Curated OER
What a Character!
Guide your readers to explore character traits. As a class, discuss and record the traits of a commonly-known fairy tale character. Then do the same with the main character in the class novel. Finally, have learners use magazines and...
New York City Department of Education
Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons, assessment...
Curated OER
Values...What's Important to You?
As your scholars begin their career study, it's important they understand their personal intrinsic values. What makes them feel rewarded? There are discussion prompts here to get learners thinking about specific careers, and they also...
Curated OER
Zoom Broom
Learners explore comprehension strategies as they listen to Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini. As the story is read, teacher and pupils will stop occasionally to make text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connections. They also...
profitt.gatech.edu
Effective Communication: Listening, Speaking, Writing, Interpreting
Help young learners become active listeners and strong public speakers with a set of activities that range from paraphrasing, to discussions, and self-reflection. Additionally, the lessons address social media skills and non-verbal...
Curated OER
The Life and Work of Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh is a fascinating subject for students of art history.
Curated OER
Respect: Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like
Sixth graders participate in a question and answer discussion on respect and then complete the "Planning to Use Respect" activity sheet. They describe the senses of a stuffed animal to their peers and assess how respect looks, sounds and...
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Warren County Public Schools
Small Group Discussion Questions
Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions challenge...
Curated OER
Lord of the Flies Anticipation Guide and Activities
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?” Ah, the central question of Lord of the Flies. As part of their study of William Golding's riveting novel, readers complete an anticipation guide and respond to a series of survey questions...
Thoughtful Education Press
Personal Narratives: Learning from Lessons Life Teaches Us
"First Appearance," Mark Twain's tale about overcoming stage fright, serves as a model of a personal narrative and gets young writers thinking about milestones in their own lives. After examining student models and considering the...
Prestwick House
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The main character in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the focus of a crossword puzzle that asks readers to identify key events and characters in Janie Starks' life.
EngageNY
Planning for Writing: Introduction and Conclusion of a Literary Argument Essay
Give a powerful introduction. Scholars analyze the introductory paragraph in the model essay "Are We Medieval?: Opportunities in the Middle Ages and Today." They discuss the key components the author includes and then walk through the...
Curated OER
Leading into Good Writing
Discuss the importance of a lead in writing with your upper graders. They examine several examples of leads from literature and practice writing leads for pieces of artwork. They then select a topic from a list and write an introductory...
Curated OER
Archetypal Images and Polarities
Here is a rather esoteric resource that presents the archetypes found in “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” and would be appropriate for a college-level psychology or literature class, or as a teacher resource. Considered the “world’s oldest...
Seneca Valley School District
World War I PowerPoint Projects
Use these project guidelines as a start to designing your own class PowerPoint project and to consider what elements you would like to assign and assess in your class. While the resource begins with instructions for researching World War...
Curated OER
Son of a Gamblin' Man: The Life and Art of Robert Henri
Students bring baby pictures of themselves. They discuss composition in art and compare these to their pictures. Students discuss mood, and ways an artist creates mood. They create a triptych using their baby picture, a recent photograph...
Curated OER
Textured Pottery using Self-Hardening Clay and Multicultural Design
Students create textured pottery. In this multicultural arts lesson, students follow step-by-step directions to create textured pottery with a multicultural design out of self-hardening clay.
Curated OER
During Reading Strategies (Prediction, Self-Question, and Correct)
Students practice their reading skills. For this reading fluency and comprehension lesson, students read instructor-selected passages and use metacognitive skills to predict, self-question, and correct.
Orange County Department of Education
Black Cowboy, Wild Horses
Fifth graders read the selection Black Cowboy, Wild Horses and identify characteristics of self-discipline shown by story's main character, Bob Lemmons. Students then identify some of their own traits of self-discipline and reflect upon...
Curated OER
Portraits of the Artist
Students reflect on the different roles they have for themselves in a journal entry. After reading an article, they discover information on the life of Rembrandt. In groups, they examine the roles of Rembrandt in his self-portrait and...
Curated OER
Creating Realistic Faces
Students explain that, in order to create realistic faces, artists study live models, use mathematics to explain correct proportion, and practice by making sketches. They create a self-portrait using these principles.
Curated OER
ME Cards
Students improve their self-esteem by telling others about skills, talents, and characteristics that make them unique and special.
Curated OER
Take a Look in the Mirror: What Do You See?
Students examine their perceptions of themselves. In this personal health lesson plan, students participate in a classroom activity that requires them to describe themselves and share those descriptions with their classmates. Students...