Curated OER
The Plains Native Americans
Students read The Buffalo Woman by Paul Goble and explore several aspects of Plains Indians cultures. They view historical photos of items from Plains cultures, reference maps and complete worksheets in small groups.
Curated OER
Letters from Rifka
Students read Karen Hesse's book "Letters from Rifka" and explore how it presents the experiences of a Russian immigrant to America. They research and write reports on the experiences of various immigrants from different cultures, keep...
Curated OER
The Secret Garden
Students research the culture and geography of India and England while reading "The Secret Garden". Using this information, they write at least three predictions about what they believe might happen in the story. Using the Internet,...
Curated OER
Number The Stars
Young scholars read a book about prejudices that occur in our daily lives. They describe characters in the book. Students discuss real life events of World War II and the Holocaust. Young scholars simulate hiding Jews from the German...
Curated OER
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison: Quiz
In this Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison instructional activity, students answer fifteen multiple choice questions about plot, characters, and theme as well as identify quotations.
Curated OER
Number the Stars
Students read Number the Stars. In this social studies lesson, students read the story and use a map of western Europe and identify the countries involved in the war. Students locate the cities of Denmark that are discussed in the story.
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
Curated OER
Create Learning Experiences with The Polar Express
Center content-integrated lessons around the timeless holiday book, The Polar Express.
Curated OER
Japanese Internment--How Point of View Influences Attitude
How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...
Curated OER
Exploring Arthurian Legend
Students investigate the evolution of the King Arthur stories and analyze them as a window into the culture that preserved them. They trace the legends through their earliest versions through medieval and Victorian times and into the...
Curated OER
Bring Read-to-Learn Activities into Your Classroom
Shift your instruction from teacher-centered to student-centered, which requires learners to do the heavy lifting.
Curated OER
The Breaking of Charity
The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...
Curated OER
Storytellers Past and Present
Students read and discuss an article about Olga Loya, a modern storyteller. They watch a videotaped performance of a story and then create a storytelling experience for a story of their choice to share with the class.
Curated OER
Introduction to Archetypes
Here is a full instructional activity with all the needed materials and PowerPoints attached! Introduce your class to archetypes by showing them the included presentation. The presentation gives definitions and examples of archetypal...
Museum of Tolerance
Disenfranchised People of the New Nation
Why are some immigrant groups in the United States embraced while others become disenfranchised? To answer this question, teams investigate why groups emigrated to the US, why some of these these peoples were...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Native American Cultures Across the U.S.
Middle schoolers examine how American Indians are represented in today's society. They read stories, analyze maps, and complete a chart and create an illustration about a specific tribe.
Curated OER
Discussion Questions for Shakespeare's Julius Caeser
Do not let Julius Caesar be Greek to your pupils. Rather, make the play a dish fit for hungry minds. Encourage your class members to lend their ears to a series of rich discussion questions so that they can become masters of the play, as...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kate Chopin's "The Awakening": No Choice But Under?
The first in a series of three resources designed to accompany a reading of Kate Chopin's The Awakening provides readers with background information about Chopin, Creole culture, literary realism, and women's suffrage.
Curated OER
Should the Ming End the Treasure Voyages?
During the first century of Chinese Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the government sent out a total of seven voyages into the Indian Ocean. Young historians will discuss, explain, role play, and compare the decisions made by rulers during the...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: A to Z Poem
A two-part lesson asks eighth graders first to draw connections between the myth of Aengus and William Butler Yeats' poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus." In the second part of the lesson, writers craft an "A to Z Poem."
Curated OER
Geography and Culture of China
Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a lesson on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class discussion, primary source...
Curated OER
Post-Colonial Writers Unit
How do cultural and historical background impact thought? To explore this essential question, class members view of portion of the film, The Passage to India, read an excerpt from The Magician’s Nephew, and Nissim Ezekiel’s...
Curated OER
Personal Experience Narratives
Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...
Curated OER
A Musical Composition Experience
Upper graders having skills in music performance will extend their abilities through creative musical composition. They'll use Finale 2000 to explore facets of music composition, they'll then compose a piece for their instrument in C, F,...