Curated OER
Rain Forest Reporters
Students research and write articles for an imaginary scientific magazine about rain forests. In this rain forest lesson, students research both ecosystems and magazine writing styles. They act as reporters and editors of their own...
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The Weather
Students explore earth science by reading articles in class. In this weather identification instructional activity, students analyze weather science articles on the Internet and view their own local weather patterns as well. Students...
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Middle East Related
Eighth graders find a current event related to the Middle East. In this current event lesson students write a brief summary of a new story related to the Middle East. They give their opinion and tell how it affects their life or who it...
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Journalist Japes
Students explore the job of a journalist. For this careers and writing lesson, the teacher introduces the job of a journalist, then students choose a headline and write a news story. Lesson includes extension ideas.
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Reduce Reuse Recycle
Students discover methods that can save the planet by recycling. In this sustainable planet lesson, students read The Berenstein Bears Don't Pollute Anymore, and practice memorizing the 3 R's. Students write commitment...
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Elaborating the Main Idea, Using Supporting Details
A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...
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Short and Sweet Science
Readers learn how to summarize scientific text and evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in writing summaries. They select science-related articles you've pulled and collected from the New York Times and, with a partner,...
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Read All About It! California History of the 30s and 40s
Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...
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Covering the Issue
Examine how art and music can be powerful tools for conveying a political or social message. After considering the issues surrounding rapper Paris, young scholars design their own album covers that reflect their political and/or social...
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Outline It!
Fourth graders investigate how outlining can aid in comprehending text. In this reading comprehension lesson, 4th graders outline an article they read in groups of two. Students take turns reading the article, identifying the main idea,...
National Geographic
Rescuing, Relocating, and Rehabilitating Wildlife
Bring up the Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Display the colorful diagram of the coastal and marine organisms living in the area. Show a video about relocating the eggs of the Gulf's sea...
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Time Travel Writing Assignment using "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
High schoolers examine the consequences of time travel through the analysis of the short story "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury. They watch a PowerPoint presentation, conduct Internet research on endangered ecosystems, and create a...
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Describing Clothes
A lesson all about clothing and colors, this might be a useful lesson for English language learners or introducing descriptive writing. After a short review of colors and clothing vocabulary, learners answer questions regarding what...
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The Cultural Geography of Africa South of the Sahara "Kente Cloth"
Students read several articles about West African strip weaving of Kente cloth. They explore the cultural context in which strip weaving occurs. They answer four comprehension questions and compose a magazine article about strip weaving.
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Archeological Finds
Students explore archeology and it contributions to human history. They write a magazine article describing the discovery of a dig.
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Living to Eat, Eating to Live
Young scholars develop a five paragraph essay.They write their essays, review rules related to subject/verb agreement and the use of transition words or devices. They find examples of transition words or devices in newspaper or...
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Canada
Students examine a variety of issues that affect the geography of Canada. In small groups they read a magazine article about a specific issue related to Canadian geography, answer discussion questions, and present a summary of their...
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Famous Afro-Americans Historical Sites Recognized by the National Park System
Students use the library to find historical information about each Afro-American. They use magazines, articles from newspapers, and oral histories from video tapes and slide presentations to write biographical sketches about each...
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Figurative Language
Twelfth graders examine personification and alliteration in various reading selections. They read magazine articles, brochures, and advertisements, identify the examples of personification and alliteration, and create a business name...
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Un-Presidented Election
Students explore the results of the 2000 presidential election. They look back at important issues in the campaign and write newspaper articles which cover specific angles on the election.
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"In God We Trust": The Camden Man Who Put the Missing Motto on the Dollar Bill
Here is a fascintating lesson which relates how the motto "In God We Trust" came to appear on all US currency. It turns out that a man from Arkansas came up with the idea and petioned his congressman and President Eisenhower himself to...
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Adjectives, Adverbs and Advertising
Young scholars identify adjectives and adverbs and be able to use them correctly in a Christmas-related creative writing project. They work in pairs to cut out ads from a magazine to classify them as adjectives and adverbs.
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Who Am I? - Brainstorming
Young scholars brainstorm lists of places, events and relationships that define them. They search for clip art and pictures in magazines to illustrate the items on their list and create a graphic timeline of their lives.
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News View
Learners read and analyze three different news sources that describe the same event. They compare/contrast the similarities and differences of the news sources, and write an essay describing the main event.