Curated OER
Six Day War
Learn about the diverse perspectives involved in the Six Day War by having learners examine and annotate presidential speeches given by the three nations—Egypt, Israel, and the United States—at the heart of the conflict and producing...
Museum of Tolerance
The Price of Personal Responsibility
A reading of Patrick Henry's "Speech in the Virginia Convention," Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" launch a discussion about the price one is willing to pay to...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Reading the Work of B. Franklin, Printer
Placing Ben Franklin’s ideas about a free press next to those embodied in the First Amendment sheds light on both. Learners interpret and compare two primary sources and then examine them in the light of a contemporary survey about...
One Stop English
A Lesson on Register
The classroom might not be the best place for informal language, but it's a great place to teach middle and high schoolers how to identify the correct language register for their audience. A short lesson on formal and informal language...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “In This Place (An American Lyric)” by Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman, the United States's first National Youth Poet Laureate, is featured in a resource from the Academy of American Poets. Class members first read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and note what King wanted...
Curated OER
Magic Mountain Mansion Lesson Plan
Students think about and discuss what their personal dream mansion in the mountains would look like. They decide on adjectives that would best describe their building which they write on a chart with markers. Using art supplies, they...
Curated OER
“THE LORAX” by Dr. Seuss
Few children's books convey the message of conservation as well as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Read the story aloud, emphasizing the interconnectedness of plants and animals in an ecosystem and discussing different ways people can help...
Curated OER
Comparatives Superlatives
Review comparatives and superlatives. Middle schoolers are introduced to modifiers such as Adjectives and Adverbs. They will talk about comparatives and superlatives such as: What makes them different, fo over rules for each type of...
Curated OER
Grammar Shots
Scholars take pictures of people, places, and things around the school and glue pictures onto the correct noun categories. They will put together a "grammar shots" portfolio identifying pictures with the correct noun category and write...
Curated OER
The Daily Scoop
Pupils report classroom news. First, they write complete sentences using adjectives and adverbs to describe events. Next, they take turns presenting interesting news to the class using appropriate volume and clarity. As an extension,...
Curated OER
Complex Sentences Made Easy
Take the complexity out of writing complex sentences. Young writers practice taking two ideas and putting them together to make a complex sentence. Create a list of subordinating conjunctions to help each individual make better sentences.
K20 LEARN
Do Hungry Dragons Really Like Crunchy Tacos?: Adjectives
Tacos are the theme of a lesson all about adjectives. Scholars list as many adjectives as possible to describe tacos and play a game of Not Like the Others before reading Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin. Peers guess their favorite foods...
K20 LEARN
Who Are They Really?: Characterization In The Outsiders
Ponyboy, Johnny, Winston, and Darry come alive in a activity that focuses on the details S. E. Hinton uses to characterize the Greasers and the Socials. The class first observes the actors' words; the thoughts revealed their effect on...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Tyranny of the Majority
In American democracy, majority rules but what prevents the voices of the few from being crushed? Using excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's writings, young historians explore cases where minority rights were trampled upon. Extension...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Power of the Majority over Thought
While Alexis de Tocqueville mourned a lack of "freedom of discussion" in America in the early republic, today's pupils are concerned about peer pressure. Using excerpts of de Tocqueville's writing and discussion questions, scholars...
Curated OER
How Safe is Your School Bus?
Learners research various aspects of school bus safety such as what makes a bus safe and unsafe. Using provided Internet sites and others students examine what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has to say and also what...
Curated OER
Finding My Voice
Have your class learn the essentials of public speaking. They compose a speech for their fifth grade celebration using iPods and presentation software. This would be a great end of the year activity for any grade level.
Curated OER
Strategy Script #4
This instructional activity is designed for college pupils who are having anxiety regarding public speaking. In it, the speech givers go through a process of using imagery in order to reduce anxiety. The instructor guides the pupils in...
Curated OER
Vocabulary
Students use new vocabulary words in their speech and writing and spell them correctly. In this vocabulary lesson plan, students create portfolios of their vocabulary work.
Curated OER
Telling a Story
Do your class members complain they don’t know what to write about? Give them disposable cameras and ask them to take pictures of 12 things that make them happy. After the pictures are developed, they are pasted on a poster board and...
Curated OER
Oral Presentation
Practice your speaking skills! Using a chosen visual aid, pupils present a previously written essay to the class. During the oral presentation, the listeners identify and write down the author's purpose and a question for the author. At...
Curated OER
Growing Poems
Students write garden inspired poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students go out into the garden and write poems about how they feel, what they see, and what is going on in the garden.
Curated OER
Sea to Sky Adjectives Booklet
Adjectives build better sentences! First, second, third, and fourth graders design adjective booklets that feature words to describe everything between the sea and the sky.
Curated OER
How to 'Write Right'!
Pupils practice their reading, writing, and listening skills by completing the sentence writing journal activity. In this reading and writing sentences lesson, students read sentences from the board, identify vocabulary within the...