Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Section Three: What's the Status of Biodiversity?
Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: List-Group-Label Strategy
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is one of the most prominent and influential books to come out of the existential movement. Host a group discussion in which learners list different characteristics of existent art, group these tenets, and...
EngageNY
Text-Dependent Questions Text-Dependent Questions and Making a Claim: Digging Deeper into Paragraphs 12–14 of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (and connecting to Chapter 9)
Readers draw connections between Bud, Not Buddy and Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford University commencement address and cite evidence from the two texts to support their analysis.
EngageNY
Bud, Not Buddy: Launching the Novel and Understanding Its Context
The first lesson plan in a unit that uses Christopher Paul Curtis' award-winning depression-era novel, Bud, Not Buddy, as the anchor text establishes the routines that will be used throughout the unit.
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 2
Sometimes, sensory details can bring you back to a familiar place. Study the setting descriptions from a critical chapter in Amy Tan's A Joy Luck Club, and discuss how they enhance the book's plot and contribute to a central theme.
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 11
Football fans and ready readers will enjoy a lesson based on H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights. Focusing on chapter 4, the lesson encourages tenth graders to examine Mike's character development as it relates to the season opener and...
Curated OER
Studying The Catcher in the Rye
What's the difference between being a phony and being a conformist? At what point does conforming to alleviate loneliness lead to insincerity? These are the questions at the heart of this unit plan that uses The Catcher in the Rye as an...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Major Disparities in Adult Cigarette Smoking Exist Among and Within Racial and Ethnic Groups
Data indicates that some racial groups smoke more than others, and that with that racial group, there are smaller groups whose smoking habits vary as well. Secondary learners read a graph that details the differences between the Asian...
EngageNY
Adding to Cascading Consequences and Stakeholders: Hunter-Gatherer Food Chain
Could the hunter-gatherer food chain feed everyone in the United States? To consider the question, pupils use their research and add to the Cascading Consequences chart based on Michael Pollan's hunter-gatherer food chain from The...
Curated OER
Organic Chemistry-Condensed Structural Formulas
In this structural formulas worksheet, students are given three condensed structural formulas and three non-condensed structural formulas. They draw the structural and graphic formulas for each compound.
Curated OER
Character Analysis Lessons
Graphic organizers can be a great tool to help students understand character analysis.
Curated OER
Summary Lesson Plans
Students can learn how to write summaries with the help of graphic organizers, and summarization lessons.
Curated OER
The Big Sneeze
Students participate in a variety of shared reading and writing activities related to the book "The Big Sneeze" by Ruth Brown. They develop a list of farm vocabulary, sequence the events of the story on a graphic organizer, act out...
Curated OER
Scientific Method Unit: Bacteria
Young scholars discover how to apply the steps of the inquiry process through the study of bacteria. Working in groups of four, they cooperatively read an article about bacteria and complete a graphic organizer. Group members share with...
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: Discussion Web
As part of a final discussion of The House on Mango Street, groups examine a concept question about the text, record arguments for and opposed to the question, and then a draw their own conclusions.
Curated OER
Harmony and Expression in Writing Form
How do you write an interesting beginning, middle, and end of a story? With this lesson, young writers look to other stories as examples. Then, they use some of the attached graphic organizers to help them create their own story. Note:...
Curated OER
Circling Ethiopia: A Novel Approach to Introducing a Region
Students read a novel to gain insight into a different region of the world. Using a graphic organizer, they share the information they have already gathered about Ethiopia. They draw an outline map of Africa and read the opening pages of...
Curated OER
KWL Worksheet
In this KWL worksheet, students fill in this graphic organizer about what they know, what they think they will learn, and what they learned when done. Students fill in 3 spots for the graphic organizer.
Curated OER
My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C.
Although this legislative process lesson is designed to accompany a specific text, it is valuable independently. Young learners participate in a picture walk (worksheet included) through My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington,...
Curated OER
Summarization Superstars
How do you read when you know you're going to be summarizing a text? Summarize a nonfiction text with your upper elementary schoolers. Your pupils independently read a nonfiction article and write a summary paragraph using the six-step...
Curated OER
Summarizing with James and the Giant Peach
Elementary readers in literature groups practice summarizing chapter-by-chapter with Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Focus on main idea, supporting details, and the 5 Ws. Unfortunately, a clever "peach" graphic organizer to which...
Curated OER
Using a Venn Diagram to Compare / Contrast: Double Bubble
Create a "Double Bubble" to organize information in a Venn diagram-like graphic organizer. There are a few options included to differentiate this assignment, but unfortunately, there are no topics for selection. Provide your emerging...
Curated OER
Dig A Little Deeper
Here is a great instructional activity on recognizing events and themes in a story. Learners read chapters from a chosen book and then fill out a graphic organizer to further explore the purpose of the chapter. They write the events,...
Curated OER
The Magic School bus Inside A Hurricane
Students investigate the concept of a hurricane by using the cartoon series "The Magic Schoolbus" to simulate the fantasy of traveling through a hurricane. The lesson uses a KWL graphic organizer in order to guide student inquiry and as...