Curated OER
The Shakespeare Crowd
Students study the life and times of Shakespeare. They read and analyze one of his plays and use the Internet and videos to gain an understanding of how Shakespeare engaged his audiences, then and still today.
Curated OER
Foreshadowing and Situational Irony in Kate Chopin Short Stories
This resource contains summaries of the stories featured, but limited procedural detail. Readers compare Chopin's stories' use of situational irony and foreshadowing. High interest content (questionable paternity, missing persons) for...
Curated OER
Animals, Animals, Everywhere
Fourth graders participate in a variety of activities dealing with animal characteristics and classifications in this multi-task lesson. They use graphic organizers, make booklets, and make models.
Curated OER
A Christmas Carol Exploration
Seventh graders explore the history of Christmas by researching classic literature. In this holiday lesson, 7th graders read the story A Christmas Carol and discuss the tone of Charles Dickens' classic literary work. Students answer...
Curated OER
The Rest Cure: Gender in Medicine and Literature
Read and discuss "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the gender issues that the story brings up. Use articles from the time period to analyze, complete with specific discussion questions. After two days, scholars write an essay based on topics...
Curated OER
Greed is Good?
From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...
Curated OER
Asian Cinderella Tales
Explore the world of fairy tales using this lesson focusing on higher- order thinking skills. Learners compare and contrast an Asian Cinderella story to other versions. It is a great way to review the characteristics of the genre and...
Curated OER
A BIOGRAPHICAL JOURNEY: USING THE LITTLE PRINCE TO EXPLORE BIOGRAPHY & CREAIVE WRITING
Students integrate Author and Biography study with Students personal perspective. They make connections between research and creative writing. Students enrich research and critical thinking skills. They encourage students to think about...
Curated OER
Leapin' Landmarks: Locating 10 man-made landmarks around the world
Third graders engage in a lesson which addresses their curiosity about some of the outstanding people-made landmarks of the world. They explore the geographical themes of location and place through literature.
Curated OER
Mayan Myths/Folktales
Middle schoolers work on summarizing a story, and they determine if it is a legend, a myth, or a fable. Working in groups to read and summarize stories, they then list evidence whether the tale is a myth, fable, or...
PBS
Myth of the West: Kit Carson to the Rescue
There's nothing like the Wild Wild West! Scholars investigate the American Frontier through the eyes of Kit Carson. To complete the first installment of a three-part series, they use presentations, a short video, and primary and...
Curated OER
"O Captain! My Captain!"
Who was Walt Whitman, and what link does he have to president Abraham Lincoln? After Lincoln's assassination, Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" This poem and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" are the focus of...
Ontario
Reading Informational Text
Learning to recognize the importance of the features of information text (i.e., titles, subtitles, endnotes, sidebars, etc.) is the focus of a reading activity designed for middle schoolers. Learners examine how these text features...
Curated OER
Memoir
After reading and analyzing two narrative memoirs, middle schoolers engage in a variety of activities, including writing an essay, developing a story map, and creating character charts. They then compare and contrast story maps, and...
Curated OER
Walk in My Shoes: A Shoe's Perspective
Help learners write a creative story from the viewpoint of a shoe. The teacher brings a variety of different types of shoes to the classroom and each person chooses one. They then write a story from the point of view of the shoe,...
Curated OER
Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective
Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...
Curated OER
Pre-Reading Preparation
Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research lesson, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in groups to research...
Curated OER
War Poetry, Journals and Letters: Viet Nam
Examine letters written during war-time. In this cross curricular history and English instructional activity, middle and high school scholars read letters and poems written by soldiers in the Vietnam war. They will examine the...
Curated OER
Mathematical Modeling
Study various types of mathematical models in this math lesson. Learners calculate the slope to determine the risk in a situation described. They respond to a number of questions and analyze their statistical data. Then, they determine...
Curated OER
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
The Nashua River serves as the focal point of an investigation of the treatment of and care for natural resources. A reading of A River Rand Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry, launches the study and class members consider...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Early American Novel: Exploring the Emergence of a Genre
Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Understanding the Food Web
Building on prior knowledge of the pervious lesson plan in the series, pupils explain the previous lesson plan to each other. Then they write a simple guide for a young child to read on the same topic.
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 4
Imagine being stranded all alone on an island for 18 years. How would you survive? Class members are challenged to makes necessities out of natural materials that would likely be found on an island.
Curated OER
Capital Letters and Small Letters
Students identify capital and lowercase letters. In this writing lesson plan, students work independently to write lowercase letters and capital letters and practice writing the alphabet in order.