Curated OER
Characteristics of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. Working in pairs, 8th graders determine what qualities and characteristics they would assign to her from their selected diary entry.
Curated OER
Dancing Opposites (Size)
Students create movements that illustrate opposites. In this opposites lesson, students discuss what opposites do for writing and relate to dance. Students make movements based on their opposites.
Curated OER
Elements of a Story - Plot, Characters, and Setting
Use this SMART board activity with any short story in your unit plan. The SMART board file contains a step-by-step guide to plot diagrams, including an interactive practice page and an assignment. This resource is beneficial for language...
Curated OER
That Is Not My Opinion!
Being an informed citizen requires distinguishing fact from opinion and understanding persuasion methods. Secondary learners evaluate newspaper editorials. They read opinion pieces, identify the writer's purpose and position on an issue,...
Curated OER
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Fate Versus Free Will
Students relate legends of lucky objects such as a rabbit's foot and principles of Feng Shui to fate and free will concepts that are expressed in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Casear". In small groups, they redesign the palace of Casear to...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: The First Middle School Chess Champs
Introduce some nonfiction reading into your classroom! This resource contains seven comprehension questions pertaining to an article from The New York Times website about the first middle schoolers to ever win the United States Chess...
Curated OER
Say It in French
Eleventh and twelfth graders research and create language-immersion Web-based presentations. They choose a particular theme (family, travel, etc.) to create a webpage on the Internet. They are given a rubric to check their grammar and...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.7
Considering adding more research to your curriculum? Check out this idea. The assignment example, which connects to the Common Core, is written for a lesson on "The Scarlet Ibis." However, you could adapt the bigger idea to almost any...
Curated OER
Endangered Animals
Fourth graders research different endangered animals in media center as part of unit on Earth Day, animals, and environment, create project based around multiple intelligence related to an endangered animal, and produce Powerpoint...
Curated OER
Painted Dreams
Third graders explore the importance of art in Haitian culture by analyzing the cause and effect within the story, "Allie's Basketball Dream." They examine all the aspects of the story and characters including their goals, dreams,...
Curated OER
LOOKING AT A CHARACTER
Second graders investigate self- and teacher-selected literature (e.g., picture books, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, poems, legends) from a variety of cultures. They re-enact and retell stories, songs, poems, plays, and other literary...
Curated OER
Gray Whales
Explore the majestic grey whale while deepening your understanding of animal adaptations. Grey whales from head to toe are specifically designed to fit their environment. Learners will examine the ways in which the flippers, head, body,...
Curated OER
Vocabulary in the Content Area
Students make connections between new vocabulary words and what they already know by illustrating the words and writing about them.
US National Library of Medicine
Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature
Just because you can, should you? Reflections on the ethics and limits of medical research are prompted by a reading of excerpts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, viewing of clips from the 1931 film, and examining sections of the online...
Curated OER
Building Reading Skills: Fluency
Middle schoolers practice their fluency skills. In this fluency lesson, students read aloud stories to their peers and they help to coach one another on their fluency, pronunciation, phrasing, and inflection. They discuss what makes 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 lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...
Curated OER
Meet Our Class
Students survey the exploration of oneself through self-assessment and interviews by others. They organize ways to present themselves to the world through writing and artwork. They also customize research from a computer as a tool for...
Curated OER
Analyze This
Students gain practice in the analysis of various types of graphs common in daily life. These examples often use graphic images like charts, graphs, tables, and pictures to supplement learning.
Curated OER
Picture Dictionary
Students write and contribute one page for a class picture dictionary. They discuss how to alphabetize words, and examine both regular and picture dictionaries and how they are organized. Next they create a page for the class dictionary...
Curated OER
American Revolution Multimedia Project
Students create multimedia projects based on the American Revolution Era. In this American History lesson, students combine photographs, slides, and video to present the time line of the American Revolution to the rest of their class.
Curated OER
"Four" Goodness Sake
Fourth graders recognize that ethnicity, religion and geography are reflected in the food choices we make. For this food choices lesson, 4th graders discuss different types of food from different places. Students compare a menu to the...
Curated OER
My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
Curated OER
An Author Study: Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes' books can be a great way to introduce students to an author study in the classroom.
Curated OER
Mixed Media Landscape Design
Seventh graders create mixed media representations of landscape designs in Africa and Asia. The lesson is great for cross-curricular projects with the Social Sciences and/or Literature, or can be used as a self-contained project. ...