Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere: The Johnstown Flood
Students analyze the events that lead up to the failure of the South Fork Dam and the impact the flood had on the region. In this historical lesson students develop presentations on the Johnstown Flood.
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Magazine Ads and You, the Teenager
Students become aware of persuasion tactics as seen in magazine advertising as they analyze ads. They invent a product and design a magazine ad using 3 advertising techniques.
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Lesson 3: What Happens When a Bank Makes a Loan?
High schoolers role-play to show how bank loans made to people can have an impact on others in the community. In small groups, they analyze hypothetical loans, using flow charts or other diagrams to describe the probable impact of each.
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Teachers See the Truth but Wait: Teaching Short Stories with Literature Circles
Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...
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Personal or Social Tragedy? A Close Reading of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
Students complete close reading activities to analyze Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. In this literary analysis lesson, students analyze key quotations from Ethan Frome and respond to contemporary reviews of the text. Students use textual...
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Picture Lincoln
Students analyze Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln and complete related activities. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students describe Abraham Lincoln as he is presented in Gardner's photograph. Students read a biography...
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Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing Shakespeare's use of rhetoric and figurative language. In this Othello instructional activity, students analyze Iago's rhetoric in monologues and dialogues with other...
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Animals attributes
First graders analyze different animals in fiction and nonfiction stories. For this animal lesson, 1st graders choose an animal and read a fiction story with that animal as a character. They describe how the animal acted in the story and...
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Tracking Down Meaning in Great Expectations
Fourth graders are assigned an unique theme, symbol, or character in Great Expectations. They becomes the class expert on that facet of the novel while learning the basic skills needed to write a research paper.
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Building Two Literature Pyramids
Pupils create literature pyramids. They read selections of various societies, eras, and ideas. They complete two pyramid sheets for the same literary element including either plot, character, setting, or theme. They color-code their...
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Short Stories Through Multimedia Presentations
Ninth graders summarize and paraphrase a short story read in class. They identify the six story elements of character, setting, plot, conflict, solution, and tone/mood. Students create a PowePoint presentation that illustrates the...
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American Literature, The Earliest Days
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes eleven lessons from the American Literature, The Earliest Days: Prehistory to 1750 each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...
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American Literature Unit Four
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes twelve lessons from the American Literature, Regionalism and Realism: 1865-1910 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and...
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I Know What You Did this Summer
Students discuss the characteristics of a quality relationship and determine how such a relationship is maintained. After reading a scenario of a relationship, students take one character at a time and place themselves in the character's...
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Understanding the Great Depression Through Film
Eleventh graders consider the role that government should play in economics. In this Great Depression lesson, 11th graders watch the film Cinderella Man and then complete a packet of worksheets to help them analyze the themes of the film...
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Election Day Lesson: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Students read the story, The True Story Of The 3 Little Pigs and discuss the voting process. In this public opinion lesson plan, students review the original story of the three little pigs and then read the wolf's version of the story...
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Testing DNA and the Death Penalty
Students explore issues surrounding death penalty debate and participate in a values-clarification activity to help them form their opinions on this topic. They create a talk show to discuss issues involved with DNA testing and the death...
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Folktales (African American, Chinese, Japanese and Korean)
Students participate in a variety of activities that are concerned with comparing different cultures through the literary genre of folktales. The stories are used to stimulate student interest and provide a context for how a society...
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The Search for Identity: "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
High schoolers read the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God". While reading the novel, they identify and discuss the figurative language used and use a passage of interest to them and analyze it in a written paper. They also discuss...
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Inventions, Puppets, and Commercials
Fourth graders invent a product and present it to the class. In this inventions lesson plan, 4th graders get into groups and have to come up with an invention. They also advertise by writing a television commercial with a script and part...
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Happy Birthday to You
Students explore how people celebrate traditional holidays in various cultures. They participate in activities that are used to celebrate birthdays in different cultures. Students analyze the celebrations.
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Outsiders Unit Plan
Students complete novel analysis activities for the The Outsiders. In this novel analysis lesson plan, students complete three weeks of lessons that help them analyze the text and character education lessons within the novel.
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Students read and analyze the novel "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. They discuss the poetry and prose of the book, the importance of role models, complete a worksheet, and write a narrative using figurative language.
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Larger Than Life Figures
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes six lessons about larger than life figures from the American Literature series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...