Curated OER
A Great Beginning
Young scholars create tri-fold biographical brochures. Each of the sections of the brochure refers to either the past, present or future of the student. They use the back of the brochure to list ways to be successful in high school and...
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Picture This!
Students become fluent readers by assessing the strategy of visualization to visualize each event in a story. They use imagery to visualize all types of literature. Each student receives a copy of "Sideways Stories from Wayside School,"...
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Let the Weather Help You Dress
Students observe weather daily for at least a month and graph the weather for one month. Then they use weather vocabulary such as sunny, windy, rainy, stormy, cold, snowy, foggy, and hot, and share their predictions about weather. ...
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Revised Law Proposals
Fourth graders view School House Rock - I'm a Bill to observe the process of writing a law. In this bill writing instructional activity, 4th graders work in groups to create two laws for the colonists recognizing the importance of the...
University of New Mexico
César Chávez: Migrant Farm Workers and Their Leader
During the first week of instruction, middle schoolers research biographies on Cesar Chavez and make a pictorial collage of his life. For the second and third week, they maintain a seven-day diary of a farmworker and write a poem. For...
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Beautiful River
In this set of comprehension worksheets on the story, Beautiful River, students first read the story, then complete a variety of activities: 12 multiple choice questions, 1 "open response" question, and completion of their own scoring...
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Looking at Life through the Creation of Personal Metaphors
Young scholars focus on the creation of personal metaphors, which are first illustrated in pictures and caricatures and then extended to descriptive/analytical paragraphs. They teach the lesson to others using their own personal...
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Energy Detectives at Work
Students are "Energy Detectives" working for an engineering firm that does energy evaluations at schools. In teams, they locate energy sources around the school, and record their findings on an Energy Detective Worksheet.
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Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Lesson: Immigration
Many of your class members will have heard of Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Some may even recognize the terms “Issei” and “Nisei,” but few will have heard of Enemy Alien Hearing Boards, of the...
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Introduction to the Civilization of Ancient Greece
Students explore Greece. In this introduction to ancient Greece instructional activity, students locate and circle the names of the bodies of water surrounding Greece, then underline the names of important cities in Greece on a world map...
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Take the Stage
Eighth graders explore kinesthetic movements. In this kinesthetic movements lesson, 8th graders explore how to enter the stage properly. Over two days, students investigate how to hold their own on the stage during a dance.
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Beverage Tests
Learners investigate the pH of a liquid. In this middle school mathematics/science lesson, students collect and analyze data regarding the pH of various liquids. Learners display their data in various types of graphs as they consider...
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What Time Is It?
For this clocks worksheet, students first read a one page text about different kinds of clocks. Using a word bank, students label the parts of four different kinds of clocks: grandfather, wristwatch, digital and analog. Students write...
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Commas After Introductions Exercise 1
In this three part comma usage worksheet, students are first given sentences where they must correct errors in comma usage. Students then go on to punctuate sentences with commas after introductory words and phrases, then they must write...
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Reading Comprehension: Jack and the Giant Pepper
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students first read a fantasy story called Jack and the Giant Pepper. Students then answer 22 essay questions about the text.
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Registering to Vote
Eighth graders register to vote. In this registration lesson, 8th graders complete the first step of the voting process by completing a form. Students use this lesson to prepare for a mock election. The lesson is part of a unit.
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Hands-On Weather Data Collecting
Fifth graders study weather in their community, in the United States, and around the world. They use thermometers, the beaufort wind scale, and simple weather symbols to measure and record the weather outside their school. They also look...
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Vocabulary - Unfolding Meaning
Students write the "word for the day" onto a note card. They add a definition, discuss in class and file the card in their own metal box. At the end of the week students play a game with the words from that week.
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Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten
Students prepare for school and relieve anxiety they might be experiencing in regards to beginning school. In this Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten lesson plan, students develop listening skills, produce rhyming words, and...
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Science Puzzlers, Twisters, and Teasers: The History of Life on Earth
A somewhat amusing assignment, this activity lists statements that an ancient organism may have made and asks learners to determine what geologic era that each may have lived in. It uses witty word puzzles and fill-in-the-blank-style...
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Ancient Americas
Seventh graders compare artifacts used by archaeologists to theorize the first inhabitants of the Americas migrated from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge.
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Lesson Plan 1: Introducing NaNo and Novels
Did you know that November is Novel Writing Month? In the first of a series of lessons, class members are introduced to the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project.
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Valentine's Kindness
Learners learn about kindness. In this kindness lesson, students bring a stuffed animal from home and discuss times they have felt sad and what they have done to cheer up others. Learners discuss why it is important to be kind. An...
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Hoopla Shuffle: Gross Motor Development
Using cones and large hoops, have your athletes move the hoops around the gym using only their feet. They must do so within various parameters: both feet inside or outside the hoop, one in and one outside it, or twirling it around one...