Illinois State University
Tragedy, Triumph, or Trespass?
Did westward expansion really live up to the dream of adventurers for a new life and opportunities for land and resources? While designed for a flipped classroom, try using this resource to evaluate primary sources alongside your class!...
Curated OER
Reading Non-Fiction Sentences
Students identify differences in types of sentences. In this sentence structure lesson, students discuss the different ways sentences are written according to their intended audience. Students create different types sentences and quiz...
Curated OER
Inner Beauty
Students analyze inner and outer beauty in a text. They raise questions about the main characters and their portrayals and explore issues such as friendship, love, and respect for yourself and other individuals. They choose a friend and...
Curated OER
10 Tips for Keeping All Readers Accountable
Keep middle and high school readers accountable and push all students toward success by showing interest in their reading and testing the strategies below.
Curated OER
A Snapshot in Time
Students state the main ideas of the article. They create questions to clarify the meaning of the article and to help explain the ideas. Students cite words or phrases that reveal a bias the author may have.
Curated OER
The House on Mango Street
Students discuss identity and what they consider their identities to be. In this The House on Mango Street instructional activity, students participate in a pre-reading activity before reading The House on Mango Street. Students...
Curated OER
Peace Be Still (The Peace of Jesus)
Students listen to and discuss story of Jesus calming storm, write script containing interview questions, create background with props, make video of newscast, and illustrate memory verse or symbol of peace using KidPix software.
Curated OER
Celebrate the Arts
Young scholars explore the responsibilities of people working in advertising. They create a campaign to support the arts including advertisements in several different media. Length of unit depends on number of projects completed.
Curated OER
Writing a Fictional Narrative
Fourth graders write a fictional narrative using the computer. They can use files to help them focus on including a beginning, middle and end, characters, setting and plot or planning a story by answering questions.
Curated OER
Phil's Fish Shop
Students role play the role of new employees in a pet shop. They offer advice to customers and answer their questions about pets. Using the internet, they identify the steps in establishing a new fish aquarium and summarize the...
Curated OER
The New York Draft
Students investigate the draft that originated in New York during the time of the Civil War. They examine the primary resource of a newspaper article from the time in order to gather information. The students check the grammar of the...
Curated OER
House on Mango Street
Students complete readingactiviteis for Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street. In this House on Mango Street lesson, students complete pre-reading and close reading activities for vignettes from the text. Students complete a chart and...
Curated OER
Pocumtucks In Deerfield
Students read a story about the Pocumtucks' religious beliefs. Using the text, they discover their concept of land ownership and how they migrated within their territory in different seasons. They use primary and secondary sources to...
Curated OER
Mapping of the Earth's Past
Students create a scale model time linen of the Earth's 4.6 billion year history. They calculate a scale that can fit on a very long register tape then label each geologic era. They use text books to annotate each era with major geologic...
Curated OER
Combining Sentences
In this combining sentences worksheet, students complete a seven question on-line interactive page on joining sentences. Students read the two or three sentences and in the box, type the sentences that have been combined. Students check...
Curated OER
Contraceptives: Which Work Best?
Students discover human health by identifying contraceptive methods. In this sexual health lesson, students discuss the different methods used to prevent births and STD contraction. Students read assigned text which describes each method...
Los Angeles Unified School District
River Systems
Scholars must react to the ecosystems of a river. They use inquiry-based learning along with maps and visuals to better understand the impact of rivers on everyday life. To finish, they create final written projects and presentations.
It's About Time
Present-Day Climate in Your Community
So what exactly is climate? This first installment of a six-part series introduces the concept of climate using real-world data tables and topographic maps. The timely lesson includes a comprehensive overview of climate, as well as...
Council for Economic Education
A Perfect Pet
Students read the story "The Perfect Pet". They examine how scarcity is a problem in society when people can not have everything they want which forces them to make (economic) choices.
Curated OER
Digging Up Dino Data
Third graders use the Internet to research a specific dinosaur. They work in pairs and individually to browse dinosaur websites, take notes on pertinent information, write, edit and illustrate reports. They post their work.
Curated OER
Hey - It's a Rainy Forest Out There!
Elementary schoolers take part in a very good lesson which has them watch video, conduct experiments, complete hands-on activities, and work in cooperative groups. The educationally-rich activities are clearly-explained, and the group...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Inaugural Address
Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address, the...
Premier Literacy
Point of View
Incorporate technology into a literature lesson with an innovative language arts lesson. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point of view, rewrite the tale from a...
Curated OER
Teaching “Level of Difficulty” through Close Reading, Reflection, and Performance
What makes a poem difficult? Explore that topic and more with your class as you work through the lesson plan detailed here. Using materials from Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest, individuals or small groups examine poems...