Annenberg Foundation
Antebellum Reform
Scholars investigate the Antebellum period in the United States in an engaging lesson. Groups analyze technological, religious, economic, and social changes occurring during the time period prior to the Civil War. Using their new...
Baylor College
Plant Parts You Eat
Plants provide a variety of delicious foods essential for human survival. In the fourth lesson of this series on food science, young scientists investigate common fruits, vegetables, and grains in order to determine which plant part is...
Earth Day Network
Healthy Earth, Sick Earth
Earth is sick and needs our help! Read the children's book Planet Earth Gets Well to explain the various problems facing the planet, discussing what young conservationists can do to heal the planet along the way. A great Earth...
Curated OER
What's In a Phrase? Finding Historical Understandings in an Immigrant Guidebook
Using a Chinese-English phrase book from the late 19th century, learners view a glimpse of life on the frontier for a Chinese immigrant. They work in groups and on their own to analyze and summarize the content of various phrases, given...
Baylor College
Post-Assessment: Global Atmospheric Change
Find out how much your earth scientists learned about the atmosphere in the unit on global atmospheric change with this assessment. After writing a letter to persuade others to make changes to protect our atmosphere, pupils take the same...
Baylor College
Fungus Among Us
In order to learn that mold spores can be found in the air, observers grow bread mold and make observations for a few days. Afterward, they participate in a class discussion to arrive at the knowledge that bread spores are present in the...
Public Schools of North Carolina
Democratic Republic of Congo - Map Skills
Work on your map skills with a packet of activities about the river basins in the Democratic Republic on Congo. Learners study the maps provided before answering the geography questions and writing an acrostic poem about the region.
Virginia Department of Education
Ecosystem Dynamics
Searching for an eccentric way to enhance lessons on ecosystems while ensuring pupils remain creative and motivated? Upon viewing The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, designated groups design and construct a pop-up book that...
Curated OER
Cyrano do Bergerac Anticipation Guide
Introduce Cyrano de Bergerac with an anticipation guide that asks class members to rate a series of qualities that they look for in a friend. Groups then share their responses and present the class with the quality that provided the most...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Anticipation Guide
To set the stage for reading Paradise Lost, class members compete an anticipation guide containing statements that connect to themes in Milton's epic poem.
Novelinks
Where the Red Fern Grows: Anticipation Guide Strategy
How do you rise above your challenges? This is a question the anticipation guide for Where the Red Fern Grows answers. Full of questions and direct statements about themes of the text, pupils investigate whether or not the writer would...
Curated OER
What Were They Thinking Then, What Are We Thinking Now?
Choosing an issue from a play or novel, researchers find two primary sources from different time periods to compare how people's views have changed. Many questions are listed to guide young writers. In the end, learners produce a...
Curated OER
Literal Meaning of Reading
Students demonstrate literal meaning of a fiction book. In this reading comprehension lesson, students listen to the book, If You Give a Mouse a Muffin and practice the "m" sound during the read aloud. Students answer questions about the...
Curated OER
Chanting
Students use pictures and text to gain meaning from written materials by connecting text. message heard, and/or material viewed to prior knowledge and experiences. Finally, students recognize and name upper and lower case letters and...
Curated OER
Reading a Map
Third graders become familiar with the vocabulary and skills related to mapping. For this guided reading lesson, 3rd graders find proper nouns on from the map. Students read Goldilocks. Students make a...
Curated OER
Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know. In this Monarch Butterfly instructional activity,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly....
Curated OER
Afghanistan: People, Places and Politics
Students discuss their prior knowledge of Afghanistan. They work together to complete a study guide about Afghanistan's people and places. They present their information to the class.
Curated OER
Heightening Awareness
Students review their prior knowledge about Haiti. They examine violence in Haiti by reading and discussing "HAITIAN FORCES BATTLING UPRISING REPORT RETAKING 3 TOWNS." In groups, students research specific time periods of Haitian history...
Curated OER
Mission Makeover
Young scholars examine their prior knowledge of the space program. After reading an article, they explore the conclusions of the Columbia accident. In groups, they research various space programs and discover the scope of NASA. They...
Curated OER
A Hard Sell on Stem Cells?
Young scholars examine their prior knowledge of cell regeneration and therapeutic use of stem cells. After reading an article, they discover new techniques for deriving embryonic stem cells. In groups, they research on the different...
Curated OER
Global Faith
Students review their prior knowledge of religious symbols and their meanings. After reading an article, they discover the comeback of the Muslim faith in Spain. In groups, they research and compare the evolutions of two religions in a...
Curated OER
Explore Chapters 1 - 5
Students preview the novel, "Dragonwings," by Laurence Yep, make connections between the novel previewed and their prior knowledge, other texts, and the world. They utilize graphic representations including charts, graphs, pictures, and...
Curated OER
Poetry Analysis Lesson and Rubric
Analyzing poetry can be done using a variety of techniques that tap into student's prior knowledge.
Curated OER
A History of Journal Writing
Students articulate their prior knowledge concerning the purposes of journal writing. They explore what function journal writing has fulfilled for various cultures and peoples. Students read and analyze various journal entries by famous...