Beacon Learning Center
Challenging the Human Spirit
High schoolers select a theme-related essay topic from Night, by Elie Wiesel, or The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, and develop an essay that relates the theme to modern-day personal experiences. The essay follows a preset rubric...
Curated OER
You're Special
Students utilize a new language to tell someone they care for them. In this complimenting lesson plan, students practice saying nice things to friends and strangers in their target language. Students react to the lesson plan afterwards...
Curated OER
You are Special: I like ________ because....
Learners write positive sentences about their classmates. In this describing a classmate lesson, students discuss a picture presented by the teacher. After the teacher tells why she likes this person, learners write sentences using the...
Curated OER
My Ideal Partner
Students write about their ideal mate. In this ideal mate writing lesson plan, students listen and then help the teacher describe the characteristics of an ideal mate. Students write about their ideal mate and share with a partner....
Curated OER
Traditional Remedies
Students discover alternative medicines from around the globe. For this world culture lesson, students read text from Africa, Ireland, Tibet and Tanzania discussing known remedies to diseases. Students discuss with each other their...
Curated OER
Participating in a Class Birthday Party
Students celebrate a fellow peer in class by having a party for him or her. In this foreign language lesson, students celebrate a classmate's birth using their target language to host a party. Students create a bulletin board using...
Curated OER
An Imaginary Trip
Students use their imaginations to write about an imaginary trip. In this creative writing lesson, students write about an imaginary trip. Students brainstorm writing ideas as a class and use past tense words in their writing....
Curated OER
Day four: Writing a Sports Article
Learners write a newspaper article related to a sports event. In this article writing lesson, students read sports-related articles, complete a graphic organizer to help them see the format of a newspaper article, then they work in...
Curated OER
Editorials
Students investigate editorials. In this literacy critical thinking lesson, students compare and contrast two newspaper editorials and two letters to the editor by completing a Venn diagram. Students work in groups to write authentic...
Curated OER
Creating a Talk Show
Students practice interviewing and answering questions by creating a mock talk show. In this communications lesson, students view a classic clip of an older T.V. talk show and plan an outline of material for their own talk show....
Curated OER
Reading the Newspaper
Students read the newspaper. In this newspaper instructional activity, students become familiar with the various parts of a newspaper. They read specific parts, highlight important information and summarize what they read.
Curated OER
Beginning With Writing; Convey Ideas in Writing
Walk young writers through the process of creating an initial writing sample for their portfolio. They determine their purpose, organize their ideas, and then create a draft. The lesson includes worksheets and online resources to aid in...
Curated OER
Parts of Speech: Nouns
Second graders discuss nouns. In this language arts lesson, 2nd graders discuss nouns and pronouns. Students identify various types of nouns on a worksheet. Students play "Popcorn" Nouns.
Curated OER
Making a Family Newsletter: Using a Word Template
Students create a one-page family newsletter about a selected person in their family. They bring in a photo or use a digital camera to take a picture of their selected family member, and use a newsletter template to write and publish...
Curated OER
Up Close and Personal with Black Bayou Lake
Middle schoolers get up close and personal with Black Bayou Lake. Visiting web sites and taking virtual tours, they write multi-paragraph essays using descriptive words and literary devices.
Curated OER
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
Students read "Green Eggs and Ham" in celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday and visit a storymaker website. Students create and type a three scene story using characters from Dr. Seuss's books and share their story with the class.
Curated OER
Fun With Formatting
Young scholars investigate the concept of using a word processing program with the intention of improving formatting skills like centering text. They also highlight different text sections and demonstrate how to save changes made to a...
Curated OER
Thank You, Grandparents!
Students share important moments with their grandparents. Individually, they write one paragraph thanking them for being in their lives or for a specific event they have been involved in. They also identify ways they act like their...
Curated OER
Wacky Web Tales
Young scholars study the parts of speech and then review them. They identify each part of speech and place them on a tree map. Then they visit a website to create a "Wacky Web Tale" using information from the tree map. They print their...
Curated OER
The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
Students read the story The Day Jimmy's Boa At the Wash and put the event boxes in order from the beginning to end of the story. In this sequencing lesson plan, students do this on the computer.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: Organization
Young scholars make logical patterns in their writing to demonstrate the trait of organization. In this organization lesson plan, students focus on events proceeding logically.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: Voice
Students explore the trait of voice. In this language arts lesson, students focus on the writing trait of voice. Students view a video and practice writing.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: Sentence Fluency
Students practice writing with sentence fluency in order to make the story more enjoyable for the reader. In this sentence fluency lesson plan, students focus on rhythm and flow.
Curated OER
Fictional Hereos
Students are introduced to the definition of a hero. As a class, they compare and contrast the difference between non-fictional and fictional hereos they have read about. They read a story, create a story map of one of the heroes and...