Curated OER
Arc GIS Project: Visualizing the Holocaust
A cross-curricular lesson for middle schoolers that covers language arts, social studies, geography, and math, this is a great extension activity if your class is reading The Diary of Anne Frank or learning about the Holocaust. Using...
Museum of Tolerance
Developing Media Literacy
To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century learners to develop...
KERA
Matisse and Picasso
Discover Modernism through the eyes of artists. Over the course of six well-thought-out lessons, learners examine works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse while completing a range of collaborative and hands-on activities. A great resource!
Novelinks
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Picture Book Strategy
Picture books aren't just for primary learners. Your scholars compare and contrast literary themes between the novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and the children's book, The Dream Tree by Winfried Wolf through...
Curated OER
Moon Mining
Go on a moon mining expedition from the safety of your classroom with this space exploration simulation. Using simple models of the moon's surface prepared ahead of time by the teacher, young scientists are challenged with locating and...
Hampton-Brown
Esperanza Rising
Accompany a reading of the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, with a series of lessons that dive deep into the literary world of a young girl and the journey she takes to start a new life. Lessons and their...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...
Curated OER
Idea-Noun Definition: Source Searching
A great idea for showing language arts pupils the universality of themes, even in the real world! Have class members choose an idea-noun (peace, justice, war, love, etc.) at the beginning of the year or semester. They complete weekly...
Curated OER
Practice Paraphrasing
Help your high schoolers identify the main idea of a passage with this lesson on paraphrasing. First rewriting a paragraph in their own words, they then underline the most important words in their paraphrase and use them in a summary....
Curated OER
Creating Context Mural
students examine the historical, political, religious and culture aspects of the Renaissance. Using this information, they read "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht. They use the internet to research a specific event of the time period and come...
Curated OER
Reading Examples
Young writers read excerpts from Gary Paulsen's memoir to identify figurative and literal language that contain sensory details. They determine which selections are examples of sensory language and fi the language is used literally or...
Curated OER
Migrating to Texas
Fourth graders explore the migration to Texas from other parts of the United States. Through journal entries they write about the trip as if they were the settlers coming to a new and foreign country. Working in small groups, 4th graders...
Curated OER
Colors, Characters, & Clues
Students investigate inferences. They define inference, view a Powerpoint presentation, answer questions about a picture book, and identify clues throughout the story as examples of inferences.
Curated OER
Colors, Characters, & Clues: White Socks
Students examine the process of making inferences. They define inference, view a Powerpoint presentation, and as a whole group locate clues in the pictures of a short story, locating written clues to reinforce their conclusions.
Novelinks
The Good Earth: Biopoem Strategy
To gain a better understanding of characters in Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, kids create a biopoem for one of her characters.
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “This I Believe” Venn Diagrams After Reading Strategy
Difficulties with brain injuries still continue today. After reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, class members read a series of modern personal essays about brain injuries and choose an essay to compare...
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Cubing Strategy
The toss of a die determines what questions your pupils will answer in this instructional activity. Learners respond to questions based on Bloom's taxonomy, discussing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with classmates along the way. They...
ELA Common Core Lesson Plans
American Romanticism
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" provides the text for an activity that asks readers to select specific passages from the story, identify the aspect of American Romanticism the passage exemplifies, and then provide an...
Curated OER
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
Students use video and the Internet to make predictions, draw conclusions, determine conflict and point of view while reading a short story. In this short story analysis lesson plan, students watch a related video and complete a...
Curated OER
During Reading Strategies
Middle schoolers employ strategies to increase comprehension while they are reading. In this language arts lesson, students must infer, predict and visualize in order to improve comprehension.
Curated OER
Reading and Responding -- Lesson 13
Fourth graders work independently or in a small group to (1) read a fictional passage, (2) use context to define unfamiliar vocabulary, (3) use comprehension strategies, and (4) make inferences. Reading passage and teacher script is...
Curated OER
Predict, Draw Conclusions
Learners discuss times they predict what will happen next. They compare this to using the information given in a piece of literature to predict what will happen next in the story. Students listen as the teacher reads an excerpt from The...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Analyzing Key Ideas and Details in Nonfiction
Students explore nonfiction texts. In this language arts lesson, students read a nonfiction text and make predictions. Students identify facts and opinions in the text and draw conclusions as they read.