Curated OER
Video Chat
Students participate in an online video chat with students from different countries in an effort to learn more about other cultures and to practice foreign language skills. This lesson plan includes directions for recording the sessions.
Curated OER
Othello's Predecessors: Moors in Renaissance Popular Literature
Young scholars gather textual citations from Othello, discuss stereotypes that they hold, examine primary source materials, and write character profiles.
Curated OER
The Minority Majority
Students design a census class and school, then tabulate the results. They respond to a sample census, then reflect on why questions of race and national origin are different.
Curated OER
Magic Words, Magic Brush: The Art of William Butler and Jack Yeats
Learners explore the influence of the landscape of Ireland on shaping the poetry of William Butler Yeats. They work in groups researching the growth of the Irish Nationalist Movement, Celtic origins, invasions, and the impact on the...
The New York Times
Reader Idea | Thinking Like a Historian About Current World Events
Check out this fantastic research project where learners work to see the modern world through the eyes of a historian and analyze a contemporary event of their choice. An in-depth reflection on the project is given by the project...
Shakespeare Globe Trust
Macbeth
Why do characters do what they do? Scholars use the resource to explore character motivation in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Additionally, they discover pictures, interviews, and videos from the Deutsche Bank production of the play.
Curated OER
Study: Largest Wealth Disparities in 25 Years
The New York Times has produced an article specifically geared to its younger readers. They read an article entitled, "Largest Wealth Disparities in 25 Years" to answer six comprehension questions. They'll be asked who, what, where,...
Curated OER
What if Your Parent Ran for President?
Throughout history, many people have run for president. But, what is that like for the children of those individuals? Kids read a bit about Mitt Romney and his five children, then respond to a writing prompt in a blog post. They describe...
Scholastic
A House for Hermit Crab
Engage young marine biologists in a reading of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab with a fun hands-on activity. Given a set of clipart images of the different aquatic animals that appear in the book, children identify each one during a...
Curated OER
Under the Collar
Students first examine different types of white-collar crimes; they then research recent individual cases to present in a student-written and produced expos?? program on white-collar crime.
Curated OER
Alien Invasions
Students create an educational pamphlet on the origins, spread and impact of invasive plant species in their community.
Curated OER
People Who Need People
Students study The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund and several immigrant families who have benefited from it. They assess needs of people in their own community and create a plan for an organization to help address some of those needs.
Curated OER
Trading Up?
Students explore the benefits and drawbacks of free trade from the perspective of the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico. For homework, they each write a letter to the editor expressing their personal...
Curated OER
Able Am I
Young scholars read the article "Disabled Skier Designs His Way to Be a Daredevil." They discuss using the questions on the lesson plan. Students create large sized baseball cards featuring competitive, disabled athletes.
Curated OER
Bringing Facts Into Science Fiction
Students develop a setting, plot and characters for a science fiction story based on current news themes, and then individually write drafts of the story.
Curated OER
Deadly Lesson
Learners read "Shooting at School Leaves 2 Dead and 13 Hurt" in the New York Times online. They explore their own thoughts and emotions about school violence in the wake of the March 5, 2001 school shooting in Santee, California.
Curated OER
Out With the Old, in With the New
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of the Soviet Union and compared to the new Democratic Russia. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create a class project.
Curated OER
What Constitutes a State?
Learners examine the differences between various state constitutions in the United States. Then, using their own
Curated OER
Fittest of the Survivors
learners consider the reality television show 'Survivor' as a means to contemplate what it means to be a survivor. They create fictional characters and explore how different personal qualities would help and hinder their success on...
Curated OER
Justices for All
Students examine role of Supreme Court justices in the American political process, research the qualities of the current Supreme Court justices, and write opinion papers evaluating the current justices and recommending future nominations.
Curated OER
Liberty and Democracy for All?
Students consider what they already know about democracy and examine how viable democracy is for Middle Eastern nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Curated OER
Settling Down
Students investigate the Umoja shantytown in Miami, Florida as well as other shantytowns around the world in order to create a Web site bringing awareness to the issue of slum dwelling.
Curated OER
The Mystery of Exploration
Students comprehend the history of European exploration of North America. They are introduced to basic reasearch techniques. Students focus on four explorers who visited New York State: Verrazano, Cartier, Champlian, and Hudson. They...
Curated OER
Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar
Upper graders write word problems and research the uses of multiplication. They start off by taking a pre-test on multiplication and then read the book, Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar. They make up word problems to go with their...