Curated OER
Lesson PlanThomas Jefferson's Library: Making the Case for a National Library
Students explore techniques of persuasive writing. In this persuasive writing lesson, students examine primary sources regarding the sale of Thomas Jefferson private library to Congress. Students write their own persuasive letters...
Curated OER
Pioneer America: Legendary Westerners - Can One Person Really Make a Difference?
Fourth graders research famous Americans from the Westward Movement and complete an interview. In this Westward Movement instructional activity, 4th graders work in pairs to research someone who was important during this time period....
Curated OER
J. Peterman Descriptive Writing Assignment
Twelfth graders hone descriptive writing skills by making a J. Peterman Catalogue. They bring to class a favorite piece of clothing or jewelry item and create their own description of it. They accompany each description with a hand-drawn...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3
Teach your class the basics of narrative writing! The resource first describes the Common Core standard for narrative writing in-depth, and then moves into how to apply the standard. Show your class the example essay and quiz them...
Prestwick House
Understanding Language: Slant, Spin, and Bias in the News
We live in a time of fake news, alternative realities, and media bias. What could be more timely than an activity that asks class members to research how different sources report the same topic in the news?
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Quest for Magic Minutes
A "Magic Minute" activity asks class groups to develop a commercial to advertise a way to turn a time-waster into a time-saver. Ad groups begin by brainstorming time-wasters and then problem-solve was to turn them into time-savers. After...
Curated OER
lesson: Facing a Stone Situation
Can you imagine what it's like to be able to carve an animal out of stone? Kids do, as they analyze the techniques used to create the South Indian sculpture, Sacred Bull of Shiva. After a critical look at the piece, they write a...
Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans: Grade 3
Always be prepared for a substitute teacher with a daily plan equipped with an assortment of activities that cover third grade math, reading, word work, and writing.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Tongue Twister
Betty Botter and Theophilus Thistle provide models for willy writers to wrestle words into tricky tongue twisters.
Willow Tree
Problem Solving
School subjects connect when your young scholars use math to edit English. Math allows you to convert an entire paragraph into a simple equation or inequality. Examples encourage learners to write expressions, equations, and inequalities...
Newseum
Slanted Facts and Slippery Numbers
The Internet is known as the information superhighway, but sometimes it's hard to know when to hit the brakes on unreliable sources. Using a well-rounded lesson plan, pupils read and summarize articles about the gender pay gap and...
Open Oregon Educational Resources
How to Learn Like a Pro!
What's the best way to ace an exam or pass a difficult class? Scholars find out using an information-packed eBook. Pupils read about learning styles, study skills, test-taking strategies, and other topics associated with maximizing...
Curated OER
Time is In
Analyze the influence of culture, media, technology, and other factors on health. High schoolers will identify and recognize propaganda techniques (glittering generalities, bandwagon, sex appeal, testimonial, transfer, etc.) and write a...
Curated OER
Creative Writing - Poetry Project
Students, after following step by step instructions/guidelines, contract to make a particular grade on a poetry project. They purpose of this project is to complete a collection of poetry using a variety of techniques studied in class,...
Curated OER
Using Effective, Evocative Writing as a Model
Students analyze the author's style to learn techniques for strengthening their own writing. They re-read "Music in the Fields" and highlight images that create vivid pictures in their minds-places where Young "shows, not tells" and...
Curated OER
Low Level Activities for Adult ESL
Suggestions for interview topics with question prompts, scavenger hunts, oral presentations, and reading and writing prompts abound in this 11-page packet of activities for English language learners. ESL worksheets are also included...
PBS
A Veterans Day Thank You Note
This Veterans Day inspire scholars to say thank you to a veteran. Here, learners discover key details about a specific war using an interactive timeline, and then write a thank you letter offering their gratitude to someone who risked...
Ohio Literacy Resource Center
Arguing with Aristotle Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Introduce your classes to the Art of Rhetoric with a lesson that focuses on Aristotle's persuasive appeals and how they have been used, both ethically and unethically, to influence opinion.
Mathed Up!
Proof
Scholars learn how to write number theory proofs by viewing a video reviewing techniques for proofs on divisibility, parity, and consecutive integers. They then write proofs for a handful of conjectures on a worksheet.
Curated OER
Chinese Landscape Painting
Third graders learn about Chinese poetry and landscape paintings, then create their own. They view several examples and discuss the elements of each, then paint their own landscape inspired by what they saw. They then listen to, read,...
NPR
Can You Beat Cognitive Bias?
In a time of fake news, media manipulation, and Internet trolls, a resource equips learners with the tools they need to recognize and combat resources that are designed to appeal to our cognitive biases. Introduce learners to five...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - The Ruin
Cross-comparison, the technique of focusing on two different texts with the same themes, motifs, events, etc., is employed in an exercise that asks groups to examine two different translations of “The Ruin,” a poem, written in Old...
Curated OER
Elementary Keyboarding Activities
Listen to the sound of children's fingers flying across their keyboards as they perform these fun typing lessons. From creating alphabet books and multimedia presentations to researching presidents and writing class...
College Board
The Departure
Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...