Shodor Education Foundation
Sets and the Venn Diagram (Beginner)
Venn diagrams are helpful in understanding the idea of a set and using attributes to sort items. This basic plan is an introduction with an added bonus of an applet that can be used to demonstrate the activity. If a classroom of...
Curated OER
Understanding and Using Root Words to Expand Vocabulary
Middle schoolers engage in a lesson plan which reminds them that root words indicate the base meaning of a word, and that those roots are found in many different words that have similar meanings. Pairs of pupils use construction paper...
Curated OER
Hatchet: Vocabulary Strategy
Want your class to use critical thinking when discussing vocabulary? Go beyond the dictionary with a vocabulary activity based on Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer that also provides places...
Shodor Education Foundation
Triangle Area
While the lesson focuses on right triangles, this activity offers a great way to practice the area of all triangles through an interactive webpage. The activity begins with the class taking a square paper and cutting in in half; can they...
Curated OER
Pre-Reading Preparation
Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research lesson, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in groups to research them.
Shodor Education Foundation
From Probability to Combinatorics and Number Theory
What middle schooler does not enjoy an occasional online game? In this instructional activity play, you will find embedded links to an online probability game, and informative pages about how division is used in probability, the concept...
Curated OER
Social Studies Wonders: An Exploration
Help middle schoolers conduct Internet research and develop a working definition for the discipline of social studies. From a list of websites, they develop classification skills and differentiate between primary and secondary sources....
Curated OER
Reading Graphs
Working independently or in teams, your class practices connecting graphs, formulas and words. This lesson includes a guided discussion about distance vs. time graphs and looking at how velocity changes over time.
Shodor Education Foundation
Cross Sections
Use this activity on cross-sections of three-dimensional shapes in your math class to work on algebra or geometry Common Core standards. The instructional activity includes a list of relevent terminology, and a step-by-step process to...
Curated OER
ABC and 1-2-3 Farming
Students demonstrate how to alphabetize animal names. In this word study lesson, students identify animals that live on the farm and conduct a favorite farm animal survey. Students order animal pictures in alphabetical order.
Curated OER
How to Explore Religious Teachings Without Prejudice
Setting goals plays a major role in becoming a self motivated learner. Students will read and discuss a story, set personal goals, and analyze a sacred prayer. This instructional activity includes: teacher evaluation, goal worksheet,...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: To Kill a Mockingbird
Teaching tools designed to support student-centered literature study. Geared toward homeschoolers reading Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird, I would use these in my classroom. The materials are applicable to any text: graphic...
Curated OER
Understanding and Using Suffixes to Expand Vocabulary
After a review of what suffixes are and how they are used, middle schoolers utilize a worksheet that is embedded in the plan to work in pairs to strengthen their understanding and skills in using these very important parts of our...
Shodor Education Foundation
An Introduction To Quadrilaterals
Young geometers investigate and apply properties of quadrilaterals. After a review and discussion of key terms, students use a computer applet to explore four-sided figures and classify them according to their attributes. The...
Curated OER
Interactivate: Introduction to Functions
This interactive website provides a variety of lesson plans according to which standards you are applying and which textbook you use. Introduce functions to your class by having them construct single operation machines and create...
Curated OER
Hoot: Vocabulary Squares
Study the vocabulary from Carl Hiaasen's Hoot with an activity featuring synonyms and antonyms. Kids fill in a graphic organizer for each word, prompting critical thinking as they find additional ways to put the word into context.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Scavenger Word Hunt
Participate in a scavenger hunt to find objects beginning with a particular letter sound and take digital photos of them with your scholars. Using software, they find word pictures beginning with particular letters and locate picture...
Institute for Humane Education
Not So Fair and Balanced: Analyzing Bias in the Media
Life is not always fair. Who's heard that before? This same concept moves to a larger scale using prejudice and bias. Pupils discuss where prejudice attitudes derive and how they develop throughout life. Reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Down for the Count?
The New York Times article “Supreme Court, Split 5-4, Halts Florida Count in Blow to Gore” provides the opening to an assessment of the United States Supreme Court decision in the case of the 2000 presidential election. Assuming the...
Curated OER
Louisiana's Tragic Hero - "Evangeline"
"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...
Curated OER
I Spy Poetry
Explore the components of rhythm and form through a reading of Jean Marzollo's I Spy books. After discussing Marzollo’s format, the class agrees upon a theme for a class book and topics that fit with that theme. Pupils write a poem,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that includes asking...
Curated OER
Understanding Idioms Is a Piece of Cake
Interpreting idioms is a piece of cake! In groups, learners discuss the meaning of some common English idioms and choose 10 to use in sentences. Then, they illustrate the silly, literal meanings of those idioms and can engage in a fun...
Curated OER
Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...