Curated OER
Synonym Trees
Pair learners to define synonyms. They search flash cards to find a synonym partner. Then they chart pairs of synonyms on a synonym tree.
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Keyboarding - Story Grafting
Bring some humor and fun to your keyboarding or language arts class! Middle and high schoolers begin a story in response to a prompt and then move from keyboard to keyboard, continuing to add to the story while the monitor is turned off....
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Write Right!
After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...
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Our Nation's Natural Disasters
Sixth graders classify their regions' natural disaster(s). Within this lesson students enhance their research skills by utilizing different resources, as well as their writing skills by composing short research papers.
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Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Read All About It!
Develop an online newspaper covering the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The class publishes their newspaper on the school's Web site and analyze both primary and secondary sources.
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Communicative Choices & Linguistic Style
Start by watching a video entitled Do You Speak American? and respond to discussion questions about the various dialects showcased throughout the video to identify the regional linguistic styles throughout America. As a culminating...
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Postcards For Your Ears
Here is a great way to have your students make audio postcards to share by recording a message on the computer. They write and revise an appropriate message about an object from home, choose a background, and font colors for the...
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Figurative Language
What is figurative language, and why do we use it? Introduce your high schoolers to some examples and discuss the importance of including this element in your writing. After studying a text and searching for examples, writers will...
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Travel Diary
Darwin kept a travel diary as he voyaged to South America, noting the politics, geography, cultures, animals, and interesting facts he encountered. Your class will do the same. Each student chooses a country to research and keep a five...
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Courtship and Marriage
Students research the concept of courtship and marriage as it pertains to early New England and explore the values and culture that shaped our history. In this courtship and marriage lesson, students examine primary source documents that...
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Unlocking the Secrets of a Persuasive Essay
Full of tips about structure, audience, and evidence in a persuasive essay, this presentation would be a great way to start a writing unit in your class. One slide advises young writers to make up quotes and statistics in their essays....
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Scary Short Story Writing Lesson
There's nothing like the prospect of writing a scary story to get your middle schoolers' writing juices flowing! In the lesson presented here, pupils listen to scary short stories read to them by the teacher. Then, a discussion ensues...
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From George to Martha: Writing a Sonnet Using Primary Sources
What was the relationship like between George and Martha Washington? To protect their privacy, Martha Washington destroyed all her husband’s letters after his death so historians have little evidence of their lives together. Two letters...
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Review of a Novel Project
This review of a novel project is a great way to ensure accountability for independent reading. The assignment sheet, templates, samples, and rubrics are all part of the packet materials.
Fisher Reyna Education
Personal Narrative Writing Prompts
Looking for stimulating writing prompts that won't make young writers cringe? A set of five personal narrative writing prompts engages pupils in analyzing, thinking, connecting, and writing about particular topics. Each prompt begins...
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Writing in a Foreign Language
It seems that this presentation was designed for future educators, particularly those teaching a foreign language. Basic reading, writing, and organizational skills are presented, encouraging a discussion of strategies amongst your...
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Analyzing Persuasion
A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...
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There, Their and They're
Read ten sentences and choose which word completes each sentence correctly: there, their or they're. Answer sheet is provided.
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Teacher of the Year
Now is the time to identify the great teachers in your school! Discuss the characteristics of persuasive writing and analyze an example. Then, each pupil chooses a teacher who they feel should be named teacher of the year. They plan and...
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Help Me Learn About the Holocaust
Young readers select a book from a provided list to use as the basis for an intensive class study of Holocaust novels. After completing their novels, groups create a multimedia presentation highlighting the elements of literature...
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My Three Wishes
Students write/type a three wish paragraph into Microsoft Word. They include specific items and ideas, that are listed in this lesson plan, in their paragraph. They participate in printing their paragraphs and sharing them with the class.
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Research, Writing, and the 'Isms'
Young scholars research an art style. They create an original short story, poem, or personal essay and illustrate the written work with the style of art they researched.
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Taste Test - Combining Sentences
Students combine sentences to create compound sentences. They write about creating their own soda, then make their own soda, comparing and contrasting it with a national brand. They write a paragraph containing compound sentences.
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"Data Dabble"
Students engage in a lesson plan which facilitates their use of web sites to find data, graph it, and interpret it, thus scaffolding graphing skills to prepare students for their 8th grade I-search exit project.