Curated OER
Exploring the Personal Narrative
Students define the characteristics of a personal narrative, explain the difference between a 'memoir' and an 'autobiography', and create a reading journal in which they will log their reading activities. For this personal narrative...
Curated OER
That Was Then, This is Now: When I Was Puerto Rican
Students explain how geographic/cultural setting influences identity by comparing/contrasting Esmeralda's Puerto Rican self with her American self. They closely read text to pinpoint when Esmeralda was no longer Puerto Rican. Students...
Curated OER
Shelby County: The Regulator-Moderator War
Seventh graders comprehend the importance of the Regulator-Moderator War through John W. Middleton's memoir. They comprehend how the different motivations held by each faction began the conflict. Students are shown the map of Shelby...
Curated OER
The Write Stuff
Fourth graders share a previously written portfolio piece and the class guesses the genre. Students use tally marks to keep track of how many of each piece there are in class. Once the data collection is complete, 4th graders create a...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
Curated OER
How Cultures Differ - Two Different Perspectives on the Same Even
Young scholars explore the effects of culture through the story Running by Peter Hessler. In this geography and cultural lesson, students act as newspaper reporters covering the story of the race. Young scholars write newspaper articles...
National Constitution Center
Address America: Your Six-Word Stump Speech
Stump speeches are the focus of this exercise that combines politics and language arts. After learning about this type of speech, the class listens to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign stump speech and answers a series of questions that...
Curated OER
Capturing the Reader with Vivid Images
In this using vivid images worksheet, young scholars identify vivid images and analyze their effectiveness in John Deever's "Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge." Students then write rich images for their classmates to imagine.
Curated OER
Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures
Learners explore the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture through the reading of "Help! My Father is Coming" and "The Visit to Vijay's". In this social culture lesson, students carousel brainstorm about...
Curated OER
Coming to Terms With Cultural Differences
Students consider cultural differences. In this Peace Corps lesson, students read "Help, My Father is Coming," by Jim Toner and then write journal entries about the culture of Sri Lanka.
Curated OER
Lesson Plans for Portrait of the Young Countess Schouvalof
Students analyze the art for the Young Countess of Schouvalof and also practice recognizing the work of Le Brun, Leonardo da Vinci, and Andy Warhol. In this portrait art lesson, students analyze copies of the artists work and mark on the...
Novelinks
Maus: Bingo Vacabulary Strategy
The definitions for unfamiliar words drawn from Art Spiegelman graphic novel memoir, Maus, provide the clues for a vocabulary bingo game.
Curated OER
Introducing Literacy Elements in Nonfiction
Explore nonfiction writing with your class. They will identify elements in nonfiction by reviewing elements of fiction. Then they use biographies, memoirs, menus, Time for Kids, and text books to identify elements of nonfiction. They...
Curated OER
President Bush's Decision Points: Torture & the Rule of Law
Students explore terrorist interrogation issues. In this human rights lesson, students read articles and documents related to torture in terrorist investigations. Students respond to discussion questions regarding the articles. Students...
Curated OER
What If: The Seed Of A Story
Young scholars read and comprehend a piece of fictional writing, analyze how setting, characterization, and plot affect the theme of a story and work in a group to create a new writing assignment. This 5-day plan culminates in students...
Curated OER
Brainstorming Time
Learners brainstorm a list of possible topics for their essay. As a class, they review the characteristics of anecdotal writing and the form they take in newspapers or autobiographies. To end the instructional activity, they decide on...
Curated OER
On the Oregon Trail
Middle schoolers work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. Working in groups, they write a scene for the movie that is historically accurate and based on the...
Curated OER
The Way to Rainy Mountain
Students read and analyze the N. Scott Momaday novel, The Way to Rainy Mountain. They share photos of an older family relative, write about the relative, listen to an excerpt from the book, and conduct an Internet research on the Kiowa...
Curated OER
T-shirts Build School & Community Pride
Students explore ways to promote community pride by creating t-shirts. In this community lesson, students utilize a digital camera to take photographs of their hometown and transfer them to a t-shirt. Students complete a creative...
Curated OER
The Armenian Genocide: The American Ambassador in Constantinople
Students analyze America's reaction to the Armenian Genocide. They write a journal response, read and discuss text, compare/contrast reactions around the world to the Armenian Genocide and the genocide in Rwanda, and write an essay.
Curated OER
Gratitude Journals
Students brainstorm ideas of thankfulness or being grateful for things and use these ideas to create a personal gratitude journal. They build a book using copy paper, twigs and rubber bands then explore different techniques to create a...
Curated OER
Preserving History
Middle schoolers discuss how writing is an important historical tool. They read writings from individuals and note how they have preserved history. They describe what those stories say about the communites they came from.
Curated OER
Independent Project Selection
Young scholars write research proposals, conduct research and interviews and maintain a log of their work, and draft, revise, and edit final written projects to produce a finished research article.
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to Sue Monk Kidd's: The Secret Life of Bees
A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.