University of Pennsylvania
Decoding Propaganda: J’Accuse…! vs. J’Accuse…!
Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 4
As a mid-unit assessment, class members demonstrate their understanding of the concepts covered so far by crafting a formal, multi-paragraph essay in which they analyze how Rainer Maria Rilke's word choices develop the meaning and tone...
Curated OER
Romeo and Juliet
Students read Romeo and Juliet and then write an essay from the point of either Lord Capulet or Friar Lawrence persuading someone to adopt their views concerning marriage.
Curated OER
You Be the Judge
Students explore nonfiction writing by completing a worksheet in class. In this research questions lesson, students read several stories about the Wild West icons Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok. Students answer study questions about the...
Curated OER
College Accept-tion to the Rule
Students extend their ideas about the college application process. They write an informative, persuasive letter about themselves to a college admissions counselor that could be used as a 'cover letter' to college applications.
Curated OER
Letter Writing Accuracy, Rainbow Writing
Learners will practice writing each upper and lower case letter of the alphabet. In this letter wriitng practice instructional activity, students observe the teacher write each letter on a dry erase board, then practice until each letter...
Curated OER
Working on the Slant
Compare and contrast a major news story from various newspapers. How does the perspective change? Are certain things included in some of the stories and left out of others? Have pupils complete a graphic organizer to compare how...
Curated OER
Animal Coverings and Homes
First graders research what kind of coverings living organisms have, and where those organisms live before they can understand how to group them. The following activities will precede the "animal groups" centers, and therefore allow them...
Curated OER
Phonics -- Alphabet Activities for Letters Aa and Ii
Students practice saying the letters "a" and "i". They examine and identify objects that begin with those letters and sponge paint the letters. They practice with all the letters in the alphabet this way.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Writing with Beans
Students become familiar with the letters in a word by pasting beans on it. In this Bean writing instructional activity, students make words using navy beans. Students color or paint the beans.
Curated OER
October Writing Journal
Students work on Sustained Silent Writing which encourages them to develop their writing skills. Students are encouraged to share their writing with a partner, the class, a small group, or in a "donut". Lesson describes ways to journal...
Curated OER
Hands-On! The Invention of Writing
Students are introduced to the way writing was invented in Mesopotamia. In groups, they participate in re-creations of events that occured in a traditional Mesopotamian school. They practice writing in cuneiform script on clay using...
Curated OER
Life Comparisons Through Letters
Young scholars review the concept of letter writing and investigate the country of South Africa by communicating to another class there. The questions covered in the letters is finding information about the community, environment,...
Curated OER
Letters to Home
Seventh graders research historical events and everyday life in Texas in 1836-1837. They write a letter using Mr. Mitchell's perspective.
Curated OER
If I Were An Ant - Creative Writing
The teacher reads the story "If I Were An Ant" by Amy Moses. The students then each create a page in a classroom book about what a small object would look like if he/she was an ant. The student writes about their chosen object and then...
August House
Anansi and the Tug o' War
Combine art, math, language arts, drama, and delicious Jell-o with a instructional activity based on the African folktale Anansi and the Tug o' War. Kids make predictions and discuss plot points of the story before joining in...
Curated OER
Spelling Takes a Hit!
Learners practice spelling and word recognition. In this spelling lesson plan, students play a game. . Learners are given a word to spell and as they call out each letter, they swat the letter with a fly swatter allowing each student to...
Curated OER
Creating Hate: The Power of Words
Students explore why authors choose to use hate words in literature. In this power of words lesson, students complete group participation, journal entries, and written assignments to investigate the use of inflammatory language. Students...
Curated OER
BINGO with Greek and Latin Roots: Unit 1 Narrative Writing
Play BINGO! Reinforce knowledge of word roots with an adaptation of this classic board game. The teacher draws a root word from a bag and learners fill in a square with a word that has the same root base. Instructions and Bingo cards are...
Curated OER
King Arthur and his Knights
Fourth graders examine the myths of King Arthur. They compare/contrast versions of the story, The Sword in the Stone, write a letter, identify and analyze characters, sequence events, and write observations and answer questions in a...
Curated OER
Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...
Curated OER
Old Hobbits Are Hard to Break
Explore film adaptation of literature with this lesson, which focuses on the world of film advertisements. Middle schoolers discuss various films (including The Lord of the Rings) and create advertisements for a pretend film based on a...
Curated OER
Behind the Cover
Students develop questions they would have liked to ask an author about their written works. They read an article about their forefathers and research a back story to a written work of their choice. They create posters to illustrate the...
Curated OER
Writing an Effective Resume
Rating prospective teacher candidates based on sample resumes opens this discussion of effective business communication. After generating a list of interview candidates based on their resumes, pupils justify their choices. A study of...