California Department of Education
What Are My Options?
Where do I go from here? Start sophomores off on the right path using an activity designed with the future in mind. The final lesson in a five-part career readiness series helps individuals decide what's important to them before they...
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Elk Rapids- Its Past and Future
Students participate in activities that help them appreciate the history of their local community as it celebrates its sesquicentennial year. They construct timelines, maps, interview, and writing. They use technology in a number of...
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Creating a Literacy-Rich Learning Environment
Students in a teacher education program use a jigsaw method to identify the six areas of language arts to be taught in an early childhood classroom. They describe their vision of a literacy rich environment and practices uses a KWL...
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Storytelling: Using the arts to enrich the curriculum
Students examine storytelling in a cross curricular unit. Language arts, social studies, science and math are all incorporated in this project as well as technology through the use of Hyperstudio.
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Constructivist Theory
Students in a teacher education program are introduced to the constructivist theory. In grade level teams, they take their subject matter focus and create lesson plans related to the constructivist theory. They are graded with a rubric...
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Caps for Sale/Color Words
Students read the book "Caps for Sale." Students model reading a sentence and using one color cap and the color word (written in its color). They match the color word (written in its color) to the correct color hat.
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Fifty States
Fifth graders find each state and its capital city on a map before memorizing the information. They work in small groups after watching a modeled lesson by the teachers. They write a statement about their assigned states and capital...
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Our School's News
Young scholars work collaboratively in small groups to create and edit various publications to promote their school's activities and accomplishments. Groups work to complete these publications and publish or update them bi-monthly.
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Computer Language Laboratory First Lesson
Young scholars in the English Language Learners classroom utilize the computer for a variety of review activities. The teacher uses e-mail to send students D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language) sentences, a quote or passage of interest, or a...
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My "I Spy" Book
Students create an "I Spy" book. In this book writing lesson, students work in groups to come up with a topic for their page. They create individual pages in the "I Spy" format.
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Squashing the Millennium Bug
Young scholars evaluate the roles that technology plays in the many aspects of daily life in our technological world and the potential problems that may arise due to the Year 2000 situation.
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Self Portraits
Third graders complete a unit on the writing process that focusses on the self-portraits of Rembrandt and Norman Rockwell. They create their own self-portraits and write autobiographical sketches. They also research the lives of the...
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Where is Flat Stanley?
Students create a story map of the basic elements and significant events of the book Flat Stanley. Students brainstorm places they would like to visit if they had been flattened and then, write about an imagined experience. Students...
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Alas, All Human
Students define a scientist. In this ethics and science instructional activity, students read Asimov's Alas, All Human and write responses and discuss the possibilities of imperfection within science by scientists. Students discuss what...
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Media Literacy: Discovering and Understanding Propaganda
Ninth graders study different types of propaganda and select an issue that is significant to them. In this exploratory lesson students design and create posters on the topic of their choice and write a narrative describing it.
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Building Literacy Through Character
Second graders connect reading to writing by making predictions, completing text to world connections, solving problems, and more. In this reading and writing lesson plan, 2nd graders draw conclusions after reading and write them down.
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Enhancing Literacy with Podcasting
Pupils write stories, print hard copies, and use the GarageBand program to add music and record the narrations. A handout to download, of instructions is included in this early-elementary lesson.
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Snowman Sentences
Second graders will describe and illustrate how to build a snowman. In this sequencing lesson, 2nd graders will create a KidPix slideshow, with each page showing a picture and a sentence of how to build a snowman.
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Enhancing Friendships Through Photography
Students connect with pen pals through photography. In this digital photography lesson, students create photo booklets to share with pen pals. Students correspond with their pen pals throughout the school year. Students also create...
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Service Learning/Then and Now
Eighth graders explore service learning projects. They work, in groups, to choose a video project. Students collect information and present it in a storyboard. Next, they use music, video clips, and still pictures to create their video...
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A Zoo Book for All
A visit to the local zoo launches an integrated life science/ language arts research project into the habitat, feeding habits, offspring, lifespan, and other interesting facts about animals. Each group selects two animals to photograph...
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Character Traits: Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear
Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...
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Tuck Everlasting
Seventh graders use literary terms while discussing literature with their peers. They explore literature on a deeper level. Students formulate their opinions regarding response to literature, as this lesson helps students practice...
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Stage a Debate: A Primer for Teachers (Lincoln-Douglas Debate Format)
For a comprehensive overview of debate styles and formats, look at this resource. It details the Lincoln-Douglas debate format (one-to-one debate with specific, timed rounds of points, cross-examination, and rebuttals). You can also find...