Curated OER
Noisy Nora, Studious Students: Story Elements
Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...
Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at school...
Have Fun Teaching
March Writing
How do you catch a leprechaun? Let your writers decide with a resource that has them thinking about story elements and writing creatively. Learners plan their writing in two graphic organizers—one with setting, characters, problem, and...
Facing History and Ourselves
Stereotypes and “Single Stories”
Help bring subconscious stereotypes to the surface to stop it in its tracks. Pupils first read an excerpt describing the experience of prejudice and analyze how this process connects to World War II. Then, they write a creative story...
Curated OER
Weaving a Story of Cooperation: The Goat in the Rug
Weaving is an important part of Navajo culture. Read The Goat in the Rug to your fourth and fifth graders, and give them a glimpse into the process of rug making from the point of view of a goat! They will learn new vocabulary words and...
Scouts
The Deadly Picnic: A Lab on Deductive Reasoning
Whodunnit? Find out who killed Mr. Brooks through a logical examination of evidence. Class members fill out a couple of data tables to help them pin down the suspect. After they've figured out just who the culprit is, pupils compose...
Curated OER
Sequencing: Pictures Tell a Story
Students listen to a story and observe five illustrations of the main events drawn by the teacher. They arrange the illustrations in sequential order. Then, working in groups of five, they read stories and select five events, one for...
Curated OER
The Lost Son Worksheet
In this religious education worksheet, students view six illustrations that depict the story of The Lost Son. Students write a sentence to go along with each picture.
Curated OER
Let's Write Around the World
Students participate in an ongoing writing project about the seven world continents. In this continents writing lesson, students work on an interactive game to write about the seven continents. Students locate the continents on the map....
The New York Times
Sequencing the Stages: Understanding H.I.V. Infection at the Molecular Level
How does HIV operate at the molecular level? Pupils discover the progression from a healthy immune cell to one infected with HIV, watch an animation of the HIV life cycle, and finally identify each of the stages with illustrations...
Film English
The Conditioned
Discover the lovely story of Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho with your class. Over the course of the activity, pupils practice descriptive writing, write short narratives, collaborate in small groups, watch a powerful short film about Raimundo,...
Museum of Tolerance
Cultural Research Activity
Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt...
Curated OER
Civil War Essay
Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...
Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...
Historical Thinking Matters
Rosa Parks: 3 Day Lesson
How can evidence and perspective challenge even the most well-known of stories? Through primary and secondary source analysis, think-alouds, and discussion, young historians evaluate the historical narrative of Rosa Parks across multiple...
Curated OER
Ten Red Apples; The Five Senses
A clever lesson designed around an apple awaits your learners. Descriptive words are used to explain what they believe is inside a bag while using their five senses. Students read the story The Apple Pie Tree and are introduced to the...
Curated OER
A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing instructional activity. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The instructional activity...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 2
After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...
Channel Islands Film
Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 3
Middle schoolers complete a writing assessment task to demonstrate their ability to craft a narrative based on a variety of informational texts. They view West of the West's documentary Magic Isle, read three print resources about...
Curated OER
Is there a map in that story?
Eighth graders examine different pieces of literature from specific isolated Pacific islands. In this Geography lesson, 8th graders read and interpret a written selection. Students construct a map of the stories setting.
Curated OER
Diwali
In this Diwali instructional activity, students complete activities such as read the passage, match the phrases, fill in the blanks, choose the correct word, multiple choice fill in, correct the spelling, put text in correct order,...
Museum of Tolerance
Artifact Research Activity
Artifacts give us the privilege of learning about the past, may it be family, culture, or traditions. Here, class members learn about their family's past with the help of an artifact, or family heirloom. Once an artifact is...
Read4Health
Piggybook: A Read4Health Lesson Plan
"You are pigs." With those three simple words, the lives of the Piggott family were changed forever. Read aloud the children's story Piggybook by Anthony Browne and teach your class the importance of personal responsibility,...
Visa
A Perfect Fit: Finding the Right Career for You
Class members explore possible career paths and consider their own passions and interests by researching job openings, career descriptions, and skills, as well as reading the success stories of experienced entrepreneurs.