Curated OER
It’s Your Birthday! – Conventions: Revision and Proofreading
Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...
Curated OER
A Sense of Emptiness in the House That Michael Built
Students investigate different journalistic techniques used to add color and new dimension to fact-based news stories. They write a journal discussing techniques that journalists could use to make Michael Jordan's retirement from the NBA...
Curated OER
The Thrill of Big-Wave Surfing
Students discover how to summarize content knowledge from varied resources in creating a presentation. They learn about the relationships between human beings and their environment as they reflect upon the challenges of big-wave surfing.
Curated OER
J. Peterman Descriptive Writing Assignment
Twelfth graders hone descriptive writing skills by making a J. Peterman Catalogue. They bring to class a favorite piece of clothing or jewelry item and create their own description of it. They accompany each description with a hand-drawn...
Curated OER
Bats
Third graders replace a common KWL with an anticipation activity. In this bats lesson, 3rd graders use radio buttons to record their answers to questions at the beginning of a bat lesson. Students view a website to read about bats and...
Curated OER
KWL Chart and Background Article
Students discuss an ecosystem. In this coral reef lesson, students fill in their own KWL chart and contribute ideas to a whole class KWL chart. They read an article as a class to spark ideas for facts they can add to the "K" part of the...
Curated OER
Critiquing A Speech Contestant
What makes a speech effective? Middle schoolers critique a speech for content and presentation. They view a video of a middle school student presenting an informational speech, They outline the content of the speech and critique the...
Curated OER
Discovering the History of Our Community
Fourth graders explore the history of the Richfield Springs area through a guest speaker, historical pictures and postcards, and narratives from various histories of the area.
Curated OER
Floods
Students examine the devastation floods may cause. In this current events lesson, students analyze a photograph of a flood scene to determine what was taking place when the photograph was taken. Students respond to the provided...
Curated OER
Critical Reading- Air Pollution and Asthma
Students read two different articles which present the scientific issue of asthma, the causes, and the rising rates in our society. Students read for facts and examine whether or not the scientists have a political point of view....
Curated OER
It's Your Birthday! Expository Writing Unit 2
Students create an expository essay. For this writing lesson Students are assigned a country and must conduct research surrounding a historic event that occurred in that country at the time of their birth.
Curated OER
Travel Brochure
Tenth graders produce a tri-fold brochure encouraging travel in a European country.
Curated OER
Rubric Rating
Students develop a rubric or scoring guide to assess newpaper articles. They rate the story and write the reasons for the rating. An Essay Scoring Guide is attached for reference.
Curated OER
Incredible Book
Fourth graders examine the contributions made by famous Americans during the American Revolution. They conduct research using a variety of resources, and create an informational page in the form of "Incredible Books" to contribute to a...
Curated OER
Slim Down to the Good Stuff by Summarizing
Students summarize a piece of literature using the technique "mapping" in this lesson. The technique involves 6 main steps: delete unimportant information, delete repeated information, substitute easy terms, add a series of event with...
Curated OER
Create Your Own Country!
Middle schoolers create their own countries. In this geography skills lesson plan, students establish governments, cultural backgrounds, atlas/geography components, national anthems, and national symbols for a country they create.
Curated OER
The Battle on the 5th of May
Students research the origin of Cinco de Mayo. In this Mexican history lesson, students research the battle on the 5th of May in Mexico and create artistic pieces that represent their findings.
Curated OER
Pathway to Mars
Sixth graders research the planet Mars using online and offline resources. They compile their information and write a short essay/story/report and post it online.
Curated OER
Fretful Over Fast Food
Fifth graders research fast food options and write an essay on the topic. In this fast food lesson, 5th graders pretend they are a babysitter and research fast food restaurant options to eat at while they are baby-sitting. Students write...
Curated OER
The Thrill of Big-Wave Surfing
Students view a PBS Nature program about big-wave surfing and participate in a class discussion about their experiences with surfing, body boarding, or body surfing. Students create a drawing based on a reading and post their art around...
Curated OER
Redesigning a Time Line
Middle schoolers review how Ben and Jerry's ice cream is made to begin the lesson plan. Using the internet, they view a timeline on the history of the company. They use a software program to make an ice cream cone and color the ice cream...
Curated OER
Ancestors Help the Living
Students examine the availability of mammoth ivory. In this environmental issues lesson, students read a selection (the selection is not included) regarding mammoth ivory and discuss the content of the reading selection.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Writing an Opinion Based on Facts From a Text
Students will plan a paragraph that states their opinion and cites evidence to justify their opinion about an informational text. This lesson uses biographies since students can easily be able to write down factual information from the...
Encyclopedia Mythica
Encyclopedia Mythica: Xochiquetzal
This site from the Encyclopedia Mythica contains great information on the Aztec god, Xochiquetzal. The article is two paragraphs long and very factual.