Curated OER
Express Yourself
Youngsters practice retelling a part of their favorite Native American tale to a small group of their peers. Peer partners assess each others performances. To keep comments positive and constructive, consider giving your class sentence...
Curated OER
Voice of History
Way before the digital age radio was the medium of popular culture. After listening to excerpts from radio programs (easily available on the Internet), participants return to the radio age by creating a two-minute sketch based on a...
EngageNY
Adding to Cascading Consequences and Stakeholders: Local Sustainable Food Chain
Equip the class to perfect their presenting skills. To prepare for an upcoming oral presentation, scholars create and analyze an anchor chart for effective speaking skills. Pupils also use their research to add to their Cascading...
Curated OER
Actions Speak Louder than Words
Students examine and discuss how volume, stress, pacing, and pronunciation help deliver an effective oral presentation. They listen to a speech by Nolan Ryan, identifying why he is a good speaker, then practice reading their own short...
Curated OER
Listen To Me!
Young learners need practice speaking comfortably in front of others. Post a list of oral speaking tips on the board during this unit. Over a week-long period, they create a story from their interview sheet and present it to the class....
Curated OER
Post-Colonial Writers Unit
How do cultural and historical background impact thought? To explore this essential question, class members view of portion of the film, The Passage to India, read an excerpt from The Magician’s Nephew, and Nissim Ezekiel’s poem, "In...
Curated OER
Stage a Debate: A Primer for Teachers (Lincoln-Douglas Debate Format)
For a comprehensive overview of debate styles and formats, look at this resource. It details the Lincoln-Douglas debate format (one-to-one debate with specific, timed rounds of points, cross-examination, and rebuttals). You can also find...
Smithsonian Institution
Giving Speeches: George Washington's First and Second Inaugural Addresses
Students discuss the purpose of the President of the United States giving an inaugural address. They describe their impressions of any inaugural speaches they have heard or read. Students research events leading up to Washington's first...
Curated OER
Nine Planets
What are characteristics of a planet? With this plan, learners investigate the characteristics of the planets in our solar system. They gather research of the nine planets by using the Internet and other research tools. Then they create...
Curated OER
Ancient Egypt
Pupils complete a series of activities to discover life in ancient Egypt. They create want ads for pyramid workers, design vocabulary flash cards and dictionaries, and research famous Egyptians. They also research the "Curse of the...
Curated OER
Persuasive Speech Assignment
Practice using concrete evidence from various sources to back up an argument. The lesson emphasizes the use of support in a persuasive speech, as well as the importance of appealing to an audience's logic and emotions. You could modify...
Curated OER
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Public Views of Lincoln
Students write a letter in the voice of Abraham Lincoln. In this history lesson, students interpret the way the public viewed Lincoln during various times by examining political cartoons and images. Students write a letter in the voice...
Curated OER
I Really Love This More
Young language arts learners choose between two activities and then attempt to convince their classmates of their choice as a way of practicing persuasive speech. This particular instructional activity uses Valentine's Day as a theme;...
Curated OER
Decision Making: Who Was Right?
Help your class explore the question "Is it ever right to disobey a law?" With a strong base of knowledge about the Civil War, anti-slavery movement, and Underground Railroad, your class explores civil disobedience in Marshall, Michigan...
EngageNY
Preparation for Performance Task: Practicing Presentations
Practice makes progress. Working in pairs, presenters rehearse and refine their presentation skills before the big day when they pitch their film choices. Rehearsing also allows for refining prompt cards based on peer feedback and...
Curated OER
Individuality vs. Conformity
Spark an animated debate in your class! Young adults consider some of the fads or trends that are prevalent at their school, as well as their own level of participation in them. Just how much of a role does popular culture play in their...
Curated OER
Learning from the Past: A New Approach
Young scholars research nonprofit organizations. As they research, they learn how those living in the colonial period formed community organizations to provide for the common good of their society. Each pupil chooses one organization to...
Curated OER
Read All About it
Learners create and publish a newspaper that reflects and explains pioneer and medieval societies. They become newspaper writers for a specific time period. They adopt a holistic approach to exploring community life in medieval and...
Curated OER
Classroom Capers: Creating a Magazine
Fourth graders build language skills in the context of creating a classroom magzine. They participate in activities which help students communitcate ideas and information for a variety of purposes and for specific audiences using the...
Curated OER
Storytelling
Why are some people such good story tellers? Help youngsters demonstrate the art of storytelling. They start off by listening to a story and sharing what they noticed about the storytelling that made it exciting. Then, they study a story...
Curated OER
Is That Legal? A Case of Acid Rain
Develop an environmental case study! Elementary learners discover how a case study is used as an analysis tool. The goal of this activity is to show pupils how techniques of persuasion (including background, supporting evidence,...
Curated OER
Approaching Walden Curriculum Unit
Students engage in a literature study unit. They use various exercises to build reading comprehension using a wide variety of literature texts. While reading the books, students are encouraged to think reflectively in order to appreciate...
Curated OER
The Animals Kingdom
Young scholars are introduced to the classification system of animals. In groups, they set up an aquarium in which they must maintain throughout the year. They also observe earthworms and how they react to various stimuli and research...
Curated OER
Show And Tell
Have you ever saved your money to buy something you really wanted? Elementary schoolers share how they saved their money for things they wanted, and they bring in one or two items that they bought with their personal savings.