Curated OER
Student Opinion: How Should Schools Address Bullying?
Spark a disscussion about a current issue, bullying, in your classroom. This resource, published by The New York Times, provides a short article discussing a Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights passed into law in the state New Jersey followed...
Curated OER
Gender Opinions Using Adjectives
Activate personal experience and opinions with this graphic organizer. Learners response to 8 questions about gender and then record responses from classmates. This activity could be set up as a give-one/get-one and class members could...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: What Do You Read, and How Do You Read It?
Stimulate discussion with this brief article and series of questions related to reading habits. This resource, from the New York Times' The Learning Network, asks learners to comment on their own reading habits. You could have your class...
Novelinks
The Graveyard Book: Student Questioning For Learning Strategy
Questioning a text is a very effective way for kids to develop their reading comprehension skills. Designed to engage all class members, a reading activity prompts pairs to develop and share their own questions about the ending of Neil...
Curated OER
36 Public Policy Questions to Energize Your Government/History Classroom Debates
Need topics that are sure to engage your debaters? This list of public policy questions includes such topics as school mascots, regulation of major league baseball, physician-assisted suicide, and violence in video games. A great...
BrainPOP
World History Lesson Plan: Uncovering Essential Questions
Have you ever noticed a news story revolves around an essential question? Scholars research methods of reporting historical events. Working in groups, they use an interactive module to gather information on a historical topic, uncovering...
Curated OER
Introduce: Fact and Opinion
Build reading comprehension and critical-thinking skills as learners focus on discerning fact from opinion. First, introduce the two terms as you test prior knowledge and explain their meanings (there is a scripted explanation here for...
University of the Desert
Fact and Opinion within the Media
How can the media foster cultural misunderstandings? These activities encourage learners to distinguish between fact and opinion in the media
EngageNY
End of Unit 3 Assessment: Draft Opinion Speech: How Should Aid Be Prioritized Following a Natural Disaster in a Neighboring Country?
Put it to the test. With the cumulative resource, pupils complete the End of Unit 3 Assessment. Using everything they've learned in the unit, they write a draft of an opinion speech about how to prioritize aid after a natural...
Curated OER
Increase Kindness, Defeat Bullying: Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation
High-interest content captures your most reluctant readers and class participants. Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation, in collaboration with Harvard University, seeks to nurture a culture of kindness and reduce bullying. Excerpts from...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion: Student Council
A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: What Small Things Have You Seen and Taken Note of Today?
An interesting and unusual topic for a news article, this resource from the New York Times website asks learners to take a moment and consider all the things they notice during a typical day. Based of the editorial piece "Things I...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment: Using Quotes to Explain Relationships and Support an Opinion
Think big! Scholars complete an end of unit assessment using their notes and graphic organizers along with the texts Big Thinkers: Was Steve Jobs This Generation’s Thomas Edison? and Steve
Jobs. To complete the assessment, they answer...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Identifying Author’s Opinion and Supporting Evidence: Sports in American Culture
Quiz time! Serving as the mid-unit assessment, scholars complete a Two Opinions Word Sort activity. In addition, they read an article about the importance of sports in America and answer text-based questions.
C-SPAN
Polling and Public Opinion
Polls are ubiquitous in American politics, but just how reliable and equal are they? A video-driven resource helps learners discuss the question by examining what pollsters and pundits say. Extension activities involve evaluating the...
Media Smarts
Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion?
Divide your class into groups to study the validity of online sources. One group looks at the authority and accuracy of four listed websites, another group looks at advocacy and objectivity, and the third group looks at currency and...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment: Text-Dependent Questions and Draft Editorial: The Mary River Project on Baffin Island
Scholars complete an assessment, read an informational article, and answer text-based questions. Also, pupils use the Painted Essay technique to write a draft editorial about a topic they studied throughout the unit, the Mary River Mine...
Curated OER
Protest Letter
What a fantastic resource to guide youngsters in persuasive letter writing. They read a brief letter to the editor and answer question about the author's purpose, word choice, and structure. Next, scholars draft their own letter by...
Curated OER
Determining Author's Point of View: The Sneeches
Determine the author's point of view in a text. Young readers read Dr. Seuss' The Sneeches and identify the author's purpose in the story. They identify persuasive techniques in writing, asking and answering questions to better...
Curated OER
Kids Can Make a Difference
What is a philanthropist? We can all be philanthropists! After assessing the needs of the school and listening to literature about how they can help others, primary learners develop a class project and maintain a journal of their...
Curated OER
Redistricting: Drawing the Lines
Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They...
Curated OER
Scapegoating and Othering
Scapegoating and "Othering" is the focus of a series of activities that ask groups to consider how these behaviors contribute to hatred and intolerance. Groups are given a scenario and discussion questions based on the situation. Whether...
Curated OER
Distinguish Fact from Opinion in Passage
Is it a fact or is it an opinion; readers need to know. Second graders learn a new technique to determine if a sentence or reading passage is fact based or opinion based. They read and then ask evidence based questions to determine if...
Prestwick House
Reading Nonfiction: Analyzing Joseph McCarthy's "Enemies from Within" Speech
Looking for a lesson that teaches class members how to analyze nonfiction? Use Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech as a instructional text. Worksheet questions direct readers' attention to the many historical...