Unit Plan
Curated OER

Architecture Beyond the Industrial Revolution

For Teachers 8th
Students learn about well-known international architects and how they influenced the United States.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Chicago Fire: Did Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Really Cause It?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the Great Chicago Fire and its myths on how it started. They use their critical thinking skills to determine what really happened. They write an essay supporting their opinion on the fire.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Finding Yourself Through Autobiography

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read the writings of individuals whom they know and admire. They see that writing about themselves is worthwhile and important and helps them become better writers. They share their own life experiences, write about personal...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making a Family Newsletter: Using a Word Template

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students create a one-page family newsletter about a selected person in their family. They bring in a photo or use a digital camera to take a picture of their selected family member, and use a newsletter template to write and publish...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Summer Fun! Vacation Destination Postcards

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students design a postcard with a graph and text. They research their favorite vacation spot. Pupils write a friendly letter to their parents requesting to visit this vacation destination. Students use a Circle Map, to help fill in their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Booting Up For Summer

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners explore personal interests. They examine summer computer camps. Students write proposals to their school to sponsor the programs. Learners develop a list of Web sites that support the designed programs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Ira Sleeps Over

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students read Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the ideas presented in the story. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Still Life Painting: Arranging Nature

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students choose meaningful objects for a still-life arrangement and paint it using watercolors and write an artist’s statement. For this still life art lesson, students identify and analyze the characteristics of a still-life...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students complete activities for the autobiography of Maya Angelou. In this autobiography lesson, students write a journal entry about their life and discuss the morphology of the word autobiography. Students use active reading...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arthur Meets the President

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students take a pre-test on presidential knowledge.  In this president and Washington, D.C. lesson, students read Arthur Meets the President and discuss it.  Students work in groups to brainstorm everything they know about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Character's Decalogue Using "Because of Winn Dixie"

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Pupils read the book Because of Winn Dixie and then create a personal decalogue, which is a list of 10 personal beliefs. In this decalogue lesson plan, students then write a decalogue of a fictional character and write a story based on it.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Screening the Silver Screen

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students write New York Times Movie Guide Reviews using descriptive and persuasive language.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

All About Me

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students are introduced to the characteristics of an autobiography. After reading excerpts from "The Diary of Anne Frank", they discuss how two people can see the same event in different ways and write about the event in the journals...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Testing the Test

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the validity of standarized tests. They explore the emotions felt during a test and ways to prepare for a test. Students interview teachers about testing. Students create a student guide to testing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Bard in the Big Apple

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Identify their feelings about Shakespeare's plays, addressing their readability and relevance to their lives. 2. Explore the effects of remaking Shakespeare plays in a modern context, as well as differences that emerge when a play is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Press Release

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders write and publish a press release. In this news writing lesson, 7th graders analyze press releases from various online sources. Students write a press release about a major event in their school.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Water Cycle

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders use the program HyperStudio to draw and describe the water cycle. In this science and technology lesson plan, 2nd graders will first become familiar with the water cycle by exploring books and websites in the classroom....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words

For Teachers 1st
First graders write simple sentences based on historical figures they find in pictures. In this simple sentences lesson plan, 1st graders search for pictures in Microsoft Word and write simple sentences about them. These pictures and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living History: Documenting Our Senior Citizens Lives

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students investigate stereotypes by researching the elderly.  For this senior citizen lesson, students interview elders in a rest home and video tape their experience. Students present their videos to their interview subjects after...
Lesson Plan
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Needs of the Homeless

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore the needs of the homeless. In this philanthropy lesson plan student read chapter 1 of Trevor's Place and discuss facts regarding homelessness. Students write their impressions about homelessness in journals.
Lesson Plan
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Developing Kids with Character Through Service Learning

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Young scholars discover service learning and how it can help them build character.  For this community lesson, students brainstorm ways they can assist their classmates with problems, and write about it in their journal.  Young...
Lesson Plan
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Getting To Know You: Lesson 5

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders share statements about themselves, seeing who else in their groups could write that statement, and then coming up with a true statement about the entire group. In this true and false lesson plan, 5th graders discuss the...
Lesson Plan
Pennsylvania Department of Education

Variations of The Gingerbread Boy

For Teachers Pre-K
Students participate in activities base on the story of the The Gingerbread Boy. In this literacy lesson, students listen to the story before retelling a number of times. They use a variety of props during the retellings such as picture,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Friendship and Death

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders share their thoughts and feelings about friendship and death and connect them with those of the characters in the book, The Bridge to Teribithia. They complete a friendship picture book and write a letter as one of the...