Folger Shakespeare Library
Essential Everyday Bravery
Shakespeare's plays may be old, but they still have relevant lessons for today's world! A collection of lesson plans uses examples from The Merchant of Venice and District Merchants to teach about bravery. In addition to learning...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Sixth Grade
Two lessons stress the importance of keeping your classroom bully-free. Discussion, collaborative work, role-play, and writing allows participants to examine whether their classroom is welcoming to new members and decide what they should...
Curated OER
Writing: The Perfect Teacher
Young scholars explore the topics of respect and expectations by discussing attributes of a perfect teacher. After collecting their written responses, the teacher types them in a list, but changes the heading to "The Perfect Student."...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment: Writing a Rainforest Field Journal Entry about Howler Monkeys
Give me more details. Scholars complete an end of unit assessment by creating an information text box to go with their field journal entries about howler monkeys. Learners use the class time to work independently.
NPR
Same-Sex Marriage
The battle over same-sex marriage is a prevalent issue in the United States, and a valuable topic to be discussed in your social studies classroom. Here is a basic outline of introductory questions, focus questions, vocabulary, and media...
San Diego County District Attorney
Emotions/Feelings
Three lessons delve deep into the topic of feelings and the importance of expressing one's emotions. Through grand conversation, hands-on learning experiences, and reflective writing, scholars interpret the ups and downs of everyday...
Literacy Design Collaborative
In Pursuit of Happiness
What ideas and philosophies guided the Transcendentalist movement in America? Scholars explore the topic, reading texts by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Additionally, they write essays comparing the authors' structural...
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...
Novelinks
The House of the Scorpion: Multigenre Research Paper
As the culminating project for a unit study of The House of the Scorpion, class members craft a multi-genre research paper to demonstrate not only their depth of knowledge of a topic of interest to them, but also their understanding of...
Curated OER
Four-Corners Debate
Use this two page handout to establish the rules for class debate. The four-corners method of debate is one that provides a safe way for learners to engage in a discussion or debate over potentially heated or controversial topics. The...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby Historical Background Using Multi-Genre Research Project
Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then begin a...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Narrative Essay
Finish a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a narrative essay. Based on Santiago's harrowing adventures, the essay prompts readers to think about a time when they were faced with a challenge, overcame a disability,...
Curated OER
The Rumpelstiltskin Story
Why didn't Rapunzel's hair stop growing? Why did it take the fairy godmother so long to intervene in Cinderella's affairs? Young writers consider unanswered questions like these and compose news articles investigating the true story...
Curated OER
Creatively Creating Expository Essays
Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.
Curated OER
And Your Point Is . . .? Part II
After researching recent community or political issues, paired with a review of proper debate format, class members select a topic, adopt a side, and prepare for a debate. The value in this resource is the review of debate procedures,...
Annenberg Foundation
Social Realism
Many American writers in the late nineteenth century wanted their writing to reflect real life. Individuals watch and discuss a video, read and explore author biographies, write a journal entry and a poem, and complete a multimedia...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Cultural Change
High schoolers research the passage of the 19th Amendment as an illustration of the mutual influence between political ideas and cultural attitudes. They also read the Seneca Falls Declaration and explore the cultural shifts it both...
Annenberg Foundation
Modernist Portraits
How did literature reflect people's attitudes in post-World War I America? A lesson explores the topic using a variety of activities. Individuals watch and respond to a video; read author biographies and engage in discussion; write...
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...
Student Handouts
Four Things I Learned About...
Thinking about what they have just learned with a short reflection worksheet. Kids note four things they have learned in small frames after writing the topic at the top of the page.
Curated OER
Quick Writes
High schoolers write on a variety of topics, maximize creative and expository writing skills, develop focused writing, organize ideas, incorporate detail in writing, and exhibit varied and precise word choice.
Nazareth College
Creative Writing
Students discuss creative writing—what makes something creative writing? Each learner starts writing a story and after 15 minutes, they pass their story to another who adds to it. After another 15 minutes of writing, the story is passed...
Curated OER
Demystifying Mood in Creative Writing
Learners discover how writing is affected by mood and emotions. They learn proper mood descriptors and read sample pieces of writing to better explain mood.
Curated OER
Forced Potawatomi Migration
Fourth graders write about the forced Potawatomi migration. In this primary source lesson students are read journal entries from an emigrating party of Potawatomi Indians. Students reflect on the items the Indians might have taken with...