Curated OER
Reading Comprehension - Short Stories
Much more than a simple reading assessment, this resource can form the basis of a review of comprehension strategies, as a instructional activity that models for readers how to employ strategies to answer questions based on passages, or...
Global Change
The Carbon Cycle and its Role in Climate Change
So how does the carbon cycle work? Kids participate in a hands-on activity that allows them to understand the chemistry behind climate change and global warming. They act out the process of photosynthesis by labeling themselves as...
Park City Historical Society & Museum
Mining and Milling: The Story of Park City
Study the chemistry of mining! Through nine lessons in the unit, learners explore different concepts related to mining. Their study ranges from rock and mineral analysis to the environmental impact of dynamite and the chemical reaction...
Curated OER
Anticipatory Sets for The Odyssey
Start your unit on The Odyssey in a fun and accessible way! Three options help your young readers grasp the concept of brave Odysseus's tale, including making masks of Greek gods and goddesses, and responding to different...
Curated OER
Setting the Tone with Figurative Language
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson plan prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
Curated OER
Nos Creemos Americanos: Braceros in History and Song
Mexican folk songs offer an authentic look at WWII immigrant workers. This study of the U.S. Bracero Program sets historians up with context information so they can write their own corrido. The class reviews themes and formulas of...
Curated OER
We've Gotcha Covered: The Iowa Insurance Story
Analyze the relationship between financial risks and the growth of the insurance industry in Iowa. Learners work in groups to analyze the major catastrophic events that occurred in their community. Several worksheets are included.
Curated OER
The Progressive Era in Illinois
High schoolers collect photographs on the Progressive Era in Illinois, then write three newspaper articles, using one photo per article. The article will highlight an event in Illinois during the Progressive Era. The newspaper must also...
Curated OER
The Study of Theme and Figurative Language in Poetry and/or Prose
Identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in select pieces of writing. These pieces of literature will represent at least two pieces by one writer and at least two pieces by different writers. This lesson would be a great...
Curated OER
Summarizing Details in Sequence
Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson, they read a variety of...
Curated OER
Persona in Autobiography
A talkative old man? A naïve believer in Human Perfectibility? A Sage? Who is this guy, anyway? The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin launches a study of the way Franklin uses structure, style, and purpose, as well as different...
Harper Collins
Parrot in the Oven: Response Journal
After completing Chapter 5 of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, readers make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections to Victor Martinez's novel by crafting journal entries addressing comments and questions to characters in...
Brooklyn Museum
HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture
Visual arts lessons don't always mean the children need to make art. Here, they will practice using their visual literacy skills to analyze four images through the compare and contrast method. The first two images deal with gender...
ReadWriteThink
Looking for the History in Historical Fiction: An Epidemic for Reading
Combine informational reading skills with fictional text in an innovative historical fiction lessons. After reading a fictional text related to diseases, class members read non-fictional text to gain knowledge about specific infectious...
BBC
Words in the News
Here's an "old-school" lesson plan on an event in US history. High schoolers look into the massive layoffs that occurred in New Orleans in 2005. Discussion and debate take place, and groups of learners must cut and paste a series of...
Center for Civic Education
To Amend or Not to Amend, That's Been the Question...Many Times
Looking for some ideas for how to celebrate September 17, Constitution Day? Check out a packet that focuses on the factors that are considered in the amendment process. Class members examine the amendment process and the types of...
Prestwick House
Rhyme and Repetition in Poe's "Annabel Lee"
Many and many a year ago Edgar Allan Poe crafted the chilling tale of "Annabel Lee." The poem is the perfect vehicle to introduce Poe's concept of unity of effect, the idea that every element in a poem or story should help to develop a...
Curated OER
The Narrative Structure of Ethan Frome
This reading guide poses questions at the beginning, middle, and end of the reading of Ethan Frome. Readers focus on the setting, conflict, and resolution presented in the novel.
Curated OER
Story Map for Bud, Not Buddy
Why should your class complete a story map? After reading Bud, Not Buddy, divide your class into pairs or small groups to complete the included worksheet. They list the main characters, the conflict, main plot events, the resolution, and...
Curated OER
Take a Second. Make a Difference
Students are taught an important lesson about how an adult can influence life in a positive or negative way. They are encouraged to accomplish their best at home and school. The students write a personal story about a special person that...
Curated OER
Study Guide for Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper"
The battle between the Free Staters and the Republicans in the 1922-1923 Irish Civil War provides the backdrop for “The Sniper.” Individuals prepare for a discussion of Liam O’Flaherty’s tragic short story by completing a study guide...
Curated OER
The Memory Invention
Young writers edit their writing to make sure it shows good meaning and clarity. In this writing instructional activity, students are given a variety of "What If?" scenarios to choose from as writing prompts. A class discussion ensues,...
Curated OER
Alice Magic Cake
Using a famous children's story as the hook, learners explore the concept of changes in matter. First, they make a cake similar to the one made by Alice in the story Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Next, they let their...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...