Curated OER
Color Poems
Young scholars listen as the teacher reads several poems from the book "Hailstones and Halibut Bones," "My Many Colored Days," and a teacher created poem. Students choose a color and share some brainstorming ideas with the class. They...
Curated OER
House on Mango Street
Students complete a guided reading study and autobiographical essay for Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street. In this literary analysis instructional activity, students read the novel, complete novel response activities, book review...
Curated OER
Acrostic Poems: What's In a Name?
Students find words that begin with the letters in their own names, using a variety of sources including word banks and online dictionaries. They create an acrostic poem. Pupils revise poems as needed, for meaning and conventions. ...
Curated OER
Student Published Books
Fifth graders create a graphic organizer after it is modeled by the teacher. In this graphic organizer instructional activity, 5th graders complete a graphic organizer describing chapter 1 of a book. Graphic organizers will be revised...
Curated OER
KG Lesson Plan
Eighth graders explore the four major components of an autobiography. As they discuss the major characteristics of an autobiography, 8th graders list the advantages and disadvantages of traditional, word of mouth, tales. Individually,...
Curated OER
An Immigrant's Journey
Pupils use books, resource CDs, and the Internet to research and collect images of the experiences of immigrants in 1907. They are divided into groups of four to write journal entries for a fictional, yet historically accurate, immigrant.
Curated OER
Autobiographical Talking Sticks
Students begin the lesson by developing a map of their lives. Individually, they take this information and write a personal narrative. They create symbols to represent the various times in their lives and introduce them into their...
Curated OER
Who's Speaking?
Young scholars study the components of a good speech. They write, practice and present a speech on a topic of interest.
Curated OER
Teaching a Short Story
Students work in small groups and prepare an analysis of a short story to be presented to their peers. They research the story and create a handout or a visual aid that cites sources of information and summarizes the main points of the...
Curated OER
Subject-Verb Agreement
Eighth graders evaluate writing samples for subject-verb agreement and make necessary changes. They correct verb phrases and create simple sentences using pronouns as subjects. In groups, they correct writing samples and submit at the...
Curated OER
Designing Scavengers
Students write a headline that captures the most important aspects of the People's Design Award. In this design lesson, students are introduced to The People's Design Award and collaborate to create a headline for a newspaper article....
Curated OER
The Titanic
Middle schoolers use various sources to compare and contrast information about the Titanic. In groups, they create a list of questions and use the internet to find the answers. They write a report with the new information and use their...
Curated OER
"It's Verifiable!"
Students examine the differences between fact and opinion. They define fact and opinion, evaluate their favorite fact or opinion on a website, and in small groups write sentences using facts and opinions about school and their favorite...
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance
Students locate Harlem on a city map of New York City. As a class, they are given information and take notes on the Harlem Renaissance. They are read two poems by different authors and write a paragraph about what they believe it means....
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
Fun With Formatting
Students investigate the concept of using a word processing program with the intention of improving formatting skills like centering text. They also highlight different text sections and demonstrate how to save changes made to a document...
Curated OER
Taking a Stand on Bullying
Middle schoolers stand up against bullying in a character-building instructional activity. After discussing historical figures who became advocates in times of adversity, they brainstorm ways to end bullying at their own school, and use...
Curated OER
Irish Eyes: Taking a Look at Local Landscape
Direct your class’s attention to the elements that make their community unique. After examining sample travel brochures, groups select something from their community to use as the subject, and then research, create, and publish a...
Curated OER
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Fishbowl Discussion Instructional Routine Guide
What exactly does make life worth living? In preparation for a fishbowl discussion of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, readers of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel highlight sections that show a character grieving, coping, or suffering...
Teaching Tolerance
Journalism for Justice
Roll the presses! Or at least have your class members participate in the time-honored tradition of the student press by creating their own newspapers or journalist pieces on a social problem. After conducting research and collaborating...
Curated OER
Behind Closed Doors
Students explore different types of doors from an artistic point of view. In this creative thinking lesson, students look at different types of architectural doors and doorways and analyze them. They create a project of a door as a...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Comic Strips
Who says comic strips aren’t educational? Prove these naysayers wrong by asking your class members to create a comic strip for a selected vocabulary word. Using online technological tools that provide access to an array of options for...
Novelinks
Tuck Everlasting: Herber Readiness
Begin your unit on Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a pre-reading activity about the novel's themes. As class members ponder five questions that reflect the book's themes, they talk about their opinions in a class discussion.
Curated OER
Middle Ages Diary
Young scholars research life in the Middle Ages. They write a historical fiction diary based on a character they create. Students use the six steps to process writing to complete their diary. They orally present their diaries to the class.