Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “How Do You Get Through Hard Times?” Chalk Talk
Hold a discussion in writing about coping strategies to prepare your pupils for reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. After journaling, pupils come up in an organized fashion and write...
Curated OER
Rachel's Life is in a Hole
Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...
ReadWriteThink
Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation
I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...
Curated OER
Hubris Lesson Plan
Bring this lesson on hubris to your short story unit. After reading Jack London's "To Build a Fire," young readers discuss the role of hubris in the protagonist's death. The lesson has connections to other short stories, such as "The...
Curated OER
The Newspaper Article
Have your class participate in an interview activity using an informational text about the Amazon. After reading a Cultural Connections story about a person from the Amazon, middle schoolers write interview questions based on the text....
Anti-Defamation League
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought, Unbossed and Unforgotten
A 13-page packet introduces high schoolers to a lady of amazing firsts. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress, the first Black woman to run for President of the United States, and a leader of the Women's Rights...
Curated OER
Book: Crossing the Seas
As learners read each chapter of Eric Schwartz's Crossing the Seas, they analyze the actions of United States in Venezuela, Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the intent of the Monroe Doctrine. They then compare...
Curated OER
Literature-Based Skill Building: Freak the Mighty Chapter Three
Have your 5th or 6th graders read Freak the Mighty? Check their reading comprehension with this online activity. They answer 15 different questions based on chapter 3: American Flyer.
Curated OER
Wiki Comment: The News and You
Kids explore the world of news media by creating a wiki page. They will create a wiki page on the Internet in order to comment on and question the stories that take place in the world. They will practice creative writing by summarizing...
Curated OER
Debate: How Should African Americans Achieve Equality?
Each group is assigned a character to play in a mock debate. They read the provided materials, build an argument, and then debate their points of view as their perspective character. The debate focuses on ensuring equality for...
Curated OER
Finding James Fort
Welcome to Jamestown! Third and fourth graders read and analyze primary source documents about Jamestown or Fort James. They read and analyze descriptions of Fort James from primary sources. They access a website to explore more...
Curated OER
The Time Machine
Challenge your class with this instructional activity! Learners read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, discuss context clues, identify main ideas and details, and analyze story elements. Discussion questions and activities are broken down...
EngageNY
Research: Identifying Categories for Our Research About the Wheelwright
Here is a fine lesson on reading and understanding expository text designed for 4th graders. With a partner, learners read a passage of text about a machine called a wheelright. This machine was commonly used in the colonial...
Curated OER
Identifying Themes in Children's Literature
Identifying themes in literature is the focus of the language arts lesson plan presented here. Learners read short pieces of fiction and practice the skill of identifying the themes present in each one. The bulk of the lesson consists of...
Fairfax Public Schools
Walter Dean Myers
If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...
Heritage Foundation
Exercising Judicial Power
We should all do more exercising, but should the judicial branch as well? High schoolers develop their understanding of what powers the judicial branch carries because of the US Constitution, as well as where their limits lie in the...
Curated OER
Exploring Louisiana's Land Down Under - The World of Kate Chopin's The Awakening.
Visit 19th century Grand Isle, Cheniere Caminada, and New Orleans! Meet the inhabitants, learn about their history and culture, and view landmarks and industries! After reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, class groups research the...
Curated OER
Sexual Exploitation, Day 3: Continuum of Sexual Touch
A sensitive topic to teach, but definitely a topic that needs to be discussed. The more aware your high schoolers are of sexual exploitation, the better they will be able to handle such situations. Read the case studies to set the stage,...
Curated OER
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Day 2: HIV/AIDS - Understanding the Disease
One lesson in a series on sexually transmitted diseases, this activity is a good review about HIV/AIDS. Five main points in this lesson direct small groups of learners to read and present their information. They will need to make a...
Curated OER
Constitution/Impeachment/Reconstruction
Eleventh graders analyze a chart comparing U.S. census data from 1850, 1880, 1900, and 1920. They read a handout summarizing immigration legislation from 1882-1996 and create a graph charting how open / closed U.S. immigration is over time.
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Learners explore the relationship between names and certain cultures and locations. In this identity lesson, students create family migration or immigration maps. Learners read excerpts from When My Name was Keoko and Lost Names: Scenes...
Curated OER
Lessons from the Holocaust
In an ultimate lesson about listening to opposing points of view, your young historians read testimony from the Nuremberg Trials by Nazi SS officers regarding their actions during the Holocaust and a brief speech by Himmler to SS...
PBS
Exploring Parent-Child Relationships Through Letter Writing
The PBS film, Bronx Princess, launches a study of complex parent-child relationships. Using the provided reading guide, viewers respond to clips from the film and compare Rocky and Yaa’s relationship to other parent-child relationships....