Curated OER
Anonymous Sources in the Media
When do people ask for anonymity? Why? After reading the New York Times article "For a Reporter and a Source, Echoes of Broken Promise," young readers participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on freedom of the press and the use of...
Curated OER
Shame on You!
Should public humiliation be an acceptable consequence for a crime? Have your middle schoolers engage in a round table discussion about the recent resurgence of the use of public humiliation as a punishment for crimes in the United...
Curated OER
Good for Goodness Sake?
After discussing their opinions of performing community service, young learners read an article about different benefits of serving the community. They participate in a debate about whether their school should require pupils to perform...
Curated OER
Literary Skills
Develop their literary skills. In this literature lesson, students collaborate to read portions of books and examine settings, plots, main ideas, and conclusions.
Curated OER
The Long and Short of It: Summarizing Important Details
Students practice their summarizing skills while listening to a brief biography of Amelia Earhart. Students take notes while the teacher reads the article and write a paragraph that summarizes the important events from Amelia Earhart's...
Curated OER
Home Living/Life Skills: Face Washing
Having good hygiene skills is a very important part of living an independent life. Learners with special needs follow sequencing cards to practice washing their faces. They follow each step in the process and discuss the importance of...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to the Short Story
How should pupils read short stories? Set them up for this unit with an introductory instructional activity that goes over the main characteristics of a short story and starts learners off reading their first short story of the unit. In...
Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 1: How Do Society’s Expectations Influence Education?
The history of women's education can be traced back to the delicate stitching of student samplers from the 19th century. Modern-day pupils examine and analyze four primary sources, three of which are images of embroidered samplers, which...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3
Focus on complex characters with a lesson from a series that teaches individual skills from the Common Core. Specifically, this resource provides practice with standard RL.9-10.3. Get pupils thinking and talking about characters with the...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
The fourth standard for reading literature in the Common Core calls for young readers to be able to determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases. Use this resource, a continuation of a series of Common Core...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom Super Scientist
Let's have a look at something different. Scholars take a look at the text Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom Super Scientist and discuss how the structure, graphics, and images appear different than previous works they...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Professional Communications in Business
Leave a message after the beep! Using the fun resource, pupils brush up on their communication skills by practicing taking and receiving phone messages. Additionally, they recreate an interoffice memo and create a meeting agenda to...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Dramatic Structure of the Short Story
The second lesson in a series of fourteen, this plan takes the short story basics a step further. Learners complete a quiz about the story from the previous day, discuss the text, learn about Anton Chekhov, and work in groups to begin...
Curated OER
A Vocabulary Word a Day
Students research one assigned vocabulary word and prepare a short teaching activity and memory aid to present with the word to the class. They take notes on all the new vocabulary words presented to them by other classmates then they...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: A Compare and Contrast Lesson Plan
Two great men, one time period, and one purpose; it sounds like a movie trailer, but it's not. It's a very good comparative analysis lesson focused on Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Learners will research and read informational...
Curated OER
Money Management Part II: Checking Accounts
Having money is great, learning to manage it wisely is imperative. First, the class has a discussion on the value and convenience of having a checking account. Then, they practice filling out deposit slips, keeping an account register,...
US Mint
Desert Dwellers
What can a quarter possibly teach young learners about desert ecosystems? More than you might think. After displaying and discussing the included picture of the Arizona state quarter, the class participates in a series of shared reading...
Curated OER
Don't Believe the Type: Internet Ethics
What is Internet fraud? Explore Internet ethics and engage in a collaborative discussion. In order to create a Guide to Internet Honesty, learners read and discuss the article "A Beautiful Life, A Tragic Death, a Fraud Exposed." Then...
Curated OER
Avoiding Consumer Fraud: Financial Scams and Schemes
Young consumers get a hefty dose of information on how fraud can put their financial health at risk. The resource provides detailed lecture notes, scaffolded notetaking sheets, vocabulary worksheets, transparencies, and seven links to...
Curated OER
Notes on the Seasons
Students complete guided notes while learning about the earth's seasons.
National History Day
“War Is Hell. We Know it Now.” American Soldiers in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Understanding the soldier's experiences during World War I sometimes takes a newscast. Learners see the importance of understanding multiple points of view with a newscast project surrounding the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Compare and...
Curated OER
The Gift of Gatsby
A reading of “Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers,” a New York Times article by Sara Rimer, triggers a discussion of the American Dream and what it means to strive for something. Following the discussion, class members...
University of Chicago
Comparing Modern and Ancient Ideas of Ethnicity and Identity
Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...
EngageNY
Reading about the Author’s Perspective: Why Do Authors Write about Natural Disasters?
It's all about perspective. Scholars view a note from the author in Eight Days. They determine the gist and discuss what they can learn about the author's background based on the note. They then complete a fishbowl activity in which they...