Curated OER
Words to Numbers
Seventh graders translate word problems into numerical expressions. Through guided practice, 7th graders discover how to take the information contained in a word problem and create a numerical expression using variables. They...
Curated OER
Let Your Voice Be Heard
Students explore new ways to communicate through technology by utilizing an internet program. In this reading comprehension lesson, students utilize the website voicethread.com to share their thoughts and notes about reading assignments...
Curated OER
Publishing Pupils
Second graders are guided through the writing process and then given time to use the skills they have acquired by writing a story and publishing it using a computer.
Curated OER
Stick To The Topic
Second graders engage in a instructional activity that is concerned with the increase of writing conventions. The teacher models the writing process for the students. The students work with the teacher to create a shared writing piece...
Curated OER
Critical Literacy in the 21st Century: Sitti's Secrets
Fourth graders write persuasive letters. In this letter writing instructional activity, 4th graders read Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye and discuss their areas or topics of concern. Students select a person to write a letter to and...
Curated OER
Five Paragraph Essay
Eighth graders are introduced to the mechanics of writing a standard-form essay. They draft, edit and polish a five-paragraph essay about spending the day as an animal of their choice.
Curated OER
What Kind of Student Do You Want to Be?
Third graders write an essay which answers the question, "What kind of student do you want to be?"
Curated OER
Weave a Web of Words
Fifth graders write a first draft of an oral presentation about the American Revolution and take their work through the writing process.
Curated OER
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
"The Gettysburg Address" is the basis of a series of activities that not only model for learners how to conduct a close reading of a text, but also how a close reading can help them comprehend a difficult text. The detailed, step-by-step...
State Bar of Texas
Miranda v. Arizona
You have the right to remain silent—but why? Scholars analyze the nature of what has become known as the Miranda Rights. A short video along with paired group work and discussion opens the issue of the rights of the accused upon arrest....
Visa
Smooth Sailing: Exploring Insurance and Estate Planning
While purchasing insurance and estate planning may seem like a rather irrelevant topic for high school young scholars, introducing this concept now can help your learners develop a solid foundation of financial literacy that will support...
Curated OER
Trekking to Timbuktu: A Center of Trade
Learners conduct online research regarding the origins of the city of Timbuktu and discover why it became such an important place. Students write about the city's origins until it became a part of Mali.
National History Day
Leland Linman’s War: A Look at Soldiers’ Daily Lives in World War I
Hunkering down in the trenches of World War I, Leland Linman decided to write a journal about his experiences. By reading Linman's entries in the fourth installment of an eight-part lesson series, scholars get a firsthand look at life in...
Virginia Department of Education
Succession
The final lesson in a two-part series prompts scholars to create newspaper articles and succession events. Applying their knowledge of the ecosystem and the past examples of succession, they predict what will happen in the future using...
National History Day
Why Did the United States Enter World War I in 1917?
World War I was the first major conflict on a global scale. Using primary documents, learners determine why the United States chose to enter World War I when it did. After analytical writing and group research, the causes of America's...
Curated OER
Writing & Language
Students examine Chinese and East Asian writing characters. They discuss how their writing systems differ from others found in the world. They practice reading and pronouncing Chinese and Japanese names and words.
Curated OER
The Write Stuff to Get the Job
Learners conduct Internet research to determine how to properly create a cover letter, resume and follup-letter. Students then create their own letters and resumes using the Resume Wizard in Microsoft Word.
Curated OER
Picture Writing
Fourth graders create symbols. In this visual arts lesson, 4th graders study cave drawings, Native American pictographs, and Aboriginal Drawings prior to creating their own communication without using words.
Curated OER
Media Literacy Discussion Guide
High schoolers examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in...
Curated OER
Cyber Hunt Activities: Lewis & Clark
Students participate in cyber hunt activities involving Lewis and Clark in order to gain a better idea of what it was like to be an explorer of the vast western lands. In this history lesson plan, students may choose to study the route...
Curated OER
Rough Draft and Peer Edit of Oral Book Review
Students write a rough draft book review over a book they have finished recently. Using their peers, they revise and make suggestions to correct spelling and grammatical errors. In groups, they practice giving their book report to the...
Curated OER
Another Side of Paradise
Students write a sequel to a book read as a class. In this culminating activity, students write a sequel to the novel This Side of Paradise by Stephen Layne. Students use the epilogue to guide their writing.
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5: Structure of an Argument
Imagine a cross-curricular project that not only rewards learners for examining the textbooks used in their other classes but builds literacy skills as well! Groups compare the formats and writing style in their various textbooks. Teams...