Curated OER
Hey, Teacher, Leave My Kids Alone
What are the differences between homeschooling, traditional schooling, and unschooling? Middle and high schoolers examine the opinions of their peers on these varied types of education. After reading a New York Times article, they...
Curated OER
Pay to Play?
Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Scholastic
Using Poetry to Explore Change and Belonging
Change, growth, and a sense of belonging are the focus of a unit that uses poetry to explore these themes and the distinguishing features of poetry as well.
Curated OER
Author Background/Investigation
Learners research an Accelerated Reader author and write a two page report summarizing relevant information about the author. They include personal data, professional data, and at least one quote from someone who has read one of the...
Curated OER
Author Study
Sixth graders complete a research paper on an author of their choice. After selecting an author of interest, 6th graders use internet and traditional resources to gather information from at various sources. They use their information to...
Curated OER
Biographical Research Paper
Students choose a subject for a biographical research paper. They use books, the Internet, encyclopedias and articles to gather information on a determined subject then follow a rubric to write a research paper.
Curated OER
Literary Tour of California via Podcast
Young scholars explore California's authors and their lives. In this author study, students research different authors from California. They create podcasts about their authors, walking the audience through the author's life and points...
Curated OER
Looking at Portraits: Literary Monuments
Students examine artworks, research literature, create drawings, and make a 3-D model for a monument to a literary figure. In this literary portrait lesson, students discuss and analyze the sculpture Study of a Monument to Alexandre...
Curated OER
Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Young scholars explore fiction and nonfiction writing. They identify the elements of fiction in a short story and identify the criteria necessary in a nonfiction piece. Students distinguish the author's purpose in an expository text,...
Curated OER
It's Raining Cats and Dog: Studying Idioms
Seventh graders determine the literal and figurative meanings of idioms and research the history of idioms. In this idioms lesson, 7th graders read two books by Fred Gwynne and select two idioms from the texts to research. Students...
Curated OER
Will the Real Ben Franklin Please Stand Up?
Students explore the life of Benjamin Franklin. In this American history lesson, students research primary and secondary documents regarding Franklin's life. Students should examine the point of view each of the accounts is written from...
Curated OER
Write Like David Shannon
Students research the author David Shannon. In this author study lesson, students discuss their favorite David Shannon book and write their own story using his style of writing. Students share their stories with their classmates.
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Media Literacy with Focus of Strategies for Collaboration
Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.
Curated OER
Tuck Everlasting Unit
Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the development...
Curated OER
Language Arts: How Can Research Shape Ideas?
Students are able to characterize arsenic and determine its potential health threats in writing. They are able to compare and contrast arsenic to other water pollutants using Venn diagrams. Students are able to demonstrate essay skills...
Curated OER
Life in Letters
Students explore the relationship between an author's life and their work. Students research the historical and personal events surrounding a Nobel Prize winning author and how they are reflected in the author's writing. They create a...
Curated OER
Unit Plan for Mark Twain and American Humor
Students create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Students write analytical paragraphs and...
Curated OER
"Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Students complete a variety of activities that revolve around the book "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen. They view and discuss stills from the move "Hoot" and compose original storylines, conduct Internet research about the life of Carl Hiaasen,...
Curated OER
Guild v. Google
Learners share opinions about what constitutes fair use of copyright materials and participate in a mock trial arguing the case of The Authors Guild v. Google.
Curated OER
Behind the Cover
Students develop questions they would have liked to ask an author about their written works. They read an article about their forefathers and research a back story to a written work of their choice. They create posters to illustrate the...
Curated OER
You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover… But Can You Judge a Book by Its First Line?
In this literary prediction worksheet, learners predict the topic, genre, setting, characters, and interest level of a book based on its first line. They research the title and author of the book using the line. They write a short story...
Curated OER
Comic Renditions
Students explore the intersection between popular and high art by recreating comic strips in various artistic styles and then famous works of art as comics. Through this exploration, students come to conclusions about what art is and...
Curated OER
Calling Names
Students explore how language shapes debate by researching the names and tags both advocates and opponents use when discussing a topical issue. For homework, they create name collages and write prose poems.