Curated OER
Communicating with "I Messages", Part 2
Third graders listen to ways they share their feelings with others. After brainstorming situations where "I messages" would be appropriate, pairs of students write messages from the lists they developed. They discuss how their messages...
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Vocabulary Building - Brainstorming
Students learn new vocabulary words in ways that are fun and enriching. They brainstorm lists of words to be used in sentences, stories, or conversations.
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Spring into Poetry
How many different types of poetry are there? Let me count them; list poems, haiku, and makes-me-think poems are only a few. Learners create their own poems accompanied by artistic projects such as haiku poems written on kites.
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Peter and the Starcatchers: K-W-H-L Strategy
Bookend your study of Peter and the Starcatchers with a KWHL centered around treasure and power. Pupils work in small groups to compile knowledge and questions and then revisit this chart after reading and research.
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Norval Morrisseau
Students investigate the art of Norval Morrisseau and create "x-ray paintings" using styles and symbols related to his work in this one or two day art lesson for third grade through twelfth grade. Emphasis is placed upon creative...
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Character Development Through Reader's Theater
Ninth graders study a piece of literature, adapt it into a script and perform the piece to the class. Students practice reading their scripts. They use Inspiration software to create a multimedia presentation.
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Prepositional Relationship Dance
Students learn the meaning of prepositions through movement. In this dance lesson, students choreograph a piece showing that they understand the meaning of various prepositions.
Chicago Children's Museum
Simple Machines: Force and Motion
Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion, and...
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Picturing a Story
Students view slides from the movie "Hoot" and discuss characters, setting and the caption. They identify where in the rise and fall of the plot this scene takes place. They brainstorm elements needed to create a story from a picture....
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Which team?
Students identify the many groups to which they belong and consider how groups are formed. They explore group dynamics and how group rules influence individual choice and develop strategies that might influence their groups.
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Preparing Arguments
Students review the information from the previous lesson on persuasion essays. In groups, they brainstorm a list of arguments to use to support their trip to Six Flags. They also develop counterarguments and gather information to put...
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World without Trees Composition
Fourth graders write a composition on what they think the world would be like without trees. They brainstorm ideas of what they think the world would be like treeless, and creative a story. A rubric is distributed to the students which...
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No Title
Fourth graders, after brainstorming a list of things good friends do for each other, apply prereading strategies to the book, "Be A Friend to Trees," and create similes and metaphors utilizing content ideas. They also sketch an...
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Upside-Down Books
Students read various examples of literature. In groups, they brainstorm a list of views that go against what was in one of the stories. They illustrate the opposite ideas and compile them into a class book. They use each other to...
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Farewell to the Former Library Media Specialist
Young scholars write a letter to their former library media specialist incorporating brainstormed ideas of what they have liked about the library media center. In this way students let the teacher know about what has been done in the...
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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Students communicate and express ideas through drawings that represent the stated ideas. They use a pattern book after listening to the story, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?"
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Entrepreneurs
Students explore becoming entrepreneurs. For this career exploration lesson, students work in small groups to begin a new business that they will "build" from scratch as they learn what it takes to create a successful business by using...
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And Then What Happened, Inspector?
Students further their understanding of the United Nations inspections in Iraq. They develop flow charts to organize ideas for interactive scenarios about the inspections in which the choices made determine the outcome.
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For Sale! Part 1
Middle schoolers create a new document in a graphic organizer. They add main ideas to their document and reorder the items. They share their organizer with the class.
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Out of the Fire
Students share ideas about a lead for a breaking news story regarding the California wildfires. They brainstorm angles for a series of news items and write analysis papers that address the tone and content of a piece published in The New...
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I've Got News For You!
Students explore their hometown newspaper for ideas. They create their own classroom newspaper.
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Beginning With Writing
Students brainstorm what it means to "convey ideas in writing" They review the standard graphic clarify vocabulary and Discuss the importance of having a standard definition for writing and making sure everyone is in agreement of that...
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"Let's Write a Song"
Fourth graders brainstorm ideas that answer the question, "What is a song?" They determine the parts of a song, read lyrics, and listen to a song while identifying the chorus. They repeat the procedure with a new song before working in...
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Ticket to Ride
Consider the images, ideas and words connected with America with your class as they design a new American passport for the 21st century that reflects an individual vision of and for America. Students reflect on the image of America...