Curated OER
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Chapter 3 Reading Check
"I wisht somebody'd shoot me if I got old an' a cripple." Young readers examine one of the ways Steinbeck brings his characters to life by closely examining what characters say and imaging why Steinbeck choose...
Film Foundation
The Day The Earth Stood Still: The Filmmaking Process
How are films made? As part of their study of film, middle schoolers investigate the pre-production, production, and post-production process and consider the role of the director, the screenwriter, production designer, cinematographer,...
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Chapter 2 Reading Check
"What is George upset about? Check all that apply." Here's a instructional activity that asks readers to delve more deeply into character attitudes and motivations. In addition, Part II asks individuals to record passages from that text...
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of Immigrants in the United States
Based on their understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of Migrants in the United States, groups adopt a human rights perspective and analyze media reports to evaluate how the US is addressing the...
US Holocaust Museum
Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936
The Olympics are about more than sports—at times, the games are also a place of racism and prejudice! Pupils investigate the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. They analyze the meaning behind the materials included in the United States...
Curated OER
Greeks Around the World: A Case Study on Greek Diaspora
Students gain an understanding of the concept of Diaspora relating to Greeks. They use guided discovery to apply the geographic inquiry model to an examination of the reasons for Greek Diaspora.
Curated OER
Committing to Respect: Lessons for Students to Address Bias
Here's a guide designed to build safe, respectful learning environments, and to build understanding of the value of diversity through lessons packed with activities for specific grade levels.
Curated OER
Connotation: Three Lessons for Effective Word Choice
Over the course of three days, middle schoolers explore the concept of connotation. They differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of sports team names, develop their own team names, logos, and text, and revise a news...
Online Publications
Become a Journalist
Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...
Curated OER
Beauty Is Skin Deep
Students reflect upon the the experiences of superficial comments based upon physical appearance. The expectations of others is discussed in class. Also the influences of media is stressed and its expectations are demonstrated as either...
Curated OER
Who Am I Without Him?
Young scholars read and discuss the book, Who Am I Without Him? In this fluency lesson, students practice reading with expression and making text to self connections. Young scholars practice writing expressively in their journals.
Curated OER
Conversation Lesson: First World Obligation
Learners engage in a debate about the obligation each country has to help other countries in need in order to help build their conversation skills. The format of the debate is imbedded in this lesson plan.
Curated OER
Adding to the Picture: The 1963 March on Washington
Who do your scholars imagine when they think about the civil rights movement? If only a few faces come to mind, this activity will expand their concepts of the movement's leaders. Learners examine an image of the 1963 March on...
Curated OER
Woody Guthrie: Life and Art
Woody Guthrie will capture the imagination of even your most reluctant learners. Using his work, your class will develop their skills in non-fiction reading comprehension, interpreting primary source material, and use of multiple forms...
English Linx
Points of View Worksheet
Put your learners' skills in identifying point of view to the test (or just practice) with an activity that has them identify the point of view in a story by giving three textual examples. The directions are clear and examples of first...
Curated OER
Getting the Word Out
Discuss and generate blogs in this technology lesson. Middle and high schoolers explore examples of blogs and create their own blogs. Use this lesson throughout the year to reinforce concepts from your language arts class (or any class)....
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
How close are your eighth graders to mastering the ELA Common Core standards? Keep an eye on progress with these charts, which include every eighth grade identifier and full standard text. As you move through the year and teach,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
A Lesson on the Nature of Science
If you are looking for a great way to present natural selection in humans, look no further. This handout is intended to accompany the 14-minute video The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans, which can be found on the...
Vanderbilt University
Stories from the Panama Canal
The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a lesson about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build, the working...
Polk Bros Foundation
Common Core Constructed Response Organizer
Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...
National Institute of Open Schooling
Chemical Arithmetics
Substances with the same empirical and molecular formula must be differentiated by their structural formula. Part two in a series of 36 has pupils using chemical formulas to calculate how much of a compound is present in a given...
Curated OER
"A Gift for Mama," by Esther Hautzig
Students read a story about a girl named Sara. Sara decides to buy a gift for Mother's Day. They create booklets to illustrate Sara's short-term savings goal and their own short-term savings goal.
Curated OER
Re-Searching
Students take a closer look at the research cycle. In this journalism lesson, students discover and practice Internet searching skills. Students use the search techniques discussed to locate information on selected topics.
Curated OER
"Tarantula Shoes," by Tom Birdseye
Students read a book and explore spending, saving, opportunity cost, and trade-offs. They keep a diary of expenses to track their spending and examine their opportunity costs.