Curated OER
Writing Letters Using Appleworks
Students discover how to write letters using Appleworks. Following a demonstration by the teacher, they compose rough drafts of their letters. Working independently, students correct their drafts and type the final versions.
Curated OER
What Does Christmas Mean to Me?
Students write an essay entitled "What Does Christmas Mean to Me?" In this writing lesson, students express their feelings about Christmas in an essay. Students discuss ways they have given to others during the Christmas season, then...
Curated OER
Writing Is Rough
Students identify the main idea in a story and discuss their own writing. They examine the sources of conflict in the story or the piece they are writing. They make portfolios of their best writing samples.
Curated OER
What's the Main Idea??
Students determine how to form a simple topic sentence in order to summarize a reading passage to increase comprehension. They apply the strategy to reading a passage from a textbook by writing a topic sentence for paragraphs about the...
Curated OER
Could You Elaborate on That?
Fourth graders engage in a lesson which teaches the parts of an expository essay and how to organize and write an expository piece from a given topic. After a lecture/demo, 4th graders utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan which...
Curated OER
Brainstorming
Students brainstorm, sequence topics, and write "how-to" paragraphs about real-life topics.
Curated OER
Paragraphs
Young scholars observe paragraphs in newspaper articles and the chapters in their reading books writing down reasons for each new paragraph. They then discuss why writers organize their work into paragraphs.
Curated OER
“Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Readers not only identify aphorisms in Emerson's "Self Reliance," but also find evidence of transcendental elements contained in the essay. They also demonstrate consistency...
Denton Independent School District
Elements of Art: Name Design Project
Introduce your class to the seven elements of art through a presentation and related project. Before beginning the project, class members take notes on the presentation, writing down the underlined items and adding drawings into their...
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 1 Day Lesson
You've heard of the historical moment when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, but did you know that some historical accounts disagree on where she sat? Investigate this query with your young historians, and practice...
Curated OER
Geometry Project
Proofs are usually an intimidating assignment. An engaging lesson focused on geometric proofs may reduce the anxiety! Pupils choose between several triangle proofs to complete and work on completing them. The...
Minnesota Literacy Council
Grapes of Wrath and Pronouns
Many regard John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the great American novel. The lesson plan combines a variety of strategies, including partner work, independent practice, creative writing, grammar instruction, and small group...
K12 Reader
Appositive Hunt
How do you find appositives? Why you look for clues, those words or phrases, set off by commas, that tell readers more about nouns. Young grammarians can practice finding them with this worksheet.
Polk Bros Foundation
Preview Reading
Scanning a text before getting started is a reading strategy that your pupils can use to get a general idea about a text before diving in. Give some direction to their scanning with a worksheet that includes items to check for and space...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...
Curated OER
Sun and Shadows
Why do shadows look different in the summer than in the winter? What causes day and night? How can a sundial be used to tell time? Answer these questions and more through two engaging lessons about light and shadows. Fourth and fifth...
Louisiana Department of Education
The Scarlet Letter
Use Nathanial Hawthorne's immortal text on the influence of religion on the early American settlements, as well as its continued impact on American culture, with a unit that focuses on The Scarlet Letter. In addition to Hawthorne's...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 6
How do authors use rhetorical devices and word choice to emphasize their ideas? Pupils consider the question while reading paragraphs 16–19 from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." Readers engage in evidence-based discussion...
British Council
Smoking Stinks
There are lots of good reasons not to smoke. Make sure your middle and high schoolers understand each and every one with a lesson that prompts them to read anti-smoking posters, note the main points, and write a short response on the...
EngageNY
Introducing Module 4B: “Water Is Life”
Learners take a gallery walk around the classroom to view various images and quotes. As they walk, they write down what they notice and wonder about what they see. After discussing their notice and wonder notes, they read the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary: Word Meaning: Know or No
Activate the prior knowledge of young scholars as they expand their vocabulary with this language arts activity. Given a deck of cards containing new vocabulary words, learners sort them into four categories, from Don't know the meaning...
Have Fun Teaching
When Am I? (16)
How can you tell when a story takes place? Use context clues to infer the time of day and seasons of five short reading passages. Kids then note each passage's time period as daytime or nighttime, as well as winter or summer.
Curated OER
“THE LORAX” by Dr. Seuss
Few children's books convey the message of conservation as well as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Read the story aloud, emphasizing the interconnectedness of plants and animals in an ecosystem and discussing different ways people can help...
Illustrative Mathematics
Guess My Number
Make a game out of solving equations. This particular activity works well for pairs of learners. Follow the instructions to have player one pick a number and player two verbally give an equation. Participants need to make sense of a...