Street Law
The Challenge of Selecting an Ideal Supreme Court Nominee
Nearly every president has had the opportunity to name a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. But what makes someone an ideal candidate to become a Supreme Court justice? High schoolers test their prior knowledge about the Supreme...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Innovation in America
Are American young people prepared to become tomorrow's leaders in technological innovation, or does an obsession with being cool sidetrack essential skills? That is the question freshmen and sophomores must address in a performance task...
Curated OER
Printable Story Starter: Treasure in the Daisies
Class members can practice using sensory details and imagery with this writing prompt, which provides a vivid introduction about a girl who discovers a treasure box in her mother's garden. The middle, ending, and title of the story are...
EngageNY
Revision and Illustration: Strengthening the Writing in my Rainforest Field Journal and Adding a Labeled Drawing
Let me draw you a picture. Scholars read a quote from Roger Tory Peterson and discuss his views on drawings. They then create their own drawings of an ant or butterfly to add to their science journals.
EngageNY
Final Performance Task: Critique and Revision, Part II
Stop ... grammar time! Pupils complete worksheets to practice using the correct verb tense and identify correlative conjunctions. Next, scholars apply their new grammar skills to edit their draft opinion speeches.
Prestwick House
The House on Mango Street Activity Pack
Enrich a unit on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros with a selection of related activities. The packet contains nine activities that go from pre-reading through wrapping up the novel. Young readers work on studying author's...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Newspaper
One photograph can represent so much more than the images on the film. Eighth graders select a photograph from the Civil War era and conduct additional research based on the subject matter from the picture. Once they complete the...
Curated OER
The Stories of Status Symbols
A good writer needs to be observant and have an imagination. Hone those creative writing skills with an activity inspired by a very old Chinese artifact. Learners examine the piece Mandarin Duck Rank Badge, and then write a story from...
Teaching Matters
Welcome to Writing Poetry
Your pupils are poets, and now they'll be able to show it with the exercises in this packet. The lessons, designed for beginner, intermediate, and experienced poets, not only feature a variety of poetic forms, but take learners through...
Curated OER
Scene Writing: Literacy and Playwriting
Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The activities...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Before and After a Moment in Time
Think about a moment, frozen in time. Now take a critical look at the painting, Better, Homes, Better Gardens. This painting works to provide learners the opportunity to analyze art, critique artist's choices, and write a story inspired...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
Annenberg Foundation
The Search for Identity
Discover how writers express identity in their writing. Learners explore how issues of identity surface in the literature of minority writers. Scholars watch a video, read and discuss biographies, conduct research, engage in creative...
Curated OER
Ben Franklin Timeline
Celebrate inventions such as lightning rods, bifocals, and stoves with a Ben Franklin Day. Young historians conduct research and write a paragraph about an accomplishment of Benjamin Franklin including an illustration or collage that...
Curated OER
Facing the Ghosts of Our Past
A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...
Curated OER
Writing and Research with a Manatee Theme
Students use Internet research methods to find information about manatees. They write a story about a manatee, told through the manatee's eyes, and also a letter to an environmental group, thanking them for what they do to protect the...
Music Publishers Association of the United States
I Made It. I Own It. Please Don't Steal It.
Explore the world of copyright law with a variety of activities to instill the importance of respecting creative property. Scholars watch an animated tale then take part in a grand conversation detailing the video's main idea, details,...
Candlewick Press
A Classroom Guide to Peter H. Reynolds's Creatrilogy
Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other kindly, and their...
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Response to Art Exercise
Depending on your perspective, solitude can be lovely or very, very lonely. Kids take a look at the simple landscape illustrated in Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, and write a short journal entry about their perception of...
Curated OER
The Flat WSD Students
Young scholars engage in creative writing and performance using Flat Stanley. After reading Flat Stanley your class summarize their understanding and then create a flat image of themselves. Students then brainstorm ideas of how they...
abcteach
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Looking for materials to accompany your study of Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes? Look no further! Included here is everything you need to go alongside your unit: worksheets, graphic organizers, writing assignments, an assessment,...
Tennessee State Museum
An Emancipation Proclamation Map Lesson
Did the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves during the Civil War? Why was it written, and what were its immediate and long-term effects? After reading primary source materials, constructing political maps representing information...
Curated OER
Six Trait Writing with Kenneth Grahame and Ogden Nash
Third graders complete a unit of lessons on the process of six trait writing. They identify good writing traits, read and evaluate poems, literature, and myths, utilize a rubric to evaluate their own writing, and evaluate classmates...
Scholastic
Step-by-Step Strategies for Teaching Expository Writing
A carefully crafted, logically organized, 128-page packet is an excellent addition to your unit on expository writing.