Curated OER
The Life Cycle of the Mealworm
Fourth graders provide a habitat for live mealworms and observe their life cycle. In this animal life cycle and scientific inquiry lesson, 4th graders create a habitat for a live mealworm and observe and record related data as it grows....
Curated OER
Dear Presidential Diary
Students discover how a president spends the day. In this presidential history lesson plan, students research primary sources in order to write their own diaries for presidents that include suggestions of laws, managing personnel,...
Curated OER
Rosa Parks Autobiography
Students write the story of Rosa Parks from the perspective of someone who was sitting on the bus that day. In this Rosa Parks/biography lesson, students read the story of Rosa Parks and discuss it in small groups. After...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Natural Twig Journals
Connect science, art, and language arts with a nature-themed bookmaking project. Kids craft book covers, cut paper for pages, and learn how to bind their creations.
Scholastic
Connecting with Ruby Bridges
When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...
Curated OER
Lesson 8: Settings that Reinforce Characters
The best way to be a good writer is to read good writing. Learners read and discuss an excerpt from a book that will help them comprehend the relationship between setting and character. They will use what they've gleaned from discussion...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 4
Chapter 3 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses how central ideas are developed in a narrative. Readers use the provided annotated bookmark to record evidence of ideas such as racial identity, integration/separation, and systemic...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 5
Zoot suits, the Lindy hop, and conks. Readers carefully examine the rhetoric of chapter 4 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, analyze the effectiveness of using slang to develop a narrative, and consider how they might incorporate Haley's...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 3
Using questions they developed, class groups discuss Chapter 2 of Malcolm X's autobiography, focusing on the individuals and events Malcolm X feels contributed to his character development.
Curated OER
Teaching The Personality Profile
Students write a comprehensive personality profile feature that demonstrates knowledge of the Wall Street Journal formula of feature writing and the concept of show, don't tell. They experience a press conference interview situation.
Curated OER
Job Journals
Young scholars compare the differences between job varieties. In this career exploration lesson, students evaluate different aspects of jobs and then write a diary entry as if they were the real employee.
Curated OER
Be A Perfect Person in Just Three Days
Students read a chapter in a book. In this reading comprehension lesson, students share their predictions of chapter 6 of the book Be A Perfect Person in Just Three Days, learn new vocabulary words, read chapter 6 and complete a...
Curated OER
Do You Have a Blog?
Ask learners about their personal writing habits, such as whether they keep a journal or a blog, or if they'd ever want to. Though this is not a fully developed lesson, you can use this article and question to provoke discussion and...
Curated OER
Analyzing Verb Use: Part 2
With the Wordle ap in one hand, and their favorite writing piece in the other, 3rd graders analyze their verb usage. They select a piece they have written, type it into Wordle, then analyze their word choices and alter them using synonyms.
Curated OER
Narrative Literature Response Letters: Original Lesson Plan
Readers write a formal letter to an author offering an alternative ending to a story the author has written. First, the class reads a story or novel. Upon finishing the reading, they are introduced to the format of a formal letter. They...
Curated OER
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Journals
Like the characters in Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, class members write frequently with a series of journal topics that form the basis of the final writing assignment about their personal “heavy boots.” Alas, no list of topics is...
Curated OER
Context Clues, Plot Structure, Conflict, and Personal Narrative Essay
What are the elements of a personal narrative? Get your class talking by reading "The Necklace" and "A Dangerous Game." The instructional activity focuses primarily on defining certain vocabulary terms (like context clues, plot,...
Curated OER
Exploring the Personal Narrative
Pupils define the characteristics of a personal narrative, explain the difference between a 'memoir' and an 'autobiography', and create a reading journal in which they will log their reading activities. For this personal narrative lesson...
Alberta Learning
Creating Authentic Diaries
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "What is history but a fable agreed upon?" A series of lessons encourages learners to look beyond the basic fable agreed upon related to events in history and consider multiple accounts of the event....
Orange County Department of Education
Poppa's New Pants
Angela Shelf Medearis' Poppa's New Pants provides third graders with an opportunity to stitch together their own narrative filled with sensory details. After reading the story and noting the sensory and concrete details in the tale...
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
TED-Ed
Lessons from Auschwitz: The Power of Our Words
Some words are best left unspoken. Words matter, according to Benjamin Zander, conductor, teacher, and lecturer. To illustrate his point, Zander recounts a story told to him by a survivor of Auschwitz. As a result of her experience...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 4: Unit 1, Lesson 4
High schoolers read the final section of E. B. White’s Death of a Pig and examine the impact of the words and tone he used. In pairs, learners discuss their homework from the previous night, answer questions about the text, and write in...
Curated OER
Using Aphorisms to Help Dealing with People
Here's a formal plan for what many effective teachers already do: Provide a week's worth of aphorisms and have learners choose one to write about in their journals each day. They reflect on the meaning of each aphorism and project how it...