Curated OER
Studying the ABC's of the Environment
Third graders choose a letter of the alphabet and find an environmental topic to research that begins with the same letter. They prepare an article and illustration about their topic and compile them into a class environmental alphabet...
Curated OER
Favorite Activity
Students write persuasive essays about favorite activities. They present on a topic of personal interest or one that has been studied in another subject area. They write a composition of a favorite activity, describing the activity and...
Curated OER
Holocaust Nightmare Revisited
Fourth graders read the autobiography "Night" and discuss why Elie Wiesel was ing to relive this time of his life through writing. They write an essay covering Elie Wiesel's purpose for writing the book.
Curated OER
The Kidlink Day Project
Students create journal entries on-line as part of a "Kidlink Day" activity. Entries are compared and evaluated by their peers. The writing process is practiced in this activity.
Curated OER
Dear Abby- Colonial Style
Students review the Colonial period in American history and read literature from this era. They assume the roles of a colonial young person and an adult to compose letters from each and communicate their ideas through the letter writing...
Curated OER
Studying English Abroad
Students explore what it might be like to study English in another country. In this ESL lesson, students complete several activities that represent what it might be like to experience learning the English language in another country,...
Curated OER
Hamilton and Burr : Compare and Contrast
Who were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? High schoolers examine the character traits of these historical figures and watch the video, The Duel. Hamilton vs. Burr: An Event that Changed History (available from PBS), to gain...
Curated OER
Main Idea in Informational Text
Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...
Novelinks
Tuck Everlasting: Herber Readiness
Begin your unit on Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a pre-reading activity about the novel's themes. As class members ponder five questions that reflect the book's themes, they talk about their opinions in...
National Endowment for the Humanities
How to Win a World War
High schoolers are have begun to learn the art of diplomacy with each other, but do they understand how diplomacy works at a global level? The second in a series of four lessons, guides scholars in evaluating primary sources....
Curated OER
Can You Find It?
Plan a Parts of a Book scavenger hunt. Begin by giving your young adventurers a book, and asking them to find the title, author, illustrator, and table of contents. After a discussion of the purpose of each of these items, class members...
Curated OER
Volcanoes: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Introduce young geologists to types of volcanoes during the pre-lab. First graders explore how different liquids flow with an experiment on viscosity to simulate how different types of lava flow. Next, they learn...
Curated OER
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: Anticipation Guide
A fan of anticipation guides? This resource not only offers directions on how to craft such a pre-reading activity, but also provides a model for Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.
Into Films
Filmmaking Guide
Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney Studios. Prepare your primary graders to become the next generation of film makers with a guide that encourages kids to explore the possibilities of script writing, lighting, sound, editing, and post...
Curated OER
Production: Specialization and Division of Labor - Grade Three
Learn about the concept of specialization of labor with your class. In this specialization of labor activity, 3rd graders work in teams to produce a product. They work in either a division of labor or independent production method. They...
Curated OER
Express Yourself
First graders identify details that make reading and writing more interesting. They classify events, people, places, and things and attach specific characteristics to each one. Everyone generates describing words on a worksheet that's...
Curated OER
Mystery Word
Help spellers hear words that have the same beginning letter in them and guess the letter. Each speller has a piece of paper where they are to write down the letter once they have identified it. For instance, the teacher will say, "may,...
Curated OER
Heart of Darkness: List Group Label Strategy
Heart of Darkness can challenge even the best readers. Here's a pre-reading strategy that will engage class members and provide background and context for Conrad's study of racism, savagery and imperialism. Class members brainstorm,...
Curated OER
Picturing History: John Singleton Copley and British Portraiture
Students observe and compare 18th century British portraits with those made by John Singleton Copley. By conducting research they explore the cultural climate of the portraits in order to write a historically accurate story.
Curated OER
For the Birds
Second graders observe, identify, and document birds sighted at the library feeder station. They observe and document birds in order to begin their birder's life list. They apply scientific concepts and principles by using library...
Vancouver Island University
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
A good story is a great way to support skills that are necessary for encouraging strong reading skills. Here is a class I do, You do, We do style lesson that stars the tale, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. Included are two fun pre-reading...
Curated OER
Manipulating Digital Images
High schoolers work with pre-loaded images as well as with a digital camera to manipulate digital images. At the end of the activity, they analyze and write about their work using complete sentences, correct grammar, and spelling. For a...
Curated OER
Spelling Activity
Sometimes you can add an s to a word to form its plural. Sometimes you can't. Help your class learn how to pluralize irregular words like calf, woman, and half. After, have them study the prefixes un, de, pre, dis, and re in the colorful...
Curated OER
How Would You Feel?
Sixth graders put themselves in the shoes of aborigines who were displaced from their homes in the 1800s by Europeans who came in and took their land from them. They discuss the social injustices suffered by these people, and write...