Curated OER
Creating a Memorial Day Poster Poem
Does your class know about the meaning of Memorial Day? Discuss the history of the holiday in this instructional activity, which prompts elementary and middle schoolers to create word webs of ideas about the holiday. Additionally, they...
Curated OER
It's Happening Where: Graphic Organizer #1 for Newspaper Articles
Planning a newspaper or journalism unit? Use these graphic organizer to help your young reporters organizer their articles. The first page instructs users to plan out the structure of their article, while the second page prompts them to...
Curated OER
Home Smart Home
How smart is your home? Middle and high schoolers write a journal entry describing the types of technology found in their homes. After reading an article, they are introduced to "smart" home technology. In groups, they identify and...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
Curated OER
The Tempest: The K-W-H-L Strategy
What does your class want to know about William Shakespeare's The Tempest? Host a discussion about the questions high schoolers have about the play with a KWHL activity in which they write down their inquiries, what they already know,...
C-SPAN
Presidential Candidate Research
Don't let the young citizens in your social studies class get all their election information from inflammatory commercials and arguing pundits. Use a lesson plan from C-SPAN to guide class members through an election season with a...
Virginia Department of Education
Deciding the Mode
Are your young writers having difficulty distinguishing between expository and persuasive writing? Discuss the difference between the two, and how some prompts can be responded to in either fashion. Included here is a simple lesson plan...
Curated OER
Writing and Scholarship Planning For College-Bound Students: Brainstorming Time
Students examine the process of scholarship and college essay writing. They develop a list of key words and concepts, complete handouts, and complete an outline of an essay.
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing: Fact or Opinion
What is the difference between a fact and an opinion? Middle schoolers categorize statements as either facts or opinions before writing a persuasive essay to support a thesis statement they create. This is a great introduction to...
Curated OER
Language Arts Writing Project
Learners practice writing open-ended questions about a specific topic. They use proper grammar and syntax in their questions that are typed into a word processing file. A rubric is included in this lesson plan to help with assessment.
Curated OER
Unsent Letter: Characterization in Briar Rose
After completing Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose, class members assume the voice of Gemma and craft a personal letter to her granddaughter telling Becca how she feels about Becca’s actions and the discoveries at Chelmno. Complete directions for...
K12 Reader
Acceptance Speech
"I'd like to thank the members of the academy . . ." Kids craft an acceptance speech in which they identify what the award is for, their qualifications, and how they feel about being the recipient.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 16
Prepare for the end-of-unit assessment in a unit focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." As your class continues gathering evidence to support or argue against the success of Claudette's adaptation into...
California Academy of Science
Conservation Island
Why not walk in the footsteps of Teddy Roosevelt and become a conservationist? After discussing issues and reasons for animal extinction, the class creates their own conservation plans. Each small group is given mock data regarding a...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 7
Can three works of literature work together to establish and develop a common central idea? Put your thoughts into writing with a final assessment focused on a unit-long analysis of Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepard to His...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 13
A parent's influence on a child is one of the most formative factors in developing life. Discuss the importance of the parental relationships in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights with a written...
Teach Engineering
Energy Choices Game
Here's a fun game on a very serious matter. Scholars play a board game to learn about personal energy use and consumption. They see how various choices affect their energy use and costs, and then apply this knowledge to brainstorm ways...
Poetry Society
Simile and Metaphor
Young poets use word cards to prompt a metaphor poem comparing to very dissimilar items.
Curated OER
Moms of the Future
Students explore the roles of mothers. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss what motherhood will look like in the future and what it looked like in the past. Students respond to a writing prompt that requires them to write...
Curated OER
Homemade Holidays
Foster your high schoolers' creativity - and generosity - with this writing lesson. After reading the article "Homemade Holiday Gifts" by Frances Janisch (from the GALE Student Resource Center - Gold), pupils meet in groups to brainstorm...
Curated OER
Flowers for Algernon: RAFT
Should Charlie undergo an operation to increase his intelligence? A mini-lesson for a unit on Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon uses a RAFT activity, which prompts students to write a letter to Charlie's doctors explaining why they...
Curated OER
Marketing to Teens: Introduction
An introductory lesson shows learners how pervasive and influential advertising is in our culture; particularly, how teenagers are actively targeted by advertisers. As teenagers, your students already have all the information they need...
Curated OER
The Search for Shangri-La
What is your idea of paradise? Middle and high schoolers share their visions of paradise on earth in this lesson, in which they view a video segment about Shangri-La. Your high schoolers can discuss and then write about their ideas in a...
Curated OER
Brainstorm This!
Students discuss the advantages and types of brainstorming as a prewriting tool. They experiment with different styles of brainstorming and produce prewriting samples for assessment.