Curated OER
Ready-Set-Go-Whoa!
The Apaches: People of the Southwest offers readers a chance to employ the “Ready-Set-Go-Whoa!” strategy (an adaptation of the KWL) to test what they know and summarize what they learn as they read Jennifer Fleischner’s nonfiction...
Learning for Justice
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman's 2014 Commencement Speech at Lewis and Clark College serves to inspire young scholars to investigate a problem in their community, to determine why the problem is important, and then to develop a plan for one thing...
Curated OER
Critically Surfing the Web
The New York Times article “Online Diary,” launches this study of websites and how to assess them. Richly detailed, the activity includes warm-up activities, procedures, journal prompts, discussion questions, and links to valuable...
Curated OER
The State of "No Child Left Behind"
Your class can read about the changes Obama considered making to Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. After reading the article, pupils answer 13 questions that ask, who, what, when, where, and why.
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Educator’s Guide to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader guide includes chapter-by-chapter vocabulary lists and quizzes, discussion questions and writing prompts, and an explanation of Narnia expressions. Great for mainstream classrooms and homeschool situations.
Anti-Defamation League
Sixty Years Later
Has any progress been made in desegregating schools since 1954's Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education? To find out, class members examine charts and graphs representing U.S. schools' racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic...
American Battlefield Trust
Civil War Battle Strategy
But for a fluke, 1862 could have gone differently during the Civil War. When Union troops found Robert E. Lee's battle plans for critical engagements in Maryland wrapped around cigars and tossed aside, history changed forever. Class...
ReadWriteThink
Looking for the History in Historical Fiction: An Epidemic for Reading
Combine informational reading skills with fictional text in an innovative historical fiction lessons. After reading a fictional text related to diseases, class members read non-fictional text to gain knowledge about specific infectious...
K12 Reader
National Symbols
What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.
Brigham Young University
Silent Discussion: After Reading Strategy for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Complete this after-reading activity for the novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy in order to explore the books themes of societal prejudice, peer pressure, authority, and bullying. Write the seven provided questions on...
Reading Through History
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation: one of the most important primary sources for studying American history! An interdisciplinary resource includes a reading of Abraham Lincoln's seminal speech quoted directly. Following the reading, pupils...
NASA
Introduction to Astronomy
Welcome to your new job as an astrophysicist, astrobiologist, engineer, or research scientist at NASA. Your job is to search for alien life in our solar system! Throughout a unit of activities, learners search the galaxy through...
Penguin Books
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Young Readers Edition
As the saying goes, you are what you eat. A useful set of lesson plans encourage young readers to take a second look at their eating habits. Pre- and post-reading questions bring in reflective writing and discussion while extension...
US House of Representatives
Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970
The third instructional activity in a unit that traces the history of African Americans serving in the US Congress examines the period from 1929 through 1970. After reading a contextual essay that details the few African Americans...
Practice Using Lively Language
Comparing Characters
Readers use the provided illustrated Venn diagram to compare and contrast the traits of two characters. A great way to encourage critical thinking skills.
Curated OER
Borrowing from the Greek Debt
Use political cartoons to help your class understand the European Debt Crisis and visual symbolism. This analysis handout includes two cartoons depicting the crisis and prompts learners to consider possible symbols and allusions to best...
Curated OER
Shizuko's Daughter: Concept of Definition Word Map
Help your class use critical thinking when it comes to unfamiliar words. With vocabulary from Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter, kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer, and find its category, comparisons, examples, and...
Curated OER
Think Fast! What Would You Do If . . .
Fifth graders use critical thinking and problem solving skills. It allows students to make choices and to use imagination to develop a solution for each problem. Solutions are then presented to the class.
Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Curated OER
Debating Ethics with Literature
Use group discussions, analysis, and ethical dilemmas to build critical thinking and an empathetic perspective.
PBS
Climate Change as a Scientific Theory
Get your class thinking about climate change as a scientific theory. Guided by a handout, emerging earth scientists read articles and take notes about glaciers and sea ice. To conclude, they write an evaluation of the evidence for...
Curated OER
Say Hi to Haibun Fun
What is a haibun? With this interesting lesson, writers will experience the Japanese writing form haibun, identify elements important to Japanese writing styles, analyze a haibun, and compose their own. Different from the typical journal...
Scholastic
Reading Characters
Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass provides the text for a study of how writers bring characters to life. Using the provided character mapping worksheets, readers respond to questions and then write a short character sketch.
Baylor College
What Dissolves in Water?
One of water's claims to fame is as the universal solvent. Young physical scientists experiment to discover which materials dissolve in this special compound. You could never be more prepared for teaching this lesson than by using this...