Curated OER
Reading the Play
Middle schoolers read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical...
Minnesota Literacy Council
Introduction to Historical Thinking
Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.
Hood River County School District
Text Structure: Features and Organization
Teach learners how to interact with both fiction and non-fiction text with a packet of activities and worksheets. After looking over text structure and the difference in text features between different types of writing, readers analyze...
Curated OER
Exploring Literacy in Cyberspace
Students explore a variety of reading comprehension strategies and apply these strategies to both online articles and printed text. They compare and contrast the effectiveness of each strategy with each medium.
School District of Palm Beach County
Framed Paragraphs characterization, problem and solution, symbolism, conflict
Support your learners as they work on writing paragraphs by providing graphic organizers, outlines, and frames. Sift through this packet to find the perfect organizers and templates to prepare pupils for writing. The resource...
Curated OER
Drama: The New Friends
Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Juvenile Justice
Pupils compare and contrast the legal system as it pertains to juvenile and adult crime and punishment. Incorporating primary documents, legal decisions, and video evidence, individuals form an argument debating the treatment of...
Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day lesson plan integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson plan...
iCivics
Separation of Powers
In a fun and informative simulation, your learners will act in groups as lead chefs, menu writers, and nutrition inspectors in deciding a new school lunch menu. They will then compare and contrast their experience to the interaction...
Kenan Fellows
How Much Heat Can a Phase Change Produce?
Scholars learn about heat release in phase changes. They perform calculations as they compare and contrast a science fiction passage and a home heating application.
Curated OER
Exploring Contrasts in "The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
Middle schoolers analyze the speaker's ideas and tone in the Billy Collins poem "The Lanyard." After identifying how each of the five senses is addressed in the poem, they compare images to draw conclusions about the speaker and his...
Curated OER
Everyone's a Critic: Analyzing Sitcoms as Cultural Texts
Start by defining the word sitcom with the goal of launching a discussion. What exactly is a sitcom? How is a sitcom different from sketch comedy, drama, and reality television? Class members give examples, remember storylines they've...
Curated OER
Pairing Picture Books with Edith Hamilton's Mythology
As a before reading strategy, class members select a tale from mythology, examine several picture book versions of the myth, and fill out part of a Venn diagram with observations about the hero in particular and the myth in general.They...
Curated OER
Practice Book O
Whether you need resources for reading comprehension, literary analysis, phonics, vocabulary, or text features, an extensive packet of worksheets is sure to fit your needs. Based on a fifth-grade curriculum but applicable to any level of...
EngageNY
Getting to Know Esperanza (Chapter 2: “Las Uvas/Grapes”)
Delve into Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan with close reading and evidence-based, text-dependent questions. Part of a unit series, this well-sequenced, Common Core designed instructional activity draws on material from the previous...
EngageNY
Characters Changing Over Time (Chapter 10: "Las Papas/Potatos")
Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and participate...
Great Books Foundation
Rattlesnakes
John Muir may be a friend to the natural world, but as a short reading passage confirms, he is no friend to rattlesnakes. As young readers learn about Muir's encounters with the dangerous creatures, they answer four comprehension...
Curated OER
The Philippines Modern History Timeline
Timelines of historical events can be very handy for compare and contrast, recalling dates, or understanding cause and effect. Hand out this timeline that outlines events related to the control and formation of government in the...
Curated OER
Drama from Animal Characters
Learn about animal habitats, characteristics, and writing in a different perspective. The class composes a narrative from the perspective of a fresh water animal, they include a problem and the animal's reaction to the problem. The...
Curated OER
The Declaration Versus The Communist Manifesto
Upper graders put their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution to the test when they are asked to mark which of several statements are from either the Constitution or the Communist Manifesto. A class discussion follows. Use this resource as...
Curated OER
Similar Situations
Students explore intersecting lines. In this intersecting lines activity, students investigate shapes consisting of parallel, perpendicular, and similar lines. Students investigate these lines in shapes around them.
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
Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...
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,"...