EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Colonial Craftspeople
In the first lesson plan of this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders gain background knowledge of different jobs performed by early colonists. The class begins with a slide show presentation that includes a variety of great...
American Documentary
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Plea Bargains
The outcome of 90 percent of criminal cases in the US is determined by plea bargains. Clips from the documentary Better This World create the backdrop for an investigation of the benefits and drawbacks of the plea bargaining process....
Visa
Nothing But Net: Understanding Your Take Home Pay
Introduce your young adults to the important understanding that the money they receive from their paychecks is a net amount as a result of deductions from taxes. Other topics covered include federal, state, Medicare and social...
Curated OER
Biographical Research Paper
Students choose a subject for a biographical research paper. They use books, the Internet, encyclopedias and articles to gather information on a determined subject then follow a rubric to write a research paper.
Curated OER
America's Civil Rights Movement, Activity Seven
Students model the writing style of the author of a piece of literature and present them to the class.
Curated OER
A Voyage of Endurance
Students apply the three different types of journal writing by composing one of each type on the subject of Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica. They also
write a dialectical journal summarizing the facts of the expedition and...
Curated OER
Ecology: Trees
Fourth graders, while working in the classroom and the computer lab, utilizing supporting facts from previous lessons, write a creative story that imagines a world without forests. They write, type and print their stories and turn them...
Curated OER
A Day in the Life of a Leprechaun
Pupils investigate creative writing by reading Leprechaun stories. In this Irish culture lesson, students listen as their teacher describes what a leprechaun is and where the idea for the creature came from. Pupils write a fictional...
Curated OER
Personally Speaking
Seventh graders read, "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," and write an expository essay discussing choices they have in society today compared with the character Kit.
Curated OER
Does a Picture Always Say a Thousand Words?
Students read and discuss "Enigmatic Portraits of Teen-Agers Free of All Context," then choose a photograph and write a first-person narrative from the perspective of the subject.
Curated OER
Latino Folklore and Culture: Stories of Family, Traditions of Pride
Students define the terms fable and folktale. They write a fable to illustrate a Latino proverb. Students are explained that a folktale is a story passed down through the oral tradition of a particular culture. A fable is a type of...
Curated OER
Emotion in Art & Poetry
Fourth graders are introduced to famous works of art and begin to discuss the artist's work. Use art to explain and reflect their own emotions. The write about feelings in a work of art and make connections between art and other...
Curated OER
Scenario challenge
Fifth graders become familiar with the geography of New Hampshire and the importance of specific sites in history. For this New Hampshire lesson, 5th graders create a brochure including points of interest and showing distances...
Curated OER
Mandela The Man
Ninth graders explore civil rights by reading several biographies. In this Nelson Mandela lesson, 9th graders discuss the trials and tribulations Nelson Mandela had to face in South Africa and how they were similar to the problems Martin...
Curated OER
Element Research Project
Students research elements on interactive Internet periodic tables, take notes using Inspiration software, and write descriptive paragraphs with graphics. They create presentations.
Curated OER
The Story of My Life
High schoolers complete autobiographical writing assignments throughout the school year that they save and rewrite to put into a published book during the last month of class. They include photographs, drawings and mementos of their...
Curated OER
Cheetah Challenges
Students research the problems that cheetahs are facing in the wild. In this biology lesson, students discuss how animal rehabilitation works. They write blogs about it and comment on everyone's post.
Curated OER
From One Child to Another: Letters about the Holocaust
Students read biographies of students who survived the Holocaust and write letters describing the effects of those stories. They select one biography and write a letter to that child, telling how the biography affected him or her.
Curated OER
WORDS FRANKLY SPOKEN
Students visit appropriate websites to discover quotes from Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Working in pairs, they choose three quotes on which to elaborate and then write two original quotes.
Curated OER
Relating to Franklin's Age of Reason
Fourth graders read a selection describing 13 virtues from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." They keep track of their behavior and whether or not they can keep up with 5 chosen virtues. They write a 5 paragraph essay on their...
Curated OER
Do You Haiku? We Do!
Third graders try their hands at writing Haiku, a form of Japanese poetry. Haiku is usually 17 syllables in three-line form. This engaging lesson has many excellent worksheets and website imbedded in the plan. They share their finished...
Curated OER
The White Stuff, Winter in Canada
Students write sound poems inspired by works of art they have viewed, create paintings with snow as subject, create zines about their perceptions of winter, and update one of Robert Harris' winter sports illustrations.
Four lessons on...
Curated OER
Hamburger Paragraphs
Fourth graders discuss who likes hamburgers. Students listen as the teacher compares the hamburger to a paragraph, and the hamburger patty to the topic sentence. The class works together to write a paragraph. The teacher provides gummy...
Curated OER
Let's Make A Dill
Learners perform an "autopsy" on a dill pickle to determine its' cause of death. After finding "clues" inside the "body," students organize facts and use their imagination to write an epitaph. As an alternative, learners may view a...