Curated OER
Random Acts of Kindness For Kids
Develop a world-wide, email chain on which class members can showcase their acts of kindness. After defining the meaning of random acts of kindness through discussion and through a reading of Random Acts of Kindness,...
Curated OER
Don't Believe the Type: Internet Ethics
What is Internet fraud? Explore Internet ethics and engage in a collaborative discussion. In order to create a Guide to Internet Honesty, learners read and discuss the article "A Beautiful Life, A Tragic Death, a Fraud Exposed." Then...
Curated OER
Prosecution or Persecution
Investigate the future of the presidency in the wake of the House of Representatives' vote to impeach President Clinton. The class brainstorms both sides of the argument, reads and discusses an article, then analyzes and writes a journal...
Curated OER
Validating Votes
Explore the discrepancies in Florida's vote counting process in 2000 and 2002 with this New York Times reading instructional activity. Middle schoolers study the viewpoints presented in informational text, paying attention to how...
Curated OER
Undercover-ed
Have your class engage in critical-thinking activities using this resource. Learners discuss a variety of topics they think get too much, or too little, attention from the press. They analyze why these topics are over or underrated....
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
Curated OER
Rebuilding and Recovering
What does it mean to rebuild and recover after a major event? Your class will explore this theme while they discuss and discover the events surrounding September 11. They will also look at other examples and then create art pieces that...
Curated OER
Direct Effect
Discover the damage that was caused by the terrorist attacks on September 11th with your class. They will learn about the events of that day and the litigation process for damages incurred that day. Their research will cover the various...
Curated OER
For The Sake Of Security: U.S.A. Patriot Act & Bill of Rights
A substantive New York Times article about the U.S.A. Patriot Act, military tribunals, racial profiling, and the Bill of Rights forms the basis for a discussion of the complex interplay of fundamental American rights and the aftermath of...
Curated OER
Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
The Original's Sins
Are history textbooks plagiarized? The New York Times article, “Schoolbooks Are Given F’s in Originality,” looks at this question and forms the basis for a lesson on textbooks and plagiarism. The very detailed plan includes resource...
Curated OER
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Students examine their thoughts on the origin and meaning of dreams on a personal basis. They compare and contrast different models of the nature of dreams. They maintain a dream journal over a specific period of time.
Curated OER
Think First, Then Ask
Students are to read the book Everglades and create a KWL chart about the book. The KWL chart is explained to the students during the process of them reading the book. They complete step-by-step instructions to read the book and complete...
Curated OER
What's Fit to Print?
Students evaluate how newspapers are constructed and evaluate the extent to which newspapers serve their readers' interests.
Curated OER
Who Wants to Be a Thrillionaire?
Learners explore the investments undertaken by the "thrillionaire" Paul G. Allen, and propose future areas of high-tech scientific investment for Mr. Allen to pursue.
Curated OER
Living to Tell Their Tales
Young scholars explore ways in which the elderly can be valuable resources in learning about history. By conducting their own historical research through interviews with the elderly, students come to appreciate this resource first-hand.
Curated OER
A Civic Duty to Protest
Young scholars examine the concept of religious freedom by evaluating Hong Kong's security laws. In pairs students investigate the levels of religous freedom allowed in various countries around the world and present this information to...
Curated OER
Getting to the Bottom of Gitmo
Students explore, examine and study about the first military tribunal of a Guantanamo Bay camp detainee. They then participate in a collaborative writing assignment in which they have a "conversation on paper" with each other about...
Curated OER
Pay to Learn?
Learners discuss the concept of schools paying students as an incentive for scoring higher on standardized tests. They debate the key issues of this question and write a letter to the local board of education expressing their position.
Curated OER
"Swamp Monsters" by Mary Blount Christian
Using the book Swamp Monsters by Mary Blount Christian, young readers discuss key vocabulary terms and make predictions about swamp monsters. They complete a Cloze activity, explore past-tense verbs, and categorize vocabulary words.
Curated OER
Habits
Learners explore and analyze personal positive and negative habits. They read aloud the handout, "Who am I," and discuss what the term habit means and how to relate it to their personal lives. Each student responds on the term in their...
Curated OER
Help Is on the Way
Students explore disaster aid and ways in which it is provided. They work in small groups to explore relief efforts aimed at South Asian countries affected by the recent undersea earthquake and tsunamis.
Curated OER
Exploring the Hudson in 1609
In this geography worksheet, 5th graders study about the exploration of the Hudson River. Students respond to 7 multiple choice questions about the presented facts.
Curated OER
Native American Interaction with Other Peoples
Students examine the relationships between Native Americans and the Europeans who settled America. In this cultural diversity instructional activity, students analyze primary documents and respond to essay questions regarding the...