Curated OER
Building Bridges for Young Learners -- Community
Learners compare and contrast communities.They explore factors that influence how people live, the roles of adults and children, and the interaction of people who live and work within a community. The lesson focuses on the country of...
Reading for Meaning
Sample Lessons and Worksheets
If you need to bulk up your reading comprehension worksheet collection, take a look at a resource that includes graphic organizers and reading comprehension questions. The series of 50 worksheets addresses novels such as Julie of the...
Curated OER
Ambitious Women Artists at Work
Examine the works of Luisa Roldan and Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun. Learners view various pieces of art from each of the artists and read about their lives. They discuss the information and construct a Venn diagram, comparing the two...
Curated OER
Questions of Courage
Examine discrimination. In this character education lesson, learners read two biographies, Vivien Naki and Hamilton Naki then analyze their personal discrimination experiences. They complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two...
Curated OER
The Poinsettia: Native Mexican Plant vs. U.S. Christmas
Students compare and contrast native Mexican poinsettia plants to those marketed in the United States. They watch a PowerPoint presentation, and listen to a version of the legend of the poinsettia. Students then create a paper pinwheel...
Orlando Shakes
The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of "A Christmas Carol": Study Guide
What could be better than a play within a play? A study guide for "The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of 'A Christmas Carol'" has theater-goers share their thoughts on the comedic...
Curated OER
What was School Like 100 Years Ago?
Focussing on the Edwardian Era culture, students view photographs of students at school in the past and compare and contrast them to their school now. Students describe the differences in dress, classrooms, and classes. This could start...
Curated OER
Gender, Sex, and Slavery
While examining slavery's impact on women, historians compare and contrast the perspectives of a plantation mistress and an enslaved woman, both reflecting on the system of forced prostitution. Text analysis and written responses create...
For the Teachers
Cause and Effect Matrix
Study cause and effect in both literature and informational text with a lesson designed for several different reading levels. After kids review the concept of cause and effect, they read an article or story and note the causes and...
Reed Novel Studies
The Summer of Riley: Novel Study
The Labrador retriever is America's most popular dog breed. With the novel study for The Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting, scholars learn more about the sweet, lovable animal. Additionally, they write quatrain poems, explore foreshadowing...
Reed Novel Studies
The Slave Dancer: Novel Study
What are the effects of a good literary cliffhanger? Using the novel study for Paula Fox's The Slave Dancer, pupils consider why the author chose to end the first chapter with suspense. They also answer text-based questions, practice new...
K12 Reader
Two Viewpoints of the Same Event: Lee Surrenders to Grant, 1865
How did Union General Ulysses S. Grant view the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in 1865, which effectively ended the United States Civil War? After reading an excerpt from Grant's autobiography, your young historians will...
Reed Novel Studies
Superfudge: Novel Study
Has everyone heard the news about the herd of antelope? Scholars explore homonyms with the novel study for Superfudge by beloved children's author Judy Blume. Additionally, they answer text questions and engage in language activities....
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
Is it possible to have too much concern for others? Can we be trapped by our expectations as well as those of society? Edith Wharton's chilling tale of Ethan Frome asks these and other disquieting questions. Signet's guide to Ethan Frome...
Curated OER
Nov. 8, 1960 | Kennedy Is Elected President
Using the presidential election of 1960 as background information, learners consider the push of electoral reform. They read about the events and issues surrounding President Kennedy's win in 1960 and compare them to the same issues...
Curated OER
Good Apples
Students investigate diversity. In this diversity lesson, students look at a variety of apples in order to compare and contrast their physical characteristics. They apply the concept to people by listing how people are the same and...
EngageNY
Getting the Gist and Determining Word Meaning: Paragraphs 12–14 of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (and connecting to Chapter 8)
Groups use a Venn diagram to compare the theme of love and loss in Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address to Stanford University students and Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy.
Curated OER
A Boxful of Character
I can't wait to try this activity with my class. It's versatile and could be modified to fit any character analysis lesson. To analyze characters thoroughly, learners create life boxes. Each box will pertain to a character from any...
NOAA
Mud is Mud...or is it?
We know that the type of soil varies by location, but does the seafloor sediment also vary, or is it all the same? Scholars compare photos of the seafloor from two different locations: the Savannah Scarp and the Charleston Bump. Through...
Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 1 Day Lesson
After analyzing newspaper articles portraying different perspectives of the explosion of the Battleship USS Maine, your young historians will take a stand on which position is the most believable in both discussion and writing.
Literacy Design Collaborative
A Pale Blue Dot: That's Here. That's Home. That's Us.
21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...
Creative Competitions, Inc.
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Fantastic Fairy Tale
Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...
Curated OER
5 Broken Cameras: How Storytellers Shape the Story
5 Broken Cameras, the award-winning documentary nominated for a 2013 Academy Award and winner of the Sundance 2012 Directors Award is the focus of a resource packet that includes a lesson plan, discussion guide, reading lists, background...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics and Reproduction
Disease prevention or designer babies? Use a set of slides to introduce the growing practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Teens read related articles and then break into groups to address different scenarios. Afterward,...