Curated OER
Personally Poetic
Students create an Acrostic poem using notes from biography journals. In this poetry and journal lesson plan, students read a biography of their choice and take notes in their journals. Students review an acrostic poetry website and use...
Nemours KidsHealth
Feelings: Grades K-2
Learners explore how to appropriately deal with their feelings. In this personal health activity on feelings, students participate in a group discussion about feelings, and complete two activities writing about their feelings and...
K12 Reader
Self Reflection
Instill the positive study habit of reflecting on learning by reading this passage with your class. The passage describes how reflection can be a powerful learning tool, and how learners can start reflecting. After reading, class...
Curated OER
Look Up!
Students investigate the sky. In this weather and clouds lesson, students observe the sky and write journal entries using their five senses to describe what they see. Students observe, identify, and write about the different...
Curated OER
Documenting an Historic Journey
Students read and analyze journals written by Lewis and Clark. They watch and discuss a video segment, complete a graphic organizer, and write a journal entry written from the point of view of someone involved with the Lewis and Clark...
Curated OER
Taking the Witness Stand
Students identify a pivotal event in world history that they would have liked to have witnessed. They then research this event and write a first-person account of it as if they had been present. Their first-prerson account is modeled...
Curated OER
Feeding the Soul
Students share memories of a special meal. They research, write and peer edit a newspaper column about a favorite food associated with Thanksgiving (or other holiday or celebration).
Curated OER
A Critical Role
Students read a New York Times review of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. They discuss the roles and responsibilities of a cultural critic, and prepare for a visit to a local museum in order to write their own reviews.
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Students explore tier two vocabulary. In this vocabulary activity, students read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and assess the meaning of new vocabulary words found in the story. Students record their new words using a word journal or...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving
Students study tier two vocabulary words. In this vocabulary lesson, students explore new vocabulary words while reading The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving. Students record their new vocabulary words using a word journal or discovery chart.
Curated OER
Oh, What a Tangled Web!
Students research how different World Wide Web search engines work and navigate these engines to find information on a specific topic. They write a reflective journal entry about the in-class topic search on the World Wide Web.
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Students analyze a piece of writing by creating diary entries based on a character. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read an assigned book with their classmates and create a sketch of what they believe the main...
Curated OER
Gold Fever
Students read the story Gold Fever about the Gold Rush and write journal entries as if they were miners. In this Gold Rush lesson plan, students also pull out rocks from a back, and if they pick a gold one, they have struck it rich!
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot Air-Balloon Ride
Students analyze tier two vocabulary words. In this vocabulary lesson, students investigate new vocabulary words while reading. Students record their vocabulary words in a word journal or discovery chart.
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears
Students determine the meaning of tier two vocabulary words. In this vocabulary lesson, students read Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears and explore new vocabulary words found in the story. Students record their discoveries in a word...
Curated OER
Template #1 A Lesson Before Dying Journal Reflections/Personal Statements
If you're working through A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, you might be interested in this resource. Pupils fill this page out after reading each chapter in order to create a short summary and clarify plot points and...
Curated OER
Diaries And Memoirs
Students analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events. They compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust. They engage in journal or diary writing as a way to explore one's own feelings and self.
Curated OER
Where Do You Stand?
Scholars assess a government's ability to intervene in personal health decisions. They research basic facts about euthanasia and describe their opinions about new legislation passed in the United States Congress about an individual's...
Curated OER
Whose Rite Is It?
The class explores and debates, from multiple perspectives, a petition to allow Hopi Indians to take golden eagle hatchlings from a federal wildlife sanctuary for use in a religious ceremony. Pupils defend their personal views on the...
Curated OER
Attic Hunting
Sixth graders investigate how journal writing helps preserve past, present and future history. They discover how different groups of people keep different types of journals and what the journals show about the lives of the writers.
Curated OER
New York City Delights: The Taxi Cab
You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...
Curated OER
Photographic Memories
Explore how photographs can represent a whole story to a viewer. Middle schoolers work on narrative writing techniques in this lesson, focusing on photographs from the New York Times to write first-person descriptive narratives....
Curated OER
Rewrite, Revise, Recycle
Students examine different pieces of literature that have a similiar theme. They read an article about reusing ideas for television shows. They work together to create their own program proposals. They also create backstories for one of...