Curated OER
Silent Sam
Learners engage in a lesson plan to investigate the children's book Silent Sam and they strengthen the skills reading with expression, concept of print, and recognizing the correct sequence of a story. They practice reading narrative...
Curated OER
I'm Heading To the Rodeo
First graders read a realistic fiction book entitled "I'm Heading To The Rodeo." They predict what may happen in the story from observing the picture. After reading the book, 1st graders discuss the story and connect it with their own...
Curated OER
Precious Things - Dealing With Loss
Students inquire how to deal with a personal loss. They explore how to deal positively with feelings. Students read stories about individuals who have lost personal possessions. Students rank items in order of preciousness. They...
Curated OER
Mud Tortillas
First graders read a story entitled, "Mud Tortillas." After reviewing the book, 1st graders predict what will happen. They review methods and strategies for decoding unfamiliar words. A Venn diagram is created for students to compare...
Curated OER
Pop Pop And Grandpa
Students develop various skills needed to perform the best examples of reading comprehension for the purpose increasing literacy. They make cognitive connections to the sequence of events in the story and make comparisons as events occur.
Curated OER
Tolerating Diversity
Students examine the meanings of tolerance and intolerance and participate in a "town hall meeting". They analyze quotations about tolerance and connect them to their personal experiences.
Curated OER
Children's Books
Students use their personal experiences to create students's books for younger students on topics to which they can relate. Students observe a guest speaker who talks about different formats of students's books that are available, then...
Curated OER
It's A Blue, Blue Monday
Learners create images that convey how the weather makes them feel. As a class, students discuss the way weather can effect their mood. After reading several passages describing the weather, learners use vivid descriptions and...
Curated OER
Dorothea Lange
Students explain that a person's experiences influence their life, write a time line of their life, and analyze Dorothea's photographs and list descriptive words.
Curated OER
Comparing Transportation Systems
Students compare and contrast various forms of transportation. Comparisons are based on the the distance traveled and the student's personal experiences with that form of transport. This lesson is intended for students acquiring English.
Curated OER
Step into the Painting: Social Studies, Literature, and Art
Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Practical Criticism
As an introduction to literary criticism, class members recreate I.A. Richards' close reading experiment. Individuals select a poem, paraphrase the story, focus on the imagery used, consider what the imagery adds to the tale, and...
Curated OER
Nous Nous Souvenons: French-Canadians
Students research the French-Canadian influence in northern New York. They interview families of French-Canadian descent, research immigration history, visit a French restaurant, write narratives about their experiences interviewing...
Developing a Global Perspective for Educators
Imagine Being Me
The design of this two-day activity eloquently exposes learners to the topic of social justice for people with disabilities. The plan is built off the reading of Are You Alone on Purpose? by Nancy Werlin. The activity introduces readers...
Power Show
Out of the Dust
Is your class reading Out of the Dust? If they are, or if this is your first time teaching Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal winning novel, check out the ideas in a presentation that outlines what you and your class can do while reading about...
Curated OER
Heavy Boots: Group Discussion
Jonathan Safran Foer's phrase, "heavy boots," becomes the focus of a class discussion of grief and sadness. During the reading of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, individuals place examples of their own experiences with these topics...
Valhalla Free Union School District
End of the Year Writing Portfolio Project
Ask class members to reflect on their year-long writing experience by creating a portfolio of their work. Here's a resource that details what should be included in such a portfolio, and provides a rubric that can be used to assess the...
Curated OER
Kids These Days!
Students create a scrapbook of college student life during the 1960's using digital archives and Internet research. They read and discuss the article "What's the Matter With College?" and then compare college experience of today with...
Curated OER
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
The Nashua River serves as the focal point of an investigation of the treatment of and care for natural resources. A reading of A River Rand Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry, launches the study and class members consider...
Curated OER
Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources
Learners access oral histories that contain slave narratives from the Library of Congress. They describe the lives of former slaves, sample varied individual experiences and make generalizations about their research in journal entries.
Curated OER
The Play's the Thing
Students describe to a partner theater experiences they have had in their lives that were memorable, and analyze why. They study about one director's original artistic choices for staging Shakespeare by reading and discussing "Nature's a...
Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project
Dr. Martin Luther King's Visit to Seattle
How was the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. viewed by others during the 1960s? After watching an oral history video, your class members will learn more about Dr. King's ability to personally connect with others, as well as discover...
Curated OER
The Great Depression and Everyday Life
Examine everyday life during the Great Depression, as well as the effects if the Depression on American population, society, and economy. Learners write who, what, where, when, and why summaries of a person who relocated to California...
Curated OER
Linking Social Networking to Language Arts
How to tap into students' social networking experiences to enhance learning in the language arts classroom.