Curated OER
Closing the Gaps
Students examine the defining characteristics of their own generation. They apply their analysis to learning about previous generations, and synthesize their learning by creating improvisational skits and writing creative essays.
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Young gardners read and listen to books about seeds, plants, and the growing process. They plant seeds in plastic cups to observe the process of root-growing and plant formation. The whole class walks through a field to collect seeds...
Curated OER
What Makes a Good Law?
Why were laws created? Spark a group discussion on why we need laws to co-exist. Should the sale of some things be outlawed on Sundays? Read a case summary between Target and the state of Minnesota that debated this issue. Ask your...
Curated OER
"You're Probably Tired, Dear Diary" - Children's Diaries during the Holocaust
As part of the study of WWII and the Holocaust, class members read a series of diary entries written by children during the onslaught of Nazi occupation. Each entry is accompanied by biographical information and discussion questions. The...
EngageNY
Documenting Research: Sorting and Recording Information About the Wheelwright
Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly used...
Wild BC
Climate Change Bingo
Here is a 20-box bingo card to use when exploring ways that humans impact the environment. Various environmentally aware activities are listed in the boxes, and learners circulate the room to find someone who practices the different...
Los Angeles Unified School District
Why Is the Declaration of Independence Important?
Fair or unfair? To begin a study of the American Revolution, class members review the treatment of the people of the American Colonies by the King of England and decide which were fair and which were unfair. Class members then annotate a...
Curated OER
Close Encounters of the World Kind
Explore the vocabulary of the government process. Using a simple technique, learners discuss the meaning of the words majority, election, democrat, republican, and independent. This can be used as an anticipatory set.
Core Task Project
Whatif by Shel Silverstein
What a skillful way to incorporate Shel Silverstein, a wonderful author, into the classroom. Composed of three tasks, children are led through a series of text-dependent questions that force them to unveil the meaning of Silverstein's...
Curated OER
That Was Then - Persuasive Essay
Student explain how geographic and cultural settings influence a person's identity. They compare and contrasting Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican self with her American self by participating in a close reading of the text and writing a...
Curated OER
Claims in "The Crisis, No. 1"
"The Crisis, No. 1" is the focus of a series of exercises that ask learners to read closely and annotate Thomas Paine's text. Groups identify claims and evidence in the essay and present their arguments to the class. Teacher background...
Macmillan Education
The Tell-Tale Heart
Rather than who done it, the mystery literary detectives have to solve as they examine the evidence found in Edgar Allan Poe's famous "The Tell-Tale Heart" is why did he do it?
Curated OER
It All Began With a Bean
Students explore human anatomy by participating in hands-on activities. In this digestive system lesson plan, students read the book It All Began With a Bean and discuss the process of food digestion in our body. Students utilize soda...
Curated OER
Memoir
After reading and analyzing two narrative memoirs, middle schoolers engage in a variety of activities, including writing an essay, developing a story map, and creating character charts. They then compare and contrast story maps, and...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Theodore Roosevelt, Excerpt from Inaugural Address
"Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us." As part of a series of worksheets that provide readers with an opportunity to develop their primary source comprehension skills, kids examine an excerpt from...
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to encourage...
Curated OER
Listening to Poetry: Sounds of the Sonnet
Students investigate how sound influences meaning in poetry by listening to sonnets. They write an analysis after listening to and reading sonnets.
Center for History and New Media
The Daily Experience of the Laurel Grove School, 1925
What was daily life like for those attending segregated schools in 1925? Modern learners fill out a KWHL chart as they explore historical background and primary source documents about the Laurel Grove School in Fairfax County, Virginia....
The New York Times
The Horror! The Horror!
Gear up for Halloween by studying the horror genre with your class and analyzing films and texts to uncover the genre's traditional conventions.
It's About Time
How Do Plate Tectonics and Ocean Currents Affect Global Climate?
What do plate tectonics and ocean currents have to do with global climate? This fourth installment in a six-part series focuses on how plate tectonics and ocean currents affect global climate, both now and in the past, outlines an...
C-SPAN
Judicial Review and Marbury v Madison
The Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison may not be widely recognized but the landmark case is particularly significant because it established the precedent for judicial review and that the Supreme Court had power as an interpreter of...
Humanities Texas
Primary Source Worksheet: Theodore Roosevelt, Excerpt from Eighth Annual Message to Congress
As Theodore Roosevelt reminded Congress in 1908, corporation one is not corporation two. Readers of this excerpt from Roosevelt's Message to Congress have an opportunity to sharpen their comprehension skills as they study this primary...
Curated OER
Identify the Parts of a Newspaper features of informational text, newspaper format
Young readers make sense out of the wealth of information in newspapers with this helpful reference document. Pointing out basic features like headings, articles, bylines, and captions this resource is a great tool for introducing...
National Museum of the American Indian
The Kwakwaka'Wakw: A Study of a North Pacific Coast People and the Potlatch
Discover the cultural practices and unique value systems of a group of native peoples from Canada called the Kwakwaka'wakw. Your young historians will discuss how conceptions of wealth can vary and how these native people utilized...