Curated OER
Puberty/Adolescence, Day 3: "Am I Normal?"
"Am I normal?" Bring this topical discussion to your health or teen issues class, who might be struggling with their developing identities. Learners discuss relationships, including acquaintences, friendships, girlfriends, boyfriends,...
Curated OER
Pregnancy, Day 1: The Developing Baby
Twenty-six pages of good information about pregnancy. Pictures and descriptions describe the moment the sperm and egg unite, and there are worksheets that students can complete. This is a pretty comprehensive lesson for one day. It might...
Curated OER
Building Original Narratives
Fourth graders act out and write original narratives. In this theater meets writing lesson, 4th graders work in groups to create original narratives; after students act out their story, they write it down as a narrative.
National Park Service
Aspect, Treeline, and Climate
Head to the treeline and beyond to examine how this feature of the landscape affects weather and climate, which gives scientists clues about its health. Class members' observations of photographs provide the data that drives the...
Curated OER
All About Me
Students explore autobiographical stories. They write about a personal experience that is significant and memorable. Students specifically explain the chosen events. They define autobiography and share their stories.
Curated OER
Snowman in Winter Sequence Writing
Students develop a creative snowman using step-by-step stickers. They write a short story about the snowman they have created, explaining the sequence they used to create their snowman. Students present their completed story in front of...
Curated OER
College Survival Vocabulary Bingo
COA? EFC? FAFSA? These terms and more are part of a list of terminology essential for college survival used in a Bingo game. The Bingo template is provided, as is an extensive of terms and their definitions.
Curated OER
Writing Process-- Revision and Editing
As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...
Curated OER
The Changing Times of The Future
First graders share their wishes for the future and discuss changes that have taken place. They observe a puppet who describes life in the future and identifies positive and difficult challenges he may face. Individual students draw a...
Curated OER
Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Reading Meet Writing
Thinking about introducing your middle schoolers to reading log journals? Try the approach suggested by this resource. After reading to the class an article or portion of a novel, demonstrate a Think Aloud and then model how to transform...
Curated OER
Do Heroes Have to Wear a Cape?
Young writers choose a person from American history, their community, or their family to use as the subject of a persuasive essay. The process begins with a discussion of the characteristics of a hero, the completion of a prewriting web,...
Scholastic
Descriptive Writing Fortunes
What does your fortune say? Engage class members in writing complete sentences by first handing out fortune cookies and reading the messages. Pupils will practice writing complete sentences by composing fortunes to put in die cut fortune...
Curated OER
Monster: Guided Imagery
How would you feel if you were on trial for murder—and you were only 16 years old? Put yourself in Steve Harmon's shoes before reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Kids listen to music that fits the theme of the book before listening to...
Curated OER
President Obama's Address to Students Across America
Students write about goals, responsibility, and persistence, and listen to President Obama's speech. In this President Obama lesson students create concept webs, listen with a purpose, and list the challenges of our generation.
Curated OER
Playground Issues and Resolutions
Getting your students to buy into good behavior on the playground improves everyone's year.
Curated OER
The 13 Colonies HyperStudio Presentation
Fifth graders research their colony, synthesize the data, and put their information in a HyperStudio Presentation. Finally, they need to do a self-evaluation of their work and work habits.
Curated OER
Animal Coverings
Students read a book. In this animal characteristics instructional activity, students read the book Animal Coverings, answer comprehension questions, and complete a chart where they match animals with their coverings.
Curated OER
Journalist Japes
Students explore the career of a journalist. In this careers instructional activity, the teacher introduces the work of a journalist, then students use a worksheet as a springboard for a journalism activity as they write a news article...
Curated OER
Amazonian Travel Brochure
Students create a brochure. For this Amazon research lesson, students research a tourist attraction in the Amazon and develop a travel brochure.
Curated OER
Front Page News
Students write original earthquake articles typically found on the front page of a newspaper. Each student has the freedom to write in a variety of writing styles (lead story, human interest story, editorials, etc.). They research...
Curated OER
Measurement: Perimeter and Area
In this perimeter and area lesson, students learn the formulas for perimeter and area and view model problems using tiles. Students work in groups to solve practice problems. Students define perimeter and area and explain why it is...
Curated OER
Ionic Chemical Formulas Days 1 & 2
Students study polyatomic ions and write binary and ternary ionic chemical formulas. They explore putting together different monatomic ions and coming up with as many chemical formulas as possible. They play a game similar to memory...