WolfQuest
The Return of Gray Wolves to Yellowstone National Park: Right or Wrong?
Should gray wolves be removed from Yellowstone National Park? After researching the complex relationships between the various habitats and species at Yellowstone National Park, including humans, class members take a position...
PBS
“He Named Me Malala”: Understanding Student Activism Through Film
Malala Yousafzai has become the face of social activism. After watching He Named Me Malala and short student-made films about what young people can do to become instruments of change, class members reflect on what it means to be an...
Curated OER
The Minority Majority
Students design a census class and school, then tabulate the results. They respond to a sample census, then reflect on why questions of race and national origin are different.
Curated OER
That's Moor Like It!
How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...
Curated OER
Validating Votes
Explore the discrepancies in Florida's vote counting process in 2000 and 2002 with this New York Times reading instructional activity. Middle schoolers study the viewpoints presented in informational text, paying attention to how...
Curated OER
Local Motives
Investigate current local elections across the United States with this New York Times reading lesson. Using informational text, middle and high schoolers research local elections and create their own news reports about what they...
Curated OER
Science NetLinks: Adolescent Sleep
Wake up, sleepy head! High schoolers craft a creative presentation that represents how they feel when they wake up on a school morning. After the presentations, a reading of Academic Sleep Times and Academic Performance launches a...
Curated OER
Stop the Fighting and Start Uniting
Research current and proposed peace talks around the world with this New York Times lesson, Using the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria as a starting point, middle schoolers create a news program on the subject. They propose a future...
Curated OER
Forming Open-Ended Questions
Help readers learn to create their own open-ended questions for any text you are working with. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, learners begin on the lower levels and work their way up to form questions that focus on synthesis instead of simple...
Curated OER
Build a Connection
Learners discuss their personal connections with stories they've read in the past and identify techniques to connect with more stories. They create illustrations, construct task cards, and complete sentence stems based on books they read...
Curated OER
When Is It O.K. to Replace Human Limbs With Technology?
Today's blog topic is robotic limb replacement for amputees. Upper graders read the related article and argument, then compose a blog response that addresses the questions provided. This is a great way to get kids thinking about ethics,...
New York City Department of Education
Grade 5 Literacy in English Language Arts: Should the School Day Be Longer?
Scholars read newspaper articles relating to a longer school day and complete note-taking organizers as they read. They then form opinions and complete outlines before writing essays supporting their point of view.
Curated OER
Summarizing with Post It Notes
Young scholars practice summarizing articles using post-it notes. They gather information for their own article and summarize it as well. They are assessed by their teachers and the quality of their notes.
Curated OER
Whose Business Is It?
Students read articles in The Times Business Day section and share their opinions on the articles. They search through the Business Day section of The Times to find items to complete a scavenger hunt. They summarize a teacher selected...
Curated OER
On the Brink of a Mountain
Young scholars explore the political, social and economic effects of the division of North and South Korea.
Curated OER
Drawing Conclusions
Tenth graders explore why some teenagers take unnecessary risks. In this decision making instructional activity, 10th graders read an article on risk taking and draw important conclusions on the topic.
Curated OER
Financial Security
Students take an economic angle on social security, working in small groups to create a reader's guide to the program and the current debate.
Curated OER
Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
Students practice reading comprehension, note taking and writing skills. In this literacy and writing lesson, students read about the invention of airplanes, women pilots and the space race before writing their own news article on "100...
Curated OER
Costs of Living
Students consider the effects of rising oil and natural gas prices on family spending and saving habits. They design a board game intended to help people save.
Curated OER
Missions Accomplished?
Learners examine how the war on Iraq is progressing by looking at current events and comparing them to the goals outlined by General Tommy R. Frank; they then create a progress report assessing how close the coalition forces are to...
Curated OER
From Printed Page to Home Page
Students compare on-line newspapers to their print counterparts
Curated OER
Gray Whales: Life in the Nursery Lagoons
Students listen to and read the article, Gray Whales: Life in the Nursery Lagoons, and take notes and sketch pictures of gray whales. They list gray whale facts on an information chart, and develop and create a writers workshop assignment.
Curated OER
I Have No Money, Would You Take Wampum
Learners engage in a discussion about their experiences with goods, services, and money. In this bartering lesson, students read The Wampum Bird story and brainstorm their personal experiences with economics.
