Curated OER
Making the Personal Political
Students identify controversial topics on which they have strong opinions and model their own persuasive opinion pieces after the featured article. They compose persuasive essays on controversial issues that "hit home" for them.
Curated OER
Bone's Adventures
Young scholars read and discuss a chapter from the book "A Dog's Life," focusing on the point of view of the dog in the story. They explore dog rescue organization websites, and play the online game "Bone Travels On," creating a story...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising - Literature Circles and Review (Day 3)
Kids love working with their peers. Get your class into small literature circles and have them complete weekly assignments. Before beginning this week's activity, have each learner write a letter from Esperanza in California to Abuelita...
Curated OER
I Can Be Whomever I Wish
Famous people who have overcome obstacles are the focus of this language arts and social studies instructional activity. Pupils are introduced to the concept that they have the ability to overcome obstacles in life. They read selections...
Curated OER
Japanese Internment--How Point of View Influences Attitude
How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...
Curated OER
Raise Awareness for National Learning Disabilities Month
Raise awareness of learning disabilities through reading, writing, research, and collaboration.
Read It Later, Inc
Can't read this now, I'll have to check it out later. A teacher's time is always limited. So often as we peruse the web for personal and professional content, we come across sites and information that we cannot immediately browse. Enter,...
Curated OER
Unknown Frost Poem Discovered
What? A long-lost poem from Robert Frost? Introduce your class to a poem recently found and published from Robert Frost's personal collection. The lesson includes background information on the author, the poem itself, and a list of...
Curated OER
Call of The Wild
Prompt your class to interact with Jack London's Call of the Wild. By analyzing the events in the novel, middle schoolers discover how human experiences create who a person becomes. They critique and analyze the reading, focusing on...
Curated OER
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Middle schoolers read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and complete it using the...
Curated OER
It's Your Opinion
Everyone has a different opinion about the characters they read about in books. Have your class explore forming an opinion and finding evidence to support it as they read and discuss what they think about a particular character. They...
Curated OER
The Titanic Impact of Science
Discuss personal ideas about science and how a filmmaker can employ the arts to promote science. After reading an article, young scientists will discover how James Cameron is trying to interest people in the oceans. In groups, they will...
Curated OER
Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Wangechi Mutu
Social issues of gender and media stereotypes, begins with a multi-sensory experience. Learners view the painting Backlash Blues and make critical comments based on what they see. They then read the Langston Hughes poem and listen to the...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War II. To...
Curated OER
Teaching Writing: Is There a Right Way?
Delve into CCSS by implementing a writer's workshop model complete with mini-lessons, shared writing experiences, and author celebrations.
Novelinks
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter: Concept Analysis
Considering Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter for whole-class reading or as a selection for book circles? Check out this resource that overviews the organizational patterns, themes, plot structure, tone, and setting.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Dr. Seuss in the Classroom
Explore the works of Dr. Seuss, such as Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches and Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. Each story lesson includes reading...
Curated OER
Secrets of the Mummies
How did the ancient people of Egypt preserve their dead so well that their bodies are still recognizable today? Learn the painstakingly complex process they used for preservation. Young scholars read and summarize a narrative detailing...
Curated OER
Celebrate Commencement with Class Presentations
Bring the year to a satisfying close by asking class members to reflect on the year in personalized graduation speeches.
Curated OER
Puberty/Adolescence, Day 2: "Who AM I? Where Am I Going?"
A great unit! There is a lot of content that is personal so make sure you have created a safe zone in your classroom before doing this lesson. It will have much more meaning if your learners share their life with others in the class....
NASA
The X-1 Paper Glider Kit
After reading an interesting account of how the X-1 aircraft was designed, built, and utilized, young engineers try their hand at constructing a paper glider version of the airplane. They cut out the plane out of a nicely designed...
Science 4 Inquiry
Let's Get Moving
Rivers top the list of causes of erosion over time. Scholars experiment with wind, water, and ice reshaping sand. They connect the simulations facts about erosion and deposition to understand unique landforms such as the Grand Canyon and...
Curated OER
Native Harvest
Students read Native Plants and Early Peoples and explore the plants in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and find how the Native Americans used them. In this Native American plant and people instructional activity, students...