Curated OER
President Obama's Address to Students Across America
Students write about goals, responsibility, and persistence, and listen to President Obama's speech. In this President Obama instructional activity students create concept webs, listen with a purpose, and list the challenges of our...
Curated OER
Night: Unsent Letters Writing Strategy
As part of their study of Elie Wiesel's Night, individuals assume the voice of an Auschwitz survivor and craft a letter to a former SS officer who worked at the camp and claims he is not guilty of any crime.
Curated OER
Discussion Guide for The Catcher in the Rye
Is Holden Caulfield a trustworthy narrator? Groups work together to find evidence in The Catcher in the Rye to support a yes or no stance.
Curated OER
Who Freed the Slaves During the Civil War?
Pose the question to your historians: who really freed the slaves? They critically assess various arguments, using primary sources as evidence. In small groups, scholars jigsaw 5 primary source documents (linked), and fill out an...
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Introduce your language arts class to connotation, denotation, and diction. Middle schoolers identify and differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of words by analyzing the fictitious sports team names....
EngageNY
Understanding Themes in Esperanza Rising
Determining a theme or central idea is greatly emphasized in the Common Core standards. Target that skill though big metaphors and central symbols in Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Help your class reach the standard through...
Curated OER
Quoting the Dalai Lama
Students read and reflect on statements made by the Dalai Lama and
discuss with cooperative group members what they believe is
meant by the statement and how to report this information the
rest of the class. They take turns presenting...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1
All the Common Core standards are important, but they all build off the ability to cite textual evidence to support analysis. See how to scaffold this standard into three steps of development, along with assessment ideas with the ideas...
Curated OER
What Is Courage?
Students brainstorm definitions of the word "courage." They work in cooperative groups to complete tasks related to critical lense statements. Students write an essay of critical analysis. They write a first draft, and peer edit . Essays...
Curated OER
The Tell Tale Heart
Eighth graders explore storytelling by listening to a reading of a classic poem. In this language arts lesson, 8th graders listen to an audio recording of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. Students examine the life of...
Curated OER
Visual Learning: Gone Fishing
Students complete visual learning activities using a photograph of a fisherman. In this photograph analysis lesson, students analyze the photograph and the facts within the picture. Students read a quote and caption for the photograph...
Curated OER
Activity Plan 5-6: What's In a Name?
Students use family names to gather and analyze data. In this counting lesson, students use graph paper to help organize their data and then, in a staircase fashion, organize the names from longest to shortest so they can answer...
Curated OER
Truthfulness
Students investigate the concept of truthfulness. They practice the skill through seeing how truth is seen from other perspectives. Students are given a quotation to consider and spend time brainstorming with others about its meaning.
Curated OER
Poetry on the Web
Eighth graders search a website and locate a poem written by a specific poet whose work appears in the grade 8 anthology. After listening to poetry, 8th graders present oral or written examples of imagery and an analysis of the imagery.
Curated OER
Personality Types and the Individual
Seniors explore their personalities through a test. They read information about their personality type, summarize it, and locate a quote using Internet resources. They conduct research to locate a picture representing ten individual...
Curated OER
Was Reconstruction a Revolution?
Learners interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Reconstruction instructional activity, students research details pertaining to Congress's role in Reconstruction. Learners use the provided...
Curated OER
Visual Learning: A Slow, Press-ious Process
Students observe a photograph and make inferences. In this investigative lesson plan students study how to find facts in pictures and draw inferences from them.
Curated OER
The Dream Factory
Learners compare postcard samples from Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. They examine them to find common elements they share (tone, mood, romanticized themes, artistic elements, etc.) They create postcards to show the "real" Austin.
Curated OER
U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic
Students research various events during the War of 1812 and then create magazine articles with supporting illustrations, students are in control of their learning.
Curated OER
Strawberry Girl: Lesson 5
Students read the book Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski. In this literature lesson, students read chapters 8-15 and complete journal entries. They look at how life was in the 1890's.