Aspen Institute
The Voice That Challenged a Nation
Included here are step-by-step instructions for conducting a close reading of The Voice That Challenged a Nation by Russell Freedman. After an individual and class reading, class members read carefully through the text excerpt,...
Annenberg Foundation
Skeeters Are Overrunning the World
Skeeters are used to model linear and exponential population growth in a wonderfully organized lesson plan including teachers' and students' notes, an assignment, graphs, tables, and equations. Filled with constant deep-reaching...
Curated OER
WWI Propaganda Choice Activity
World War I propaganda techniques employed by the United States government are the focus of this lesson plan. The resource includes an excellent handout of propaganda techniques, ranging from appealing to authority to repetition, lying,...
Curated OER
More on Conduction and Convection
Why do some items feel colder when they are the same temperature? How should you keep your soda cold? What makes the wind blow? These are just some of the things middle schoolers discover when completing a lesson on...
Inside Mathematics
Vencent's Graphs
I like algebra, but graphing is where I draw the line! Worksheet includes three multiple-part questions on interpreting and drawing line graphs. It focuses on the abstract where neither axis has numbers written in, though both are...
California Education Partners
Speedy Texting
Model the effects of practice on texting speed. Pupils develop a linear equation that models the change in texting speed based on the amount of practice. The sixth performance task in an eight-part series requires learners to solve...
Curated OER
Creative Ways To Teach Evolutionary Concepts
Research how DNA, the genetic blueprint of living organisms, plays an essential role in the continuity of life. High schoolers will summarize how their influence may very well effect the destiny of the population from one generation to...
Curated OER
Create a Public Opinion Survey: The Middle East in the News
Though the discrete content here is a pair of New York Times articles about a 1998 military strike on Iraq and the coincident impeachment by the House of Representatives of then-President Clinton, this detailed plan for creating,...
Curated OER
Weathering and Erosion
Fourth graders take a look at the effects of weathering and other geologic activities found in the environments in which they live. Along with a guided geologic walk outside of campus, there is also an effective in-class demonstration of...
Curated OER
Light
Light is such a fascinating subject. This lesson does a great job of illuminating the mysteries of light for your young scientists. A series of demonstrations which are explained in the plan should help your charges to understand how...
Curated OER
Nailing Rust
When your upper elementary or middle school class is learning about chemical changes, these activities help demonstrate the concepts. In Part A, they submerge and place a nail partially underwater, then after a week they make...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Darcy's Proposal to Elizabeth
Why did Elizabeth refuse Darcy’s first proposal? Was it pride or prejudice? Readers of Austin’s classic struggle with the significance of Darcy’s proposal and Elizabeth’s refusal by crafting personal response journals and sharing these...
Curated OER
Basic Needs
Young scholars examine the unique and diverse historical artifacts that people have designed to fulfill their everyday needs in extraordinary ways. They identify ways humans have used design throughout history to enhance the ways they...
University of Arkansas
Promises Denied
"Promises Denied," the second instructional activity in a unit that asks learners to consider the responsibilities individuals have to uphold human rights, looks at documents that illustrate the difficulty the US has had trying to live...
Curated OER
Evaluating the Strength of Scientific Evidence: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
A happy discovery occurred in Arkansas in 2004: a woodpecker, believed to be extinct since the 1940s, reappeared! Or did it? Middle to high school ecologists examine scientific evidence and use critical-thinking skills to determine...
Curated OER
Living News: Classroom Materials
Students explore controversial current events. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students research selected issues and examine the issues from different perspectives. Students script and record news stories that feature their findings.
Curated OER
Understanding JFK's Presidency through his Speeches
Students reflect and discuss the major events that happened in the United States in the 1950's and 1960's. In this U.S. History lesson, students read and analyze the famous speeches during this time frame, then complete a worksheet...
Curated OER
Narrative pantomime
Assign parts to read aloud Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag and have your young mimes act out their roles. This story focus on how beauty within is more important than outward appearance. Conclude by having your class provide an illustrated...
Curated OER
Exploring George Washington's Leadership
Students examine primary documents to determine whether or not George Washington was an honest leader. In this presidential history instructional activity, students evaluate Washington's leadership prior to and during his presidency....
Curated OER
What Science Suggests About 'Weather Weirding'
Here is an activity that you can use to help upper elementary or middle schoolers to meet Common Core literacy standards for science and technology. Youngsters read the article on extreme weather patterns, "Weather Runs Hot and Cold, So...
Curated OER
Big Branding on Campus: Reading Informational Text
This New York Times "Learning Network" activity poses 11 questions on an article and video about commercial branding and marketing on college campuses. The related article, "On the Market: Thinking Critically About Advertising", is...
Curated OER
In Cold Blood: A During Reading Activity
Following the method used by Truman Capote, class members research a major character from his novel, In Cold Blood, and then conduct an interview with that character. The resulting research is used to craft a newspaper article about the...
EngageNY
Contrasting Two Settings (Chapter 6: "Lost Melones/Cantalouples")
Continue working through Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, by looking into language choices and discussing text-dependent questions. Pupils converse in small groups and as a class about plot, setting, and figurative language. Using...
Curated OER
Transition Words in Writing
Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and summary. They find a...