K12 Reader
Adjectives Add Interest
A world without adjectives would be a sad place indeed! Make sure adjectives stay around by teaching your class about what they are and how using them can make a boring story truly interesting. Learners put this idea into practice by...
Curated OER
Orienteering: Map Skills
Students use a map to locate six specific landmarks on a course using a map. They identify how maps can help us and write a paragraph describing how to get from one landmark to another on the map.
Lesson Plans
Analogy of the Cell Project
Intended to supplement your existing cell function and organelle lessons, pairs work together to develop a real-world analogy for cell structures. In addition to writing paragraphs about the comparison, each group will make a short...
Curated OER
Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
Julian Secret Agent: Commas
Your class participates in a variety of shared reading and writing activities related to the book Julian Secret Agent. They complete a class story chart, examine how to use punctuation for dialogue, write an alternative...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5
Working on revision? Check out this resource on Common Core standard W.9-10.5, which focuses in particular on the writing process. After reading some information about the specifics of the standard and how to implement it in the...
ESL Holiday Lessons
Thanksgiving
Near Thanksgiving, learners complete activities surrounding the holiday. Some of the activities include a passage, matching phrases, fill in the blanks, correct word choosing, multiple choice, sequencing, unscramble the sentences, write...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Climate Change Impacts on Blue King Crabs
Carbon dioxide is not only causing global temperatures to increase, it causes the oceans to become more acidic. Lesson focuses on the blue king crab and the fragility of the habitat due to climate change. Scholars create a concept map...
EngageNY
Analyzing Textual Evidence: Working Conditions in the Mills
Deafening, dusty, debris. Such were the working conditions in the 1800s textile industry as portrayed in Katherine Paterson's novel Lyddie. Scholars watch a short video clip about life and work in the mills. Next, they work...
EngageNY
Close Reading and Gathering Evidence from Frightful’s Mountain and “Welcome Back”
Where did the falcons go? Scholars read the article Welcome Back which describes the disappearance of falcons due to the use of pesticides. During a second read, learners annotate the text by marking unfamiliar words and facts about...
Curated OER
Historical Fiction- Thanksgiving
Young scholars write a story. In this historical fiction lesson, students research how Thanksgiving began. Young scholars write a fictional story where they are a main character of this time period.
Curated OER
Capitalization and Punctuation
These passages don't look right! It's your grammarians to the rescue as they correct capitalization and punctuation issues in two informational paragraphs. They must circle all words missing a capital letter and fill in blanks where end...
Curated OER
Animal Farm: Symbolism and Theme
If you want some help with teaching themes and symbols in Animal Farm, this may be beneficial. After a class discussion about possible themes, class members write a paragraph explaining which they believe is the most important. Next,...
Curated OER
Descriptive Paragraphs
Third graders gain the necessary skills to write a descriptive paragraph. They see the evaluation and decision making process that are used in good wriitng. The bible is used to see illustrations and then used to paint a picture in...
Curated OER
Five Paragraph Essays
Students can learn important writing skills, such as how to complete a five paragraph essay, with these lessons.
Curated OER
Picture It: Teaching Descriptive Writing
There are many fun and effective ways to teach students to write descriptively.
Santa Ana Unified School District
Lord of the Flies Unit
How does a society influence and shape individuals? Class members ponder this essential question as they read Lord of the Flies, as well as primary source materials about the historical background of the novel. As a...
Curated OER
Music Theories
Explore the inception and evolution of hip-hop music as a springboard for writing music reviews and researching other genres of music. Learners will read and discuss the Times' article, From Underground Music to Fashion Statement to then...
Curated OER
Applying for a Job
Students apply for a job and create a resume. In this applying for a job lesson, students write a resume for themselves. Resume is designed for real world application.
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
How close are your eighth graders to mastering the ELA Common Core standards? Keep an eye on progress with these charts, which include every eighth grade identifier and full standard text. As you move through the year and teach,...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Teaching the 9/11 Anniversary
Here is a lesson plan on terrorism and 9/11. While outdated, it could be easily revised for today's teens. It includes targeted vocabulary, a background information activity, critical thinking questions, and step-by-step procedures for...
Curated OER
Power Writing to Elaborate: Paragraph Writing, Main Idea
Students are walked through an outline (Power Writing) and shown how to elaborate on a main idea in their writing.
Curated OER
English and Literacy: Children's Rights - Expanded Paragraphs
Students write expanded paragraphs about children's rights. In this writing and children's rights lesson plan, students listen to Caroline Castle's, For Every Child, noting the points about children's rights on each page. They discuss...
Curated OER
The Correct Use of the Articles "A" and "An"
Students discover the grammatical rules regarding articles. In this grammar lesson plan, students study the rule regarding the use of "a" and "an" in writing. Students are encouraged to discover the rule on their own and apply the rule...