Curated OER
Redistricting: Drawing the Lines
Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They analyze...
Curated OER
Immigration Debate
The 2010 immigration bill passed in Arizona provides class members with an opportunity to examine various perspectives of the immigration debate by watching news videos, reading interview, editorials, and viewing images. Discussion...
Curated OER
Basic Vitamins: Water-Soluble and Fat-Soluble
An incredibly thorough lesson on vitamins, and how to keep one's body at peak health. Learners access a variety of excellent worksheets embedded in the plan that have them consider raw vs. cooked foods, a vegetable nutrition summary,...
Curated OER
What A Pair! A Cross Grade Writing Activity
What a pair! Older pupils interview younger ones and use what they learn to write a short, illustrated storybook that features the youngster as the main character. The youngster responds with a thank-you note in which they identify their...
Curated OER
The Reading Boost: How Technology Bolsters Literacy
Online technologies can foster increased reading comprehension and motivate learning.
Media Smarts
Bias in News Sources
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Sound Changes
Looking for an auditory approach to phoneme manipulation? You'll find everything you need here for an independent practice activity to get youngsters changing initial, medial, and final phonemes to create new words. They begin with a...
Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 2
Ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM. The force will be strong in the hearts of your young Jedi as they use their lightsabers to strike the accentted syllables in lines from Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New...
Curated OER
President for a Day
Learners imagine they are president of the United States for one day! students study general information about the duties of the president of the United States. They create a schedule for one day as president.
Curated OER
A Personal Journey
Learners will share ideas about class mobility. They create a timeline that chronicles milestones in their own lives, and synthesize their learning by writing personal essays about their class status and aspirations for the future.
Curated OER
Keep Heritage Alive
Youngsters share ideas about cultural and/or spiritual rituals by participating in a fishbowl discussion, which explores the ways rituals have changed over time. They write reflective essays about their own cultural traditions.
Curated OER
Following the Leaders
Examine the historic election of Pope Benedict XVI and reflect on the challenges he faces as the new leader of the Catholic Church. This New York Times lesson investigates how other world leaders are chosen in different forms of...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
Curated OER
A New Era for Palestinians
Get a global perspective and examine the challenges facing Mahmoud Abbas, the newly elected president of the Palestinian Authority. Thoughtful classroom citizens write letters to Mr. Abbas, asking him questions and suggesting advice....
Curated OER
Is That a Fact?
Investigate popular scientific claims and gather evidence to defend or argue against an author's stance. Writers synthesize information and compose their own "Really?" columns modeled after those found in the weekly "Science Times"...
Curated OER
Right to Remain Silent(?)
Learners consider the rights of journalists regarding source confidentiality, then create presentations on the New York Times' use of sources. They write guidelines to aid journalists in evaluating the trustworthiness of their sources.
Curated OER
Rave Reviews
A fun instructional activity that utilizes toys and persuasion! After reading the article, which was written in 2005, pull some advertisements for toys currently being sold. These will be more relevant to your middle and high schoolers....
Curated OER
The Many "I's" In "Team"
Pupils examine the negative behavior of an Olympic athlete. They look at how his choices affected the team as well as his position on the team. They consider the many reasons why unity is important among the members of an organization...
Curated OER
A Positive Spin
Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally, they...
Curated OER
Denial on Trial
What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson...
Curated OER
Loose Lips
Have your middle and high schoolers analyze instances of celebrities using racial slurs or making prejudiced comments in public. After reading an article, they consider the roots and effects of prejudice and bias. As a class, they...
Curated OER
Tasty Topics
Students analyze a graphic from an article and predict what the article might be about. After reading an article, they discover a journalist's experience of traveling across the United States to compare fast food restaurants. They...
Curated OER
Truth Be Told
Encourage your middle and high schoolers to share their memories of a recent event. After reading a New York Times article, they discuss Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night. They write their own memoir about a significant event that affected...