Curated OER
Writing - Story Ideas
Students write their story in first person as a non-fiction story, or they can write the story in third person as a fictional story and use different characters. They can choose an idea from one of the story starters provided.
Curated OER
Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
Curated OER
The Mystery Seed
Second graders create a short descriptive story describing a mystery seed they have planted. They incorporate needs that must be met in their story for a seed to grow. They create an original picture using the Kid Pix software program.
Curated OER
Ocean Mysteries, Legends, and Customs
Students conduct Internet research to investigate mysteries, legends, and customs related to the ocean. They select a topic, and write and illustrate a short story.
BBC
Writing a News Report
Young journalists try their hand at writing a news report. They go through the process of developing ideas, and collecting and organizing their information. The headline everyone works with is, "Mystery Disappearance of English Teacher:...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Burying Addie's Voice
Learners explore the use of voice and title in William Faulkner's, "As I Lay Dying". They identify and discuss the use of image, symbols and narrative voice in the story.
Curated OER
"The Westing Game" Activities and Lesson Plans
You can use a novel, such as "The Westing Game", to teach reading concepts and skills in a way that keeps students interested.
Curated OER
CSI Lesson Plans Can Turn Students Into Learning Detectives
Children learn to use the methods of good detection for solving a crime, and even analyzing literature.
Curated OER
Deep Blue Sea
Elementary schoolers identify the ocean floor in a geological sense. They create a presentation that highlights the key features of the ocean floor. This terrific lesson plan has excellent streaming video segments embedded in it, and the...
Curated OER
Forensic Examination of Artifacts: The Mystery of Meriwether Lewis' Death
Students role play the position of a scientist to gather information on Meriwether Lewis' death. They discover what he did after the famous expedition and how centuries affect the study of a body. They share their information with the...
Curated OER
Understanding the Elements of Fiction
Inform your class on the elements of fiction: themes, settings, characters, plots, dialogue, narration, flashback, clues, climax, resolution. They write the definitions of the terms on the worksheet provided.l Tip: Have them write a...
University of Pennsylvania
Using Comic Strips to Teach Multiple Perspectives
Scholars view comics from two different perspectives; one paints the Alfred Dreyfus as innocent, while the other portrays the exact opposite. They solve the mystery of what happened by analyzing the source, working in groups, and...
Curated OER
Flying High in Ohio
Her is a lesson using the Ohio State Quarter. Pupils utilize beautifully-designed worksheets embedded in the plan, to study about the origins of aviation. Many of the pioneers of aviation were born in Ohio. They compare some of the...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan Six: Sense of Touch
Learners listen carefully to story and use their sense of touch to add imagination and "touch clues" to the story.
Curated OER
Mystery Island Greg Hansen
Fifth graders explain how human activities shape the earth's surface.
Curated OER
Cemetery Restoration Project
Who is buried in this tomb? Trek to a local cemetery, take pictures of markers, explore records, and conduct interviews to bring to life the stories behind the stones. Use Olympus and Tool Factory to coordinate and gather information...
Curated OER
Shaping Up!
Kindergartners are introduced to basic shapes. Learners spend 45 minutes a day in geometry centers carrying out the activities outlined in this ambitious plan. There are games, hands-on activities, interactive websites, art projects,...
Curated OER
Coordinate Geometry
Grab your class and get them graphing polygons on a coordinate plane! They investigate the four quadrants, discover the x and y axis, and correctly plot ordered pairs. To show their comprehension, each child creates a coordinate picture...
PB Works
George Washington’s Socks: Short-Answer Questions Chapters 1-9
Build a literature unit around the book George Washington's Socks with this series of short answer questions. Broken up in two- and three-chapter increments, these reading comprehension questions allow young readers to demonstrate their...
Curated OER
Lesson plan: History Underfoot
Students study Native Americans of Virginia. In this Virginia history instructional activity, students take on the role of archaeologists as they analyze a site and its artifacts. Students use the information to draw conclusions about...
Curated OER
Writing A Summary - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Students explore short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this literature activity, students read one of his short stories listed and then summarize the story in a written piece.
Curated OER
Paws in Jobland
Students appreciate and understand the roles that people play in particular situations. In this career lesson plan, students use research and information skills to perform the roles they are assigned.
Curated OER
The Roanoke Mystery
Fourth graders hypothesize about what happened on the island of Roanoke. In this South Carolina history instructional activity, 4th graders use primary documents to draw conclusions about what happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke. This...
Curated OER
Musical Mysteries
Pupils explore the components of sound and how it can be represented visually. A trip to a circus and a walk through a magical forest are used to encourage visualizations and creative thinking.