduces the concepts of nonfiction to elementary students. Through reading and interactive lessons, students engage the genre of nonfiction and begin to write their own examples.
Hopelink
Hopelink: Reading Lesson Idea: Real Life Reading Materials
The purpose of this reading instructional activity is to offer a reading and comprehension instructional activity based on real-life reading materials. This gives students the opportunity to gain reading comprehension skills from...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Animal Study From Fiction to Facts
Contains plans for five 50-minute lessons that ask students to compare and research information about animals from fiction and nonfiction texts. In addition to student objectives and standards, these instructional plans contains links to...
Read Works
Read Works: Genre 1st Grade Unit: Identifying Information in Nonfiction
[Free Registration/Login Required] A instructional activity in which students use the books Nature's Food Chains: What Polar Animals Eat by Joanne Mattern, Life Cycle of a Frog by Angela Royston, and Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan...
Read Works
Read Works: 2nd Grade Lesson: Compare/contrast Genres
[Free Registration/Login Required] A lesson in which students use fiction and nonfiction books from a classroom library to identify the similarities and differences between fiction and nonfiction and to create a Venn diagram...
Other
Seeing the World in Print Through Nonfiction
Unit plan containing five lessons designed for tenth graders. They center around reading and writing nonfiction, and they teach skills such as identifying the features of nonfiction and writing expository texts. All are aligned to...