Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Youth and Tobacco Use
There are a number of social, emotional, and physiological reasons why teenagers start smoking, and why they continue smoking into adulthood. Help class members understand why smoking begins in youth—and how to protect themselves from...
Curated OER
The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain, the famous American author, is often studied in the school system. Use "The Prince and the Pauper" to analyze the differences between the text and its video version. This lesson includes several culminating project ideas for...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Exhibiting Common Threads
Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...
My Access
“Banning Books” Lesson Plan
To Kill a Mockingbird, Hunger Games, Brave New World. Welcome to Banned Books Week. As part of a study of censorship and book banning, class members investigate censorship, the purposes of censorship, and First Amendment rights,...
Curated OER
Family Life in the 1830s
Students compare and contrast family life today with family life in the 1830s. They conduct research on Old Sturbridge Village, read primary source documents, and develop a list of generalizations comparing/contrasting families of the...
Curated OER
Understanding Cause and Effect
Identify the author's organizational pattern for expressing ideas. After reading an article on the California Gold Rush, middle schoolers determine the author's purpose for writing a passage of informational text. A full list of...
Avi Writer
The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time
A fan of Ari's Crispin trilogy? Here is a packet that contains study guides for all three Crispin novels: The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time.
Curated OER
Family and Household Structure
Students examine what the word "family" means today. They identify cultural traditions that are still popular in the United States. They read primary source documents and discover how advice is passed on from generation to generation.
Curated OER
Expressing Your Views to the Letter
Analyze the motivation, purpose, and value of letters to the editor by examining letters written in response to the violence at Columbine High School. For homework, middle and high schoolers write their own letters to the editor about an...
Smithsonian Institution
POWs
Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars? To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the voice of...
PBS
Ebola Outbreak
As of April, 2016, more than 28,000 suspected cases of Ebola were recorded in Western Africa with over 11,000 human deaths. Classes discuss the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014 and then groups develop an action plan based on research,...
Curated OER
The Quilting Connection....a Teaching Unit on Slavery, the Underground Railroad And Quilting
Students research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...
Curated OER
With Detective Fiction in the Urban Classroom
This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...
Piscataway Township Schools
Bake Sale
Here is a project that instructs young bakers to calculate the ingredients needed for a cookie bake sale. The catch is that the ingredients for 32 cookies is given; however, pupils must figure out the amounts needed for 12 and 60...
Novelinks
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Problematic Situations
When is it okay to go against authority and what can happen if you do? This is the leading question in this activity to accompany your classroom reading of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. After reading chapter eight,...
Curated OER
Bridge to Terabithia
Students explore scenes from Katherine Paterson's book, Bridge to Terabithia. For this visualization lesson, students listen to the story read aloud. The students then choose words and phrases that paint a picture in their heads....
Curated OER
Flowers Galore
Students create original works of art using their knowledge of Georgia O'Keeffe's artwork, flowers, pencils, crayons, and pastels in this K-6 Art instructional activity. The instructional activity includes Georgia O'Keeffe resource...
Curated OER
The Iliad
Explore ancient warfare through a dramatic reading of select portions of The Iliad with your class. They will identify the major characters in The Iliad and explain the strategies, external forces, and alliances of the Trojan War
Curated OER
Short Story Commercials
Students read short story selections, and work with classmates to produce commercials using digital video equipment.
Curated OER
Comprehension Questions: "Papa's Parrot"
Readers demonstrate comprehension and reflect on their reading of Cynthia Rylant's short story "Papa's Parrot." They recall, infer, analyze, speculate, synthesize, and make judgments about the content of the text.
Curated OER
What Does It All Mean?
Students investigate the symbolism and meaning of samplers in American history. In this American history and sampler lesson plan, students examine pictures of original samplers and look at lists of the symbolism included in them. They...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Analyzing How Words Communicate Bias
Words are powerful ... can your class choose them wisely? Scholars evaluate news articles to discover the concepts of tone, charge, and bias during a media literacy lesson. The resource focuses on recognizing implicit information and...
Curated OER
College or Bust?
Based on a New York Times article, "The College Drop-Out Boom," participants in a fishbowl discussion formulate and express opinions about the correlation between level of education, career options, and economic mobility. Ample...
University of Houston
Personal Narratives: Writing, Revising, and Publishing (WRAP)
Writing is a process, and lesson planning is, too! A personal narrative unit stresses the writing process to pupils, who first examine various stories and poems as a model of autobiographical writing and then write their own stories....