Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 12: Author's Purpose - Yeats and Achebe
Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William Butler...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...
Learning to Give
What Are Your Thoughts?
The varying responses of the characters in Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry to the discrimination they experience or perpetrate provides readers with an opportunity to not only examine the feelings of the characters but to...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Letter to a Character
Readers of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida place themselves in the story and craft a persuasive letter to a character in Victor Martinez's National Book Award-winning novel.
Curated OER
The Little Prince: Problematic Situation
Your plane has crashed in the Sahara desert. What do you do? Explore the possibilities with a role-playing activity based on Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince. In groups, kids decide whether they would walk to find help to try...
Curated OER
The Little Prince: Socratic Questioning Strategy
Challenge readers to read closer in an activity based on the Socratic questioning strategy. As kids read Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, they use sentence starters to ask deeper questions about the text, and to relate what...
Film English
Saving Grace
Bring up the topic of world hunger in your class with two emotional videos. The short films are about a program for educating and feeding children around the world. Class members talk about poverty and pay close attention to the numbers...
Curated OER
Ordinary People: Anticipation Guide
Activate your pupils' thinking before reading chapter five of Ordinary People. Learners decide whether they agree or disagree with six statements and discuss their ideas in small groups. They then read chapter five and determine if a...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Picture Book Activity
Readers of Paradise Lost draw parallels between Milton's tale and Gene Zion's Harry the Dirty Dog, an illustrated children's book.
ESL Kid Stuff
Intro ESL Lesson (Ages 3-7)
If you are working on colors, printing names, introductions, and other projects in the first few weeks of school, use a series of activities designed for English language learners. It includes cute ways to wish your little ones hello and...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 4: Proverbs
"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...
Poetry4kids
Onomatopoeia Poetry Lesson Plan
Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an original poem.
Curated OER
Make an Uncle Sam Folk Art Figure
Students create an Uncle Sam art figure. In this patriotic lesson, students use wood, paint, twigs, and glue to create a folk-art style figure of Uncle Sam.
Curated OER
Art Studio
Students collaborate with their classmates to create a sculpture with the provided materials in order to cultivate fine motor and social skills. For this collaborative art lesson, students work in small groups to design the pedestal and...
Curated OER
Hands That Touch The Heart
Students create Valentine's Day hearts in this variation of a classic activity for the early-elementary classroom. The "hands that touch the heart" is a great gift that can be given to family, friends, or fellow students. A materials...
Curated OER
Valentines Roses
Students create bouquets of roses using tissue paper, pipe cleaners, masking tape, paint, and construction paper in this early elementary art lesson plan. A possible extension includes making Vlentine's Day cards to go along with the...
Curated OER
Literature Circles: Typical Discussion Day Structure
Tenth graders practice and facilitate a discussion. In this literature lesson, 10th graders practice using effective discussion strategies. Students participate in reflection and self-assessment on their own discussion abilities.
Curated OER
Class Book: My Favorite Valentine
Students create a class book for Valentine's Day. In this holiday instructional activity, students draw a picture and write a few sentences about their favorite valentine. Students put their pictures together to create a class book.
Curated OER
Fringe My Heart
Young scholars create fringed Valentine's Day hearts in this Art lesson for the elementary school classroom. The lesson includes step-by-step instructions and a materials list. This was created by an 11-year old who loves arts and crafts.
Curated OER
El Día de las Madres
Students research the origin of Mother's Day and in Spanish, write a poem for their mothers, aunt or grandmother. They plan a Mother's Day event.
Curated OER
Dad's Magnetic Personality
Students create a gift honoring Father's Day. In this Father's Day activity, students examine the meaning of fatherhood and explore the history of this tradition. Students create a picture collage over a template of their father's initials.
Curated OER
Birthday Soup
Pupils recognize and read their birth date when it is written. They make a picture of a birthday soup bowl that includes the month, day and year of their birthday. Students memorize a poem.
Curated OER
The Art Of Persuasion
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of persuasion and how it is used in a writing context. They create persuasive letters addressed to the president of the United States. Students brainstorm to find facts to...
Curated OER
Spelling For Homeschool
Students use their spelling words in a variety of ways such as repetition, spelling puzzles, and spelling sentences. In this spelling lesson plan, students do a spelling activity for each day of the week.