Curated OER
Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Young scholars, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. ...
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Gender Bender
Students explore the effects of Title IX. In addition, tudents create revised rulebooks for a sport in their school based on their understanding of Title IX and write a related article for the school newspaper.
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About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange Image as Metaphor
Students define metaphor in both art and writing. In this metaphor activity, students examine a photograph by Dorothea Lange and discuss the metaphor that is displayed in the picture. They write about an object that symbolizes a personal...
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Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
A thorough lesson introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid,"...
Curated OER
Editorial Writing: What's On Your Mind
Students write an editorial column for a newspaper. For this journalism lesson, students discuss and analyze editorials in print and broadcast media. Students will compare the differences in these two formats of editorial...
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Learning Types of Editorials - and Writing Some
Young scholars recognize and differentiate between the three types of editorials in order to write editorials for the school newspaper. In this editorials instructional activity, students read example persuasive and interpretative...
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Story Generators
Students develop news stories for the high school paper based on current issues in the local news. Students identify different sources for articles, and develop interviews questions. In this news ideas and sources lesson plan, students...
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Perspectives on Written & Spoken English
Students explore issues surrounding language norms, including the distinction between prescriptive and descriptive norms, the differences between norms for spoken English and those for written English, how word meanings change, and...
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Where Do I Begin: Writing an Effective Feature Story
High schoolers write an effective feature story. In this journalism lesson plan, students learn through 6 activities to ask open-ended questions, write effective leads, and handle quotes, and write headlines for news stories.
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Ethics and Hazelwood: What Journalists Should and Can Write
Students explore the code of ethics in journalism. In this journalism ethics instructional activity, students use Hazelwood and Tinker to explore journalism ethics. Students compare ethics of journalists and pirates, read a related...
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A Holiday Newsletter In MS Word For Elementary School
Learners produce a holiday newsletter using a software program. In this holiday newsletter lesson, students use a software template to write a newsletter. They fill in the template with appropriate information and pictures.
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Writing Headlines
Young scholars define the purpose of headlines and practice writing their own. For this news writing lesson, students define the elements of headlines and view examples. Young scholars read a news story in groups and create a headline...
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Create a Storybook in KidPix
Learners create a storybook by using KidPix software. In this technology lesson, students write creative short stories and publish them on KidPix. Learners illustrate the stories using Kid Pix tools.
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Using Best Newspaper Writing in a Journalism Class
Students explore the genre of journalism. In this journalism lesson plan, students examine newspaper articles and identify reporting techniques. Students collaborate to identify excellent pieces of newspaper writing.
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Proofreading with Peer Editing
A standard peer editing activity, young writers get into groups and pass their papers to each of their peers in turn; each person checking their peer's paper for spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. In a fun twist, your class...
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Writing Children's Literature
Students examine the common themes and characteristics of children's literature. They develop a list of characteristics, read and discuss examples of children's literature, and create an original children's book.
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Bulleted Lists: punctuating items in vertical lists
What is easier to read: a bulleted list or a block of text? Look at different examples with your class and then go over the style guidelines for vertical lists.
Portland Public Schools
Teaching Tone to Teenagers
Tone is a tough topic to teach to teenagers. But never, fear, help is here in the form of a unit plan that takes advantage of their interest in music to set the stage for a series of activities that lead them to understand how setting,...
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Put the Title of the Lesson Here
Eighth graders write a Compare and Contrast essay comparing the lives of similarly aged students at different Latitudes. They share their essays with epals, via e-mail. They may include digital photographs in their correspondence as well.
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Preparing for the Possibility of Terrorists
Learners investigate what schools and communities can do to be prepared for terrorist attacks, review school's disaster plan, research types of possible attacks, prepare infographic that makes facts clear, and write news article...
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Parts of Speech Adverbs: Building Blocks of Grammar
What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb? Encourages scholars to explore the answer to this question while building a foundation of the English language. The lesson comes complete with an attention grabber, notes, and a...
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Creating Interesting Characters
What makes a story interesting? Complex characters! As part of a series of worksheets that prepares middle schoolers to write their own novel, the exercises included explain the role of the protagonist, the antagonist, and the supporting...
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Synonyms and Antonyms
Mix up your writing lessons by having kids look at recent newspaper articles instead of their own work. They work in pairs and rewrite sports news articles using synonyms and antonyms for a set number of words. Then they share their work...
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Two Truths and a Lie: Internet Research Skills
It's tough for high schoolers to assess what is a credible resource and what is not. A helpful resource prompts class members to research a particular topic and record two facts—and create one lie—while documenting the sources. They...