Curated OER
Older, Wiser, and Making a Difference
Students reflect on an adult who plays a significant role in their lives. They conduct peer interviews and write newspaper articles about these important individuals.
Curated OER
Flight of the Imagination
Students study the success of video games by reading an online article. They work in groups to design settings, storylines, characters and technical features for their own fantasy video games. Finally, they write scripts for previews of...
Curated OER
Safe and Secure: More or Less?
Students discuss what they believe to be the state of security of the nation since September 11, 2001. Reading articles on security, they gather insight into new reports on security. They write letters to major newspapers expressing...
Curated OER
Giving It the Old College Try
Students discuss opinions they have about entering college. Reading an article on advice from parents, they discuss what their own parents are telling them. They role-play different conflict resolution scenerios. They also write a...
Curated OER
Serving Memory
Students read an article about a woman who lost her fiance in Iraq. Reading a letter he left his son, they discuss how his words will affect his son once he is old enough to understand. They research the number of casualties in the war...
Curated OER
Able Am I
Students read the article "Disabled Skier Designs His Way to Be a Daredevil." They discuss using the questions on the lesson plan. Students create large sized baseball cards featuring competitive, disabled athletes.
Curated OER
A Different World?
Students share their opinions in a brainstorming session on the factors that contribute to their quality of life. They read the article "Life Is Better; It Isn't Better. Which Is It?," from the NY Times and discuss the article as a...
Curated OER
Something Fishy?
Students try to draw and identify a jellyfish from a physical description. After reading an article, they discover new information about cnidarians. In groups, they research and develop dioramas about a specific cnidarian species. They...
Curated OER
Shades of Gray
Young scholars examine their own strengths and weaknesses and try to determine if it is a result of nature, nuture or both. After reading an article, they discuss how gender may or may not account for differences in intelligence. They...
Curated OER
The Art of Speech
Students discuss President Bush's goals for his second term in office. After reading an article, they identify the major themes of his second inaugural address. In groups, they brainstorm ideas and create murals to illustrate them...
Curated OER
Held Accountable
Learners examine and draw conclusions from an excerpt from a slave narrative. They analyze excerpts from two recently discovered slave narratives.
They draw connections among the narrative excerpts and historical texts by investigating...
Curated OER
The Mural of the Story
Young scholars write a description of what they believe is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. After reading an article, they discuss the restoration of the mural on its ceiling. They brainstorm a list of important buildings and...
Curated OER
The Aftermath of War
Students share their opinions on the war in Iraq. After reading an article, they identify the thoughts of President Bush on the conflict. In groups, they share their opinions for and against current United States policy in Iraq and the...
Curated OER
Portraits of the Artist
Students reflect on the different roles they have for themselves in a journal entry. After reading an article, they discover information on the life of Rembrandt. In groups, they examine the roles of Rembrandt in his self-portrait and...
Curated OER
Star Politics
Students discuss the advantages of a celebrity running for a public office. After reading an article, they examine the results of the California governor recall vote. In groups, they research the aspirations and career of a celebrity...
Curated OER
Master in Training
Students identify and examine their own areas of expertise. After reading an article, they discuss the evolution of three opera high school students. They create a timeline collage showing their mastery of their field of interest and...
Curated OER
Mining For Descriptive Gold
Students describe places using language that is as vivid as possible. They will examine the writer's craft in describing a place by reading and discussing "Resurrecting the Miner's World." They will then revise their descriptive pieces...
Curated OER
Don't Touch That Dial!
Students explore the affects, both positive and negative, that television has had on society in the past half-century. They read the article "Inside the Soap Opera of Television's Early Days."
Curated OER
A Court Case with Real Appeal
Students analyze the United States' current appellate process, with a critical eye focused on possible inequities within the system. They then write letters to a Manhattan district attorney giving their recommendations on how he should...
Curated OER
The ABC's of DNA
Students describe genetics as if they were explaining it to a young child. After reading an article, they discover new discoveries in the human genome project. Using the internet, they research a pair of genetic terms and develop a...
Curated OER
Making a Magic Kingdom
Students develop a list of things to consider when developing an amusement park. After reading an article, they discover what issues arose when designing the new Disney park in California. In groups, they develop plastic models of an...
Curated OER
Age-Old Concerns
Students examine issues surrounding healthcare and specifically prescription drug coverage and the problems of state subsidy programs after reading and discussing the article, "States' Drug Subsidy Programs Have Troubles of Their Own"...
Curated OER
New D.C. Memorial to Honor Dr. King
Students read and discuss a news article about a memorial being built in honor of Dr. King in Washington D.C. They develop a list of facts about Dr. King, complete a fill-in-the blank activity, answer article comprehension questions,...
Curated OER
Kids Collect LEGOs for New Orleans
Students read and discuss a news article about children that collected 1.5 million LEGO bricks for kids in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. They complete a fill-in-the blank activity, answer article comprehension questions, solve...