Curated OER
The Odyssey: A Deeper Appreciation
Pupils read "The Odyssey" and identify the ways it relates to their own lives. As a class, they also examine the history of the story and identify the various Greek gods and goddesses. In groups, they focus on the geography of the...
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Pizza for Everyone
Pizza is the inspiration for the cross-curricular lesson detailed here. Start out with a poem about pizza and move into a discussion about balanced eating. To close the language arts portion of the lesson, ask your pupils to write...
Curated OER
Deep like Rivers: Four African American Poets of the 1920s and 1930s
Students examine work by outstanding African American poets from the time period of the 1920s and 1930s. They study aspects of American and African American social, cultural and artistic history that influenced the content of some of the...
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Lessons from the Holocaust; Hitler's Germany
Students explore Nazi Germany by completing several worksheets. In this Adolf Hitler lesson, students identify Hitler's role in the holocaust, his role in the German community and his mindset. Students read the poem "The Hangman" by...
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The Harlem Renaissance Movement and its Music
Harlem Renaissance lesson plans can bring the music, poetry, and literature of this time period alive.
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CIVICS/CURRENT EVENTS
Students choose to either make an exhibit of posters of pictures about Darfur, or write a letter to the local newspaper regarding Darfur, or plan a concert, party, or bake sale to raise money for refugees. They write a poem defining...
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Scribe of Self
Seventh graders read "Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. In groups, they discuss the reasons why people would write an autobiography and identify their own identity crisis. After reading excerpts of other autobiographies, they...
Library of Congress
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
Curated OER
Can Peace Prevail?
Young scholars examine terrorist attacks in Amman, Jordan, and consider how events like these affect the global war against terrorism. They write reflective pieces exploring their own opinions about terrorism and the state of current...
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The Poet's Message-"The Colored Soldier" by Langston Hughes
High schoolers analyze the poem, "The Colored Soldier" by Langston Hughes to gain a greater experience of how poets use language to create meaning, influence thinking and thus become pioneers of change in American society. They work on...
Curated OER
A Fish Tale
Pupils brainstorm a list of famous events that took place on the sea. They write a poem or short story from the fish's perspective about the famous event they have chosen. Students share their work with the class.
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Literature and History of the Holocaust
Students examine quotes and text passages related to the Holocaust. They generate a list of questions about the Holocaust and analyze a piece of writing based on the authorship of the work. They infer the meaning of a poem and determine...
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Pilkey Author Study
Third graders read and hear stories by the author, Dav Pilkey and research the list of books written by this author. They become illustrators to the novel "Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel," then they create a timeline of their lives...
Curated OER
Write a Song About American History
Young scholars explore the historic background of the song, The Battle of New Orleans. Working in pairs, students research other historic events and write their own songs based on them.
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Jacob Have I Loved
Eighth graders, while being introduced to Katherine Paterson's novel, Jacob Have I Loved, bring to class three facts about Pearl Harbor. They place the facts they brought to class on a display board. At the conclusion of the teachers...
Curated OER
The Truth Shall Set Them Free?
Students consider the notion and purpose of truth commissions, They work in groups to predict the commission's effectiveness in its efforts to promote peace and reconciliation among Liberians. Finally, students create found poems that...
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"The Leader"-- Reading Comprehension
In this poetry comprehension worksheet, students read a poem about leadership qualities called "The Leader". Students answer 4 essay questions about the poem.
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The National Pastime
High schoolers examine the impact baseball had politically and culturally upon the nation and the world from 1940-1950. Students study about, discuss, and take notes about historically significant events and baseball players'...
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Darfur Now Lesson Four: The Messages of Darfur Now
Pupils explore the work in individuals that are part of Darfur Now. For this human rights lesson, students also analyze the message of Weisel's Not on Our Watch. Pupils create found poems pertaining to social responsibility and activism.
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Requiem The Song of the Murdered Jewish People
High schoolers read poem The Song of the Murdered Jewish People, listen to Requiem based on poem, work on reading poem as music plays, discuss reasons for composer's musical choices, and investigate possibilities of performing a reading...
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The Big Lie
Fifth graders create poems and other forms of writing.Then working in groups they share writing with each other. The opinions would be gathered and students would revise writing according to the comments.
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Urban Concentration and Racial Violence
Students research one of the many urban race riots in U.S. history, from the New York City riots during the Civil War to the "Red Summer of 1919" or the hate-strikes of 1943. They present their findings in the form of a newspaper's front...
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Book Week
Students discuss favorite books. They listen to the teacher tell how Book Week started. Students participate in a variety of activities designed to help them focus on books and reading. Some may create covers for the older books,...
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Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature, Part II -- Black and White Images in Alienation
Students begin the lesson with a review of the elements of poetry. Individually, they read a variety of poems and literature one white and one black author focusing on decay, sterility and alienation. They identify these images within...