Curated OER
Tale of Two Cities Characters: Fun Trivia Quiz
How well do your readers know the characters in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities? They can test their expertise with this detailed interactive online quiz. Pre-screen for accuracy and content value as anyone can create quizzes on Fun Trivia.
Curated OER
Poetry for the Elementary Classroom
Use Shel Silverstein's poem "Batty" to introduce poetry to young readers. This lesson is not formatted well, but the plan does suggest learners memorize a poem, recite the poem individually, and then recite the poem as a class. Poetry...
PBS
Setting in To Kill a Mockingbird
Can you understand more about how a person acts by learning about how that person lives? An interactive resource explores the setting of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with several slides discussing the location, social conditions,...
NASA
Discovering the Milky Way
What do you call a tiny collection of galaxies? A puny-verse! Young scholars graph data gathered by scientists studying Cepheids. They attempt to identify a relationship between the variables through standard and logarithmical graphing....
American Press Institute
Creating a Classroom Newspaper
Hot off the press: a mini-unit for class members to create their own newspaper. Complete with graphic organizers, extension activities, and helpful learning targets that teach parts of a newspaper, the resource contains everything needed...
Curated OER
The Banking Mouse
First graders learn about another culture and its language. In this Spanish instructional activity, 1st graders listen to a Cuban folktale. Students identify the Spanish words. Students reread the story independently. Students listen...
Curated OER
Genetic Engineering
Students will apply their knowledge acquired from two guest speakers to writing a three hundred-word essay on either the pros or cons of genetic engineering. They will try to persuade the reader of their essays to agree with their stance...
Curated OER
Dive into Reading During National Book Month!
Cultivate a passion for literature with fun, easy to incorporate reading activities.
Curated OER
Like It Or Not?
Write a review of the film adaptation of Holes. After viewing the film, your young reviewers make recommendations about viewing the film. Using details to support their opinions, they highlight the important parts of the movie without...
PBS
Figuring Out Figurative Language in The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is well known for its relatable characters and plot, but don't forget how effective the book's figurative language can be! Check out an interactive resource that explores how figurative language comes alive...
Curated OER
Making Lewis and Clark's Journals Come Alive
Students are presented daily excerpts from Lewis and Clark's experiences. The dates and activities are tracked on a classroom map.
Curated OER
A Lesson in "Comma Sense"
Young grammarians punctuate an unedited letter to give it meaning. They explore how misplaced and erroneous punctuation can result in giving text a completely different meaning than intended. The lesson is a fun way to reinforce basic...
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...
Curated OER
Shopping at the Market
Bring a Mexican marketplace to your classroom! Your middle schoolers will practice buying and selling items and learn more about marketplace culture. Set up booths with props beforehand, and consider adding a few products they're...
Curated OER
Reflection/Evaluation
Students practice the skills of reflection and evaluation. In this reflection lesson, students are grouped together and asked to brainstorm what they have learned during a particular unit. Students decide what they want to share with the...
Curated OER
You Have to Live in Somebody Else's Country to Understand
Young scholars reflect on emotions commonly expressed by outsiders. They identify feelings of people who have just arrived in America. They read and analyze a poem about immigration.
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Fun Trivia Quiz
While I don't recommend this online, interactive quiz, you may want to review it for possible quotes to use in your own assessment on Of Mice and Men. It includes 10 quotes for character identification, but the fill-in-the-blank format...
Curated OER
Using Comic Strips to Teach the Use of Quotation Marks
Students identify when and why quotations are used. Using comic strips and speech bubbles, they read and discuss examples of quotation marks, and in pairs write text for a cartoon on a piece of paper using quotation marks around the...
Curated OER
Lights, Camera, Action...Crossing the Delaware in 9 Scenes
How does reading a drama differ from reading a novel? Middle schoolers become playwrights and explore these differences. After viewing the A&E movie,"The Crossing," groups create stage directions, write dialogue, and design sets and...
Curated OER
Reaching Across Borders In Southern Africa
Learners gain a greater understanding of how political borders impact human and environmental development. Then, either individually or as a class, establish a correspondence with a Peace Corps volunteer working in Africa.
Curated OER
Speaking for the Trees
Students present a play based on The Lorax.In this environmental issues instructional activity, students read and discuss literature and complete activities pertaining to environmental stewardship.
Curated OER
Inquiring Minds: News and Philanthropy
Students study newspaper articles and rewrite events from literature into news stories about kindness. In this news article lesson, students read sentences from newspaper articles and identify the purpose of the article. Students...
Curated OER
A Passport to WWII and the Holocaust
Students explore the Holocaust. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students research Hitler's rise to power, the terror of concentration camps, and World War II. Students read The Diary of Anne Frank , listen to a Holocaust survivor, and...
Curated OER
One Trigonometry Rate Word Problem
In this trigonometry word problem worksheet, students calculate how close a ship comes to a lighthouse. The solution with explanation is provided.