National Museum of the American Indian
Fritz Scholder: A Study Guide
In this engaging activity involving close analysis of abstract expressionist art, your class members will not only discover more about artist Friz Scholder's Native American art, but they will also have the opportunity to consider...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 2
The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...
University of Minnesota
Memory Box
Teachers encourage using memory tricks, but do they actually work? Scholars test word association in a short yet engaging activity. They use 10 seconds to memorize as many items as possible and determine if they are more successful if...
Brown University
The Candidates and Their Values: Election 2016
Voting for the next president of the United States is about finding the candidate who most closely aligns with your own values and sense of democracy. High schoolers become acquainted with the candidates from the 2016 election with a...
EngageNY
Language Analysis: “I Have a Dream”
Middle schoolers look closely at Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech and use a language analysis sheet to determine if King's sentences use active or passive voice. They then move their attention back to A Mighty Long Way to...
Curated OER
Teaching About Plate Tectonics and Faulting Using Foam Models
Young scientists learn about plate tectonics and the three different types of faults (normal, reverse, and strike-slip) using foam models. The activity also covers common types of locations where these faults are found.
Speak Truth to Power
Marina Pisklakova: Domestic Violence
After reading Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and discussing background material about domestic violence, class members create a map showing where in their community survivors of domestic violence can get help and...
K20 LEARN
Trigger Warnings - Intellectual Rights and Responsibilities: Banned Books, Censorship Part 1
"Warning: Conducting this lesson may be harmful." Such statements, called "Trigger Warnings," are the focus of a two-part lesson that looks at censorship, especially the pros and cons of trigger warnings. Class members read two articles,...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 1
Here's a fresh approach to the dreaded personal narrative required by most college applications. The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the anchor text for a unit that, through modeling and guided practice exercises, encourages the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Understanding Conflicts
The Resolving Conflicts module begins with a lesson about tolerance and learning to appreciate differences among people. Through a series of activities and games, middle schoolers learn that conflicts arise when people have opposing...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Leadership and a Global Stage
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, among other things, the study of a ruler's ambitions. Young scholars watch videos, read articles, and keep a Commonplace Book while studying the play. At the end of Act III, pupils stage the play that...
Curated OER
A Novel Ending/ Closure Activity
Students summarize a story, identify the plot structure, and create a symbol that represents the essence of the story.
Curated OER
Reading Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers
Students discover the impact "Lady Bird" Johnson had on America by reading a short biography. In this historical persons lesson, students read a multi page biography of the former first lady and write a summary of her life's work....
Curated OER
Night: Guided Imagery Activity
Prior to reading Night, class members engage in a guided imagery activity that helps them make text-to-self connections to Elie Wiesel’s account of his experiences with his father in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Complete directions, as well...
Curated OER
Anticipation Guides Improve Reading Comprehension
Beginning with anticipation guide strategies is a powerful method for improving reading comprehension. First, list initial ideas for a topic the class will be reading about. These ideas are formulated into statements, some of which are...
Curated OER
LESSON #2 SAFETY UNIT: Real-life reading selection
When studying pollution and the environment, you can use this activity as an enrichment. Safety-conscious learners read a 2005 article about an ammonia leak from a Kentucky fast-food product plant. They work in small groups to discuss...
Curated OER
Reading and Writing in the Right Direction
Beginning writers practice writing and reading from left to right using green and red dots. You'll need notecards with a green dot on the left side and a red dot on the right side. Do your learners understand that print moves from left...
Curated OER
The Civil War: Up Close and Personal
Pupils take an in depth look at different aspects of the Civil War. Using primary source documents, they discover that people who lived during the war are not so different from them. They read about the experience of a Confederate...
Curated OER
Reptiles Vocabulary Multiple Choice Activity
In this reptiles vocabulary worksheet, students complete a ten question multiple choice activity pertaining to reptiles. Students read the questions and choose the correct answer from four choices.
Curated OER
Are or Our?
Are and our are two of the most commonly misused words in the English language. This presentation tries to address that fact. And it does! The different uses of these two words is clearly explained. A clever slide closes the...
Curated OER
Claims in "The Crisis, No. 1"
"The Crisis, No. 1" is the focus of a series of exercises that ask learners to read closely and annotate Thomas Paine's text. Groups identify claims and evidence in the essay and present their arguments to the class. Teacher background...
Weebly
Disability Awareness Activity
Class members gain awareness of the challenges people with disabilities face, such as those with vision impairments, autism, or speech and language disabilities, as they progress through a series of engaging and informative learning...
ARKive
Nocturnal Animals
How do those nocturnal animals see in the dark? This perplexing question does have an answer. First, little ones use their sense of touch to determine the name of a mystery object, then they listen closely to identify various animals by...
California Education Partners
Grapes of Wrath
To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, individuals analyze the details, syntax, and diction John Steinbeck uses in a passage from The Grapes of Wrath to reveal the develop and evolution of Mae's character.