Curated OER
Precise Vocabulary
Young scholars complete acting exercises as a part of a precise language activity to help them build vocabulary and improve their descriptive writing skills. In this theatre and writing instructional activity, students create and act out...
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Palms and Literature
Students read and analyze the Civil War novel, 'Charley Skedaddle.' They define key vocabulary terms, develop a story map, create a concept web for a character, and take vocabulary tests.
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Your Vote Counts!
Students build an election campaign around their favorite TV characters. They acquire knowledge about candidates, slogans, qualifications, and voting using the activities in this lesson. Thus, they simulate the election process.
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Storytelling: Writers' Workshop Learning Center
Evaluating a variety of narrative texts can help build strong writers. Pupils identify plot elements and their relation to personal experience, then apply what they gleaned from the class discussion to create their own narratives.
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Introduction to Victorian London and A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley
Immerse your class in Dickens's London and classic story of A Christmas Carol. Here, a SMARTboard presentation and WebQuest build background of the setting for the novel (or the play A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley.) Learning about...
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Summarizing Story Events
Here is a way to build your pupils' public speaking abilities. The instructional activity describes a reader's report chair, which is used each week by a student who has just finished reading a book. The featured reader sits in the chair...
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Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Writer
Practice being concise. Exercise your vocabulary. Improve your editing skills. The contention in this lesson is that by imposing a 140 character limit, the Twitter format actually helps improve writing skills. And of course class tweets...
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Creating Characters: Voice
Students participate in a drama character building activity. They view and discuss a video segment, discuss the differences between the two girls in the video, and compare the two characters by saying the same phrases while pretending to...
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Introductory Lesson for Lower Intermediate Classes
Pupils introduce and converse with classmates as they review basic tense structures.
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Letter Writing: An English Language Arts Lesson For Writing/Proofreading
Ninth graders write a letter to someone who is deserving of thanks. Peer and self-editing takes place. After the writing process is completed and a copy is made for the portfolio, envelopes are distributed, addressed, sealed, and mailed.
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Welcome to My World
Elementary schoolers discuss what a community is, and what their community has to offer them. They create posters, or flyers for the different businesses or places in their community to place around their school. After the students have...
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Skirmish Ball
Build character while playing a fun game. The class practices throwing and catching in this game, which is based on honesty and team work. Take a look at this lesson and see if your class is up to the task.
University of Wisconsin
Teaching Things Fall Apart in Wisconsin: A Resource Guide for Educators
“There is no story that is not true, . . .” And uncovering the truths in Things Fall Apart is the focus of a 68-page resource packet designed to provide instructors with a wealth of materials that enhance understanding of Chinua Achebe’s...
Smithsonian Institution
Changing Gender Roles on the Home Front
Many historians discuss how gender roles changed because of World War II, but how did this come to be? An informative resource challenges scholars to do some digging and research the information for themselves. They research how...
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What is Hamlet Thinking?
Students explore Hamlet's character. For this Shakespeare lesson, students read the selected lines from Hamlet and write any unusual or difficult phrases. Students highlight the names of characters who speak the lines and underline words...
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Fairytale Cake
Students recreate characters from the story, "The Fairytale Cake." In this fairy tale characterization lesson, students first listen to fairy tales read aloud. They then use play dough and plastic bowls as pretend "cakes and icing", and...
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Hero Within
Students interview a hero. In this heroes lesson, students read Number the Stars to begin a discussion about heroes and then create mind maps on each character. Students pick a local hero and interview them and then write a personal...
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Moving West!
Students explore, explain and experience the importance of good character traits in everyday life by assessing the challenging journeys traveled on the Oregon Trail. They study the daily accounts of perseverance and courage along the trail.
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Creating Characters
Young scholars examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. Young scholars then use the methods...
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Masks and Aesop's Fables
Students study and perform Aesop's fables. In this Aesop's fables instructional activity, students read and/or listen to a number of the famous fables. They make masks based on the characters and perform a fable using the masks. They...
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Exploring A Streetcar Named Desire
Students investigate the dramatic elements of a Streetcar Named Desire. In this drama lesson, students explore the theme of the Tennessee Williams play as they read the play and watch performances of some of the acts. Students then write...
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Classroom Fun with Flat Stanley!
Students complete various activities based on the Flat Stanley books. In this Flat Stanley lesson, students brainstorm a list of supernatural qualities as an introduction to the book, then create story webs based on the book characters...
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Imaginary Wealth and a Magazine Article
Students explore economics by writing a fictitious news article. In this personal wealth lesson plan, students participate in a role-playing activity in which the year is 2025 and they must write an article about their extremely wealthy...
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Navigating the Internet with Safe Sites for Students
Students discover ways to surf the Internet while being kept safe from other web dangers. In this web surfing lesson, students utilize several different web programs such as imbee.com, Disney's Surfswell, and Netsmartz, which allow them...