Curated OER
Summarizing Details in Sequence
Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson, they read a variety of...
Curated OER
"Memories of Mom" Memento
Students brainstorm a list of writing topics for a "Memories of Mom" book, choose one of the topics as the subject of a daily essay and combine a week of daily essays into a book to give their mothers for Mother's Day.
Curated OER
"Living in the Limelight The Universal Dream"
Students, using Leo's Lyrics, investigate common themes in popular music. They create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that analyzes their findings along with a 200 word paragraph stating their observations, conclusions and hypotheses about...
Curated OER
Designing the Future of Technology
Conduct research focused on improving a current technology by having young scholars work in groups to investigate improvements that could be made to a particular piece of technology. They list the current problems and attempt to develop...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Gargoyles Galore
Grrrrr, gargoyles are on the loose! Young artists are familiarized with the history of gargoyles, examine pictures of them, and hear a story about them. Then, they draw a gargoyle and write down exactly how they did it (procedural...
EngageNY
Introducing Module 4B: “Water Is Life”
Learners take a gallery walk around the classroom to view various images and quotes. As they walk, they write down what they notice and wonder about what they see. After discussing their notice and wonder notes, they read the...
Curated OER
Dead Word Wall Kills Overused Words
Have your class attend a funeral for the words they overuse in their writing. They develop a list of alternate words for those overused words, and make an effort to employ alternatives whenever possible. This is a great way to improve...
Curated OER
The News Article and The Editorial
Here is an outstanding series of lessons on journalism, writing newspaper articles, and writing editorials. This type of writing has long-been neglected in our schools, so this collection of writing activities is most-valuable. Along...
Curated OER
Christmas Candy
Here is a tasty topic for a lesson: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create an illustration...
Curated OER
Harvesting Energy from Food: How do Plants Help Humans?
Beginning botanists view slides of plant vascular tissue. They watch Magic School Bus Gets Planted, which you can find online, and then write a summary of what they have learned about plants. This lesson plan could be used with upper...
Curated OER
Ancient Egypt
Pupils complete a series of activities to discover life in ancient Egypt. They create want ads for pyramid workers, design vocabulary flash cards and dictionaries, and research famous Egyptians. They also research the "Curse of the...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Photograph Art
Take a trip down Pearblossom Highway with this lesson about comparing and contrasting. Using David Hockney's Pearblossom Hwy and another image of the same highway (photograph or other image), students compare and contrast the two...
Curated OER
There's a Monster in My E-Mail!
Don't be scared of these monsters! Middle schoolers make new friends as they practice their drawing, writing, and computer skills. They participate in a collaborative e-mail project in which they draw and describe pictures of monsters...
Curated OER
Why Do We Need Clean Air to Live? - Biology Teaching Thesis
Students name the main components of the respiratory system. They write a reaction that contains complete sentences, and uses proper spelling and grammar, after viewing a video. Students define the following terms: lungs, respiration,...
Curated OER
Conejito
Third graders read the story "Conejito" and write a descriptive story about the rainforest in Panama. They answer story comprehension questions, complete worksheet questions about a map of Panama, and rewrite a paragraph changing the...
Curated OER
Pre-AP Strategies for French Language and Culture
Build vocabulary, fluency and confidence in your French speakers by having them participate in some of these engaging activities. Several suggestions are given, but you will have to design the actual lesson yourself.
Curated OER
The Scoop Through Desktop Publication
Drafting, revising, and editing is all apart of the publishing process. Using a series of documents as inspiration, young journalists compose a class Newspaper. They work independently and in groups to publish their own articles.
Curated OER
Astronauts Build Space Station Addition
Students read a story called Astronauts Finish Building Space Station Addition and answer vocabulary and comprehension questions about it. In this space station lesson plan, students respond to literature by answering questions,...
Curated OER
On the Cutting Edge
Introduce the background of design and designers and their role in communicating their thoughts to others. In groups, you can assign participation in a writing cluster on various designers and write paragraphs to submit to magazines. To...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Teaching the 9/11 Anniversary
Here is a lesson on terrorism and 9/11. While outdated, it could be easily revised for today's teens. It includes targeted vocabulary, a background information activity, critical thinking questions, and step-by-step procedures for...
University of Chicago
Comparing Modern and Ancient Ideas of Ethnicity and Identity
Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...
Curated OER
The Scoop on Local Business
How do local businesses support their state or regional economy? The New York Times has prepared another great lesson for your class. They begin by listing products grown or manufactured in their state or region then write interview...
Curated OER
Not Just the Facts
Encourage your learners to explore the differences between hard news and news analysis. They outline a complex news analysis about the upcoming presidential election, then endeavor to write an analysis of the same topic, using local...
Curated OER
Keeping Your Heart in Good Shape: What are the Benefits? - Biology Teaching Thesis
Students name the main parts of the heart and what events occur there. They write a reaction that contains complete sentences, and uses proper spelling and grammar, after viewing a video. Students define the following terms: contraction,...