Smithsonian Institution
For Land's Sake: George Washington as Land Surveyor
Students discuss the importance of land ownership and the purpose of land surveying in the eighteenth century. They interpret a transcript of an eighteenth-century land survey. They survey and area of land. They create a written or...
Curated OER
Poetry and Our National Anthem
Students express the meaning of the Star-Spangled Banner. In this American history lesson, students read through the national anthem and complete an activities from a list of choices. Some choices include: writing the anthem in your own...
Curated OER
The Catcher in the Rye
Ninth graders engage in the reading of literature in order to focus upon some of the basic literary elements while examining "The Catcher In The Rye". They use the experience of reading and literary analysis in order to help develop an...
Curated OER
Hope In The Hard Times - A Unit on the Great Depression
Young scholars examine the Great Depression through the analysis of the novel, 'Bud, Not Buddy.' They analyze photos from the National Archives website, complete a character analysis, and conduct research and summarize a topic from the...
Curated OER
Using Poetic Images to Initiate the Exploration of Resistance During the Holocaust
Students explore the role of resistance during the Holocaust. Viewing images, they complete a set of notes on the Holocaust and discuss the feelings they get from looking at the photographs. They identify the parts of speech used in...
Curated OER
The Write Stuff
Fourth graders share a previously written portfolio piece and the class guesses the genre. Students use tally marks to keep track of how many of each piece there are in class. Once the data collection is complete, 4th graders create a...
Curated OER
A Little Mystery and Intrigue in Writing Short Detective Stories
Students read and analyze the twelve short stories in the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They create their own detective that has to solve a new kind of crime, and write and edit a short story with their original detective as...
Curated OER
The Civil War--The Battle of Corydon
Eighth graders investigate the Battle of Corydon. In this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders discover details about the Battle of Corydon and the leaders of the battle. Students also identify how the Corydon commemorates the battle...
Curated OER
Living Biographies
Third graders create a multimedia slide presentation containing facts, graphics, and sounds relating to a biographical figure based on their reading of a biography or an autobiography. They present their slide presentations before the...
Curated OER
Greeting Card to A Character
Students create a greeting card from one character to another after finishing a novel. Individually, they use their imagination to write the paragraph using the text to support their ideas. They share their greeting card with the class...
Curated OER
We Garden: My Life as a Fruit or Vegetable
Students explore agriculture by participating in a role-play activity. For this farm to fork lesson, students ask and answer questions as though they were a specific plant about to be eaten. Students write responses to critical thinking...
Curated OER
The Necklace Of Teeth Comic Strip
Pupils create a comic strip which identifies the major events in a story of the teacher's choosing in this upper-elementary classroom language arts instructional activity. The instructional activity is highly adaptable and can be used...
Curated OER
Journeys
Pupils write a story using their journey to school as the setting. In groups, they discuss their experiences and browse through books to get ideas for their story. They practice using a thesaurus to find new verbs or adjectives they...
Curated OER
The Time I Got Lost
Third graders go through the writing process but substitute paper and pencil with the computer to create a story about "The Time I Got Lost".
Curated OER
I am the Walrus
Students research walruses using the library and the Internet, then write an essay from what they find in their research. In this investigative instructional activity students view a video on walruses then write an essay after...
Curated OER
A Long Time Ago in the Future
Pupils read and discuss Canadian young adult literature. They compare/contrast the elements of citizenship, characterization, and themes, write journal responses, and identify the elements that define Canadians.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix:left Brained Writing Prompt: Mini Workshop:favorite Person & Song
Do you have a favorite person--a friend or a family member? Do you have a favorite song? Think about putting your favorite person and your favorite song together in a fictional scene. Make an interesting piece of writing by using really...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Telling Your Story
A lesson in which students gain empathy for people who lived during a historical time period by writing a first-person story with experiences that would have happened during that time.