Curated OER
Teaching Social Studies in English
Case studies, an examination of images, and readings of passages from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are used to spark conversations in ESL/ELD social studies classes about this highly-charged topic. Using a variety of...
Mark Twain Media
Understanding Informational Text Features
Everything you need to know about informational text features can be found in this resource. Recognizing these types of text features and how they are used in text allows readers to better understand information. Teachers...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...
Curated OER
Rule of 3 Web
Students create a web with the writing topic in the center of the web. They extend three branches from the center of the web, write the main ideas that support and develop the topic. They draw three branches that extend from each main...
Curated OER
Maize to Maquiladoras: Movement from Mexico to Arizona
Fourth graders label maps of Arizona and Mexico to show the people, goods, and ideas that have moved between the two places. In this Arizona and Mexico lesson plan, 4th graders summarize the effects of the movement on Arizona life.
Curated OER
Basic Guide to Writing an Essay
Introducing your class to essay writing? The gentle tone, concise explanations, and clear examples provided by a 17-slide presentation introduces young writers to the expository essay format. All that's missing is a complete essay with...
Curated OER
Persuasive Letters and The Tell Tale Heart
Learners write persuasive letters based on "The Tell Tale Heart." They brainstorm topic sentences, main ideas, and details. They analyze the character and determine if he is innocent or guilty. They create a map listing their reasons to...
Curated OER
The Beautiful Moon: Story and Comprehension
In this beautiful moon: story and comprehension learning exercise, 3rd graders read a one passage about moon facts, then answer 5 multiple choice questions, with answer key provided.
Curated OER
Writing Exciting Paragraphs
In these paragraph writing worksheets, learners study the definitions and example sentences for the topic sentence, the body, and the concluding sentence in a paragraph. Students then read a sample paragraph and answer several review...
Curated OER
Describing Our Senator
Third graders find the narrator or speaker in a story. In this story elements lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story My Senator and Me and answer comprehension questions. They complete a descriptive writing piece from different...
Curated OER
Revision Lesson
Students, through a series of 4 lessons, explore what it means to revise their written work. They revise a bland story together and then practice revising their own papers by identifying the main action and "exploding" that moment into...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Ready, Set,...Research!
Third graders complete a research project on a weather topic using a variety of resource materials. They demonstrate the use of dictionaries and encyclopedias. They write a report using the research material and grade level appropriate...
Curated OER
Summarize and Celebrate Earth Day!
Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class they read and discuss a poster of the rules for summarization, then silently a page from the book "Let's Celebrate Earth Day." Students then summarize the...
Thoughtful Education Press
Personal Narratives: Learning from Lessons Life Teaches Us
"First Appearance," Mark Twain's tale about overcoming stage fright, serves as a model of a personal narrative and gets young writers thinking about milestones in their own lives. After examining student models and considering the...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
Information Technology: Photoshop Scale
Scaling is a practical skill as well as a topic to be addressed throughout the Common Core math standards. You are given three different presentations and a detailed teacher's guide to use while teaching proportion, as well as practice...
Curated OER
Modern Minstrelsy: Exploring Racist Stereotypes in Literature and Life
Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...
Curated OER
Cross-Curricular Language Arts Lessons
Here are lesson ideas to begin integrating social studies content into the language arts classroom.
Curated OER
Revising Your Draft
Revising, as opposed to editing, is the focus of a presentation that details this essential part of the writing process. The author of this PowerPoint suggests outlining the draft to determine if all the necessary elements are included...
Santa Barbara City College
Structure of a General Expository Essay
A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...
Curated OER
The Great Paragraph Race
Students construct and analyze paragraphs. In groups, students place given sentences in order to form a paragraph. They determine the main idea of the paragraph. Students perform activities to determine the concept of topic sentence,...
Virginia Department of Education
Creating Thesis Sentences
Growing writers explore what it takes to develop and support a thesis statement with pre-fabricated ideas provided by the Virginia Department of Education. Learners take notes on what makes a thesis statement and a topic sentence, and...
Curated OER
Getting to Know Government
Students read a passage about the government and identify why the seat belt law was created and then fill out a graphic organizer about the main idea and details they read. In this government lesson plan, students also create a poster...
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
WWII Position Paper
There are some historical events that may warrant greater reflection and more in-depth analysis, and the decision to intern Japanese-Americans in the United States during World War II, as well as to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and...