Curated OER
Making Connection, Using Metaphor
Chief Seatle's "Letter to President Pierce, 1855" provides the text for a skills exercise that asks readers to consider how writers use metaphors to contribute to the meaning and impact of a work. Participants then apply what they have...
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Voice and James Joyce
After reading a text written by James Joyce, middle and high schoolers find examples of passive voice. They share their findings with the class. Use this lesson to emphasize the effect of passive voice in writing.
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Formal and Informal Language
“C u l8r @ skool.” As part of a study of formal and informal language, class members examine excerpts from Lil’ Boosie lyrics, the Emancipation Proclamation, a speech by Martin Luther King. Links to the resources not provided; however,...
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Cloze Instruction And Herringbone Technique
Students sort out important information and create a visual framework for reviewing in the future. They organize a large quantity of information thus helping with learning and remembering details, cause and effect, comparison and...
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M.C. Bard: Hip Hop and Shakespeare
Young scholars compare lyrics from hip hop songs with monologues from Shakespeare's plays, and perform both for the class.
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Novel Creation
Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text. For this novel creation lesson, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups. Students collaborate on an alternate ending and create a...
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Inference
Making inferences about what you read is an important skill for both elementary, middle, and high school learners. Focusing on events which occurred during World War II, they answer a series of questions related to what we can infer as...
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"My Body"
Students participate in various shared reading and writing activities related to the book "My Body" by Rhonda Jenkins. They identify and list words that could be used to label other body parts in the book, draw a picture of their face...
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The Freedom to Fight
Students study the African American troop experiences in the Civil War. In this American history lesson, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the experiences and contributions of African American soldiers who served...
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Organizing One’s Thoughts
Learners take a closer look at the organization of written pieces. In this writing skills lesson, students examine transitions, repetition, parallelism, and other organizational patterns in writing.
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Reading and Responding
Eighth graders read and respond to a poem. In this reading and responding lesson plan, 8th graders read a poem as a class and respond to questions about it.
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Moccasins are Made for Dancing
Students perform a traditional Native American dance. In this cultural dance lesson, students research two Native American dances. Students discuss the relationship between the dances and Native American culture. Students use their...
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Reading for Meaning
Students answer questions to a worksheet called Connect with Cultural Connections in order to read for meaning. In this read for meaning lesson plan, students read and answer 5 comprehension questions.
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Young scholars complete QAR activities for Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this literary analysis lesson, students read chapters 2 and 3 and complete reading check questions. Young scholars discuss chapter highlights...
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Say It Like A Character
Pupils read a story and retell it to the class by role-playing one of the characters. In groups, they use the correct facial expressions along with body language and voice to convince the others in their group that they are actually the...
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European Explorers of North and South America
Sixth graders explore the connection between the geography of America and the migration of the Native Americans to the American continents to the future conquering of the continents by the Europeans. They discuss the causes and effects...
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European Exploration
Sixth graders analyze key European explorers and focus on where and why they explored. They research who sponsored the explorers as well as the accomplishments of the explorers. They discuss the lasting effects of the expeditions in...
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911 As History
Students recognize persuasive techniques, think criticaly about the messages contained in various media, and discuss controversial issues in constructive ways. They analyze the deeper messages contained in children's literature, and...
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Reporting Live From...
Students examine the many disasters in West Virginia. In this US history instructional activity, students write about and give an oral presentation of one of the disasters as if they were reporters.
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Researching Another country's Holiday: Organizing and Recording Information
Prior to this lesson plan, 5th graders will have collected notes from several sources. Students extend their note taking to include at least one example each of summarizing and paraphrasing. They record bibliographic information for each...
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Novel Tee
Third graders illustrate a fiction novel by painting a depiction of the book on a tee shirt and then sharing it with the class.
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Understanding Genres
Young scholars identify genres of literature. For this literature instructional activity, students read definitions of the various genres. Young scholars choose books and list clues in the texts that help them identify the appropriate...
Read Works
Read Works: Fourth Grade: Three Lesson Unit: Author's Purpose
[Free Registration/Login Required] A three-lesson unit on author's purpose where students learn to identify author's purpose, categorize texts according to author's purpose, and change author's purpose by rewriting a text. With free...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Unit: The Author's Point Is
Middle schoolers will focus on Main Idea, Author's Purpose, Identifying supporting details and Organizing details. Students will read a variety of Informational Text (non-fiction) to understand how stated and implied main idea effect the...