Curated OER
Artfully Searching for Treasure
Search for artwork using online museum databases. Young artists will create their own online art treasure hunts based on a specific theme and set of criteria.
Curated OER
Autobiographical Art
Students explore how one artist portrays her own experiences and interests through her art. Students then choose themes in their own lives and create works of art inspired by those themes.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Punctuation and Characterization
Students prepare for a test on punctuation and characterization by completing practice assignments. While completing the assignment, they note the difference between direct and indirect characterization and explain how punctuation...
Curated OER
Narrative Nuts and Bolts
After viewing slides and reading about child labor, young authors compose an original narrative story. They practice note-taking skills and work to effectively engage a reader by incorporating plot, logical order, complex characters,...
Curated OER
Stop Signs, Musical Notes, Letters & Logos: Designing Symbols
Students develop an awareness of environmental print, such as signs, logos, brand names, and other print and non-print items that the children see and read in their neighborhood each day. They then engage in active problem solving as...
Curated OER
Writing a Biography - Helen Keller
Learners investigate inspirational figures by researching Helen Keller. In this biography lesson, students utilize the Internet to take notes about the life of Helen Keller. Learners complete a biography question worksheet...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Two Books
Help your middle school readers recognize the elements of fiction in two books. After reading and taking notes on the details of the books, they write an essay comparing and contrasting the two books. Use this lesson to emphasize...
Curated OER
A Letter to the Reviewer: Reflective Writing
Folded into a writing portfolio unit, this set of instructions for a Letter to the Reviewer guides students through a written reflection of their work so far. Several slides clarify what a letter to the reviewer is, and what it is not,...
Curated OER
Alphabet Organizer
Students practice organizing their vocabulary words in an online organizer tool. In this vocabulary lesson, students read a text and take notes. Additionally, students organize their vocabulary words into an online "Alphabet Organizer"...
Curated OER
"Whispering Wires": Public Law vs. Individual Civil Liberties
High school student love discussing controversial issues like those brought up in this fourth amendment case study. They examine the 1928 Olmstead vs. U.S. prohibition court case, applying the fourth amendment to determine whether...
Dream of a Nation
Big6 Research Project
Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...
Poetry4kids
Onomatopoeia Poetry Lesson Plan
Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an...
Curated OER
How to Take Notes
Young scholars practice taking notes while reading their textbooks. In this note taking lesson, students read a text and use the given procedure to take notes for the text.
EngageNY
Planning Writing: Bullfrog Information Paragraph
Lesson ten in this unit for the book Bullfrogs at Magnolia Circle, prepares third graders to begin writing an informational paragraph about the adaptations of bullfrogs. First, young writers work either independently or in pairs to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Paul Chan: 1st Light and 5th Light
Paul Chan's latest exhibit includes seven manifestations of light. Today, kids analyze the pieces 1st Light and 5th Light. They consider the concept of opposed or dualistic realities found in literature, society, and Chan's work....
Curated OER
The Roots of Prohibition: Examining the Effort to Prohibit Alcohol in America
Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: On-Demand Informational Writing
Lesson 7 focuses on building academic vocabulary and writing an explanatory letter with supported textual evidence. For the first five minutes of the lesson, the educator reminds the class of how to read and refer to the accordion...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: A Compare and Contrast Lesson Plan
Two great men, one time period, and one purpose; it sounds like a movie trailer, but it's not. It's a very good comparative analysis lesson focused on Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Learners will research and read informational...
Curated OER
Comprehension-Note Taking Skills to Supprt Opinions and Panel Discussion
Fifth graders examine note taking skills in order to support opinions. In this language arts activity, 5th graders read several newpaper articles and discuss a current issue. Students explore how to paraphrase so as not to commit...
Curated OER
Note taking on Sources Other Than Text
Students examine different sources of information. They evaluate and take notes from a variety of sources.
Curated OER
Investigate a New Word from "Notes from the Trail"
Learners read and take notes from Notes from the Trail. In this reading fluency instructional activity, students read back and share their notes finding 7-10 new words. Learners define, write an unrelated sentence and present.
Curated OER
Early Explorers Project
Students choose an explorer from a given list, create an original song or poem based on the life of their explorer, make puppets to represent their explorer and then present their original piece to the class while students take notes on...
Curated OER
Introducing Each Other
Seventh graders interview each other and write about it. In this Journalism lesson, 7th graders develop questions to ask someone and take notes while the person is talking. They write a five paragraph paper on the information received...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Figurative Language
Students find examples of figurative language in "First Rain" in Out of the Dust. In this Out of the Dust lesson plan, students takes notes on various type of figurative language and identify examples of each type in the poem.