Curated OER
Bud, Not Buddy: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Here’s a reading strategy that can be used with any text. Class members examine portions of a novel, and make predictions about the theme or subject matter of the book. Although designed for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newbery Medal...
Rainforest Alliance
Knowing the Essential Elements of a Habitat
To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...
LearnEnglishFeelGood.com
Which Word - Many or Much?
Reinforce the concept of countable and uncountable nouns with a grammar worksheet that looks closely at the the use of how much or how many.
California Education Partners
Letter From Birmingham Jail
To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, ninth graders are asked to craft an essay in which they use evidence drawn from "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to analyze how Martin Luther King, Jr. uses rhetorical devices...
California Education Partners
Glass Menagerie
As a reading comprehension assessment, ninth graders are asked to use evidence drawn from The Glass Menagerie to support an analysis of how Tennessee Williams uses specific lines to develop Amanda's character as well as her...
Anti-Defamation League
Sexism and the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 3
If you're looking to set your class up for writing effective arguments, try out this idea. While originally created with freedom as a guiding idea, the activity could easily be adapted for other themes. As a class, create a chart of...
Novelinks
The Giver: Reading Road Map
Sometimes it's helpful to read certain passages in a novel slowly and carefully, and to read other parts more quickly to move the plot along. Learners tread carefully through Chapter 20 of Lois Lowry's The Giver, noting which...
Novelinks
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Question Answer Response Strategy
Readers of Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry are introduced to the Question Answer Response Strategy (QAR) as a way to increase their engagement in and comprehension of the novel.
Novelinks
Walk Two Moons: Story Impressions
Story chains connect literary concepts, reinforce context clues, and even help learners predict what's coming next! Using words from the next chapter of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, middle schoolers craft story chains to...
BrainPOP
Civil Rights Lesson Plan: Tracking History Through Timelines
Use the accompanying assessment to determine your class's prior knowledge on Martin Luther King, Jr. before beginning a instructional activity on the famous civil rights movement leader. The resource has young historians thinking about...
Virginia Department of Education
Pythagorean Theorem
Investigate the meaning of the Pythagorean Theorem through modeling. After comparing the area of the square of each side, individuals cut triangles and squares to facilitate the comparison.
California Education Partners
The Road Not Taken
An effective lesson plan truly can make all the difference. Seventh graders read, analyze, and annotate Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" before writing an essay about what they believe to be the theme of the iconic poem.
Federal Trade Commission
Ad Targeting and Techniques
What techniques do advertisers use to reach a target audience? Pupils discover the answer with the second of four Admongo lesson plans. Scholars learn about the most common strategies advertisers use to convince people to buy something....
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: California
It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...
Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans Grade 4
Creating substitute plans may not be the highlight of your workday. Make the task less daunting with a general, day-long plan covering math, reading, word work, and writing.
Balanced Assessment
Dinner Date
Determine just how far to run before dinner. The short assessment asks pupils to determine the distance a person can jog in the time left before dinner. To answer the question, scholars determine the distance if the person jogs one...
Advocates for Human Rights
Creating a Welcoming School and Community
The final activity in a unit study of immigration and human rights asks class members to design a project for their school that builds support for immigrant classmates. To prepare for this project, individuals use what they have learned...
Federal Trade Commission
Ad Awareness
Movie theaters, shopping malls, television, the Internet ... no matter where people go, they are inundated with advertisements. Scholars discuss the topic of ad awareness using the first of four Admongo lessons about advertising. Pupils...
CK-12 Foundation
Percent of Change: The Pizza Conundrum
Nine questions—multiple choice and fill in the blank—challenge mathematicians to solve money word problems. Looking closely at prices, scholars use a formula to identify percent increases and decreases based on an original and new price....
Novelinks
Words By Heart: Anticipation Guide
The anticipation guide for Words by Heart is the first of a series of six, contains lesson plans for the activity as well as a handout to be completed individually, in pairs, or as a class. It sparks interest for the text...
Virginia Department of Education
Angles in Polygons
Polygons — it's all about the angles. Groups work with dynamic geometry software to find the sum of the measures of the angles of various polygons. After finding the information for several polygons, the groups generate a formula that...
Curated OER
Story Pyramids
Young writers generate descriptive words. They use pictures of various landscapes (from books, magazines, or the Internet) and complete a story pyramid. The pyramid (included here) asks to describe the main character, the setting, and...
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: KWHL Strategy
Before beginning The Grapes of Wrath, readers create a KWHL chart recording what they already know about the Dust Bowl, the author, and the book, what they want to know, and where they might find answers to these questions. After reading...