Curated OER
Lesson: The U.S. Westward Movement
Students research the U.S. Westward movement. For this U.S. history lesson, students research the topic, complete a creative writing activity for the lesson, and a design activity for the lesson.
Curated OER
Citizenship in Action
Eighth graders research an area of government, and plan a summer institute at the provincial level to share their findings with others. They must research the topic, decide who to invite, and what information and activities should be...
Curated OER
The Unknown Secrets of the Rain Forest
Learners listen to the story "The Great Kapok" then discuss characteristics of the rain forest. They make several different types of rain forest animals from paper plates (ex. sloth, tigers, monkeys etc) and design costumes for a...
Curated OER
Jurassic Park Debate
Students research behavior, phsyiology, and ecology of dinoaurs. Students role-play as scientific specialists such as geneticists and ecologists. They present their research findings in a research paper.
Curated OER
Chinese Dynasties
Students explore several Chinese dynasties and research various topics including papermaking, calligraphy, and Lu Hou. They also demonstrate how to use an abacus and create several math problems to solve with it. Choosing a dynasty,...
Curated OER
Bat Quest: In Search of Stellaluna
Students participate in Bat Quest: In Search of Stellaluna. In this children's literature activity students listen to the reading of Stellaluna. Computers are utilized to enter the Bat Quest site to research various topics on bats....
Curated OER
Exploring Folk Traditions and Folk Beliefs
Ninth graders work together to brainstorm an idea to focus on the similiarties and differences between various cultures. Individually, they interview family members using questions they created based on their topic. They use their...
Curated OER
Fort Morgan
Students investigate how Mobile, Alabama was significant to the Confederacy during the Civil War. They analyze maps, read primary source documents, write a research paper on Civil War military technology, and explore the Fort Morgan...
Curated OER
From Future Flight to Past Flight
Students complete a set of CD-ROM's to introduce them to the flight program at NASA. In groups, they research a topic related to flight and put their information on a CD-ROM. To end the instructional activity, they share their material...
Curated OER
Government Reform - Term Limits
Students consider the need for term limits. In this U.S. government lesson, students read selected articles about the pros and cons of term limits. Students then survey their class regarding their opinion of term limits. Students...
Curated OER
Listen To What I Found Out
In this research lesson, students complete a graphic organizer to help them organize their thoughts about a research topic. At first, students engage in a class discussion which focuses on how to frame questions, establish a topic, and...
Curated OER
From Brainstorm to Published Paper
Students investigate a topic through research, observation, and experimentation. They prepare a short science report and publish it online. Students reflect on the role of science reports in the larger scientific community.
Curated OER
Information Safari
Learners go to the library and research animals using features in the text to help them organize information. In this locating information lesson plan, students complete this task in teams.
Curated OER
Using Multimedia Presentations
Students use multimedia presentations instead of pencil paper activities in this lesson plan. They use a variety of technology media to discover concepts and represent learning using a variety of technology tools. Internet resource...
Curated OER
In My Opinion
Young writers craft letters to the government stating their opinion on different topics. They pick an environmental or ocean issue, research it, and craft their formal persuasive letter. Ensure your learners include supporting facts and...
Curated OER
Writing Newsletters!
A reading of Gail Gibbons’ Deadline! leads to a discussion of the differences between newspapers and newsletters. Class members then choose a favorite topic and create the front page for their own newsletter.
Teacher Printables
My Report Pack for... Famous Artists
Famous artists are fascinating, and learners will explore one of their choice using this report pack. Working their way through this template, they write three questions about the artist they are researching, check off types of reference...
Curated OER
Cite Your Sites!
The New York Times article “Lessons in Internet Plagiarism,” launches a look at how the Internet has increased the prevalence of plagiarism. The richly detailed lesson includes warm-up and wrap-up activities, discussion questions,...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2
The details in the new Common Core standard for producing informative/explanatory texts is different from what you have in your current curriculum, and now you are confused on what to do. Keep calm and carry on, because not only does...
Curated OER
The Gay '80s, '90s and '00s
After reading and discussing a news article from the New York Times regarding gay and lesbian issues of the last thirty years, students engage in several activities to explore current events. They create a timeline, either electronically...
Curated OER
Public Service Graphic Design
Twelfth graders create a billboard design (on the computer) to promote and increase awareness of a social problem. Students conduct research of public service issues that are of interest to them. They collect photos and images through...
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how to...
Curated OER
First-Aid Newspaper
Eighth graders research, write, edit and publish a class newspaper focusing on topics related to first aid. They research how to care for injuries and write informative articles for the paper. Students compile the articles to produce a...
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...