Curated OER
Deciphering Community
Young scholars explore the concept of a community. They identify and group various kinds of communities. Students create a concept map exemplifying their membership in different communities. They write a narrative describing their...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 2: The Historical/Biographical Approach
"How does our environment shape our identity?" After researching biographical information about John Knowles and considering how these experiences are reflected in A Separate Peace, class members consider the strengths and weaknesses of...
Novelinks
Oedipus the King: Biopoem
The biopoem is a great way for instructors to get to know class members, classmates to get to know each other, and readers to flesh out their understanding of a character. Why not create a biopoem for a character from Oedipus the King?
Curated OER
Pumpkin Writing Paper
In this writing worksheet, students use the blank lined paper with a colorful pumpkin border for any kind of writing: reports, poetry, stories or letters.
Curated OER
Writing in Math Class
Students brainstorm and discuss ways math is all around them, explain in writing how they solve math problems, describe mathematical ideas in writing, and create original story problems.
Curated OER
The Highwayman
Fifth graders re-read the story "The Highwayman" understanding the term "narrative verse". As a paired activity, they predict who or what might be the audience and provide feedback.
Curated OER
Three Coffles Lesson Plan
Students read about the slave trade in primary source documents. They discuss differences and commonalities in experiences. They write prose or poetry from the point of view of one of the figures from the reading and create a triptych.
Curated OER
Exploring the Life of a Slave
Eleventh graders explore importance of abolitionists who worked to advance freedoms of black Americans prior to/during Reconstruction era, read and identify key concepts in Frederick Douglass's narrative, recognize how Douglass's slave...
Curated OER
Let's Make Stew!
Students investigate how to create a vegetable garden and complete related activities. In this vegetable garden lesson, students receive agriculture notebooks to complete vocabulary for the gardening lesson. Students read 'Still-Life...
Curated OER
Where are your borders?
Students explore the meaning of borders, both real and symbolic. After viewing film footage and visiting poetry websites, they develop their own point of view. To express their perspective, they are to write a journalism poem, or...
Curated OER
Graham's Appalachian Spring: A Study
Young scholars explore choreographic narrative. In this choreography activity, students explore the elements of Appalachian Spring as they develop a series of written responses to assignments that challenge them to investigate the...
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance Births a Black Culture
Students examine the men and women who were a part of the Harlem Renaissance. Individually, they recreate their favorite pieces of art from the time period and create their own original works after reading poem from the movement. In...
Curated OER
Halloween Counting Book
First graders recognize and write numerals from 1 to 10. They estimate and count to identify sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects, listen and respond to others in a variety of contexts, and take turns speaking in a...
Curated OER
Poetic Justice: Understanding the Life of a Tethered Dog
The Humane Society provides a lesson in which class members explore the issue of tethering dogs. Through the resources used -- a comic, a poem, and narrative and expository writings -- class members realize that messages can be conveyed...
Curated OER
The Time I Got Lost
Third graders go through the writing process but substitute paper and pencil with the computer to create a story about "The Time I Got Lost".
Curated OER
Journeys
Students write a story using their journey to school as the setting. In groups, they discuss their experiences and browse through books to get ideas for their story. They practice using a thesaurus to find new verbs or adjectives they...
Curated OER
Lessons of the Indian Epics: The Ramayana
Students read a version of Ramayana and explore the elements of the epic hero cycle. In this Ramayana analysis lesson, students retell the basic narrative of the Ramayana and identify the main characters. Students identify elements of...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood by Cynthia Rylant
Sixth graders examine the elements of writing poetry. In this creative writing activity, 6th graders discuss a book of poetry in the setting of Appalachia. Students incorporate childhood experiences into the development of visual and...
Curated OER
Reading Lesson Plan
Tenth graders read the poem "Still I Rise" and discuss the different ways it can be told and read and brought to life. In this poetry lesson plan, 10th graders read aloud and silently, and compare different works of poetry.
Curated OER
A Picture is Worth a Million Words
Students practice composing digital photographs by documenting activities in their lives. In this photography lesson, students utilize digital cameras to create beautiful art from things they find around the campus or at their home....
Curated OER
A Life Lived Well
Students write poems based on words and phrases found in an obituatuary. They write autobiographical obituaries that imagine their own lives and future accomplishments.
Curated OER
Out of the Dust
Students create a poem that expresses the physical and emotional turmoil of living through the Dust Bowl. In this Out of the Dust lesson, students research facts about the time period and discuss the cause-effect patterns associated...
Curated OER
The Write Stuff
Fourth graders share a previously written portfolio piece and the class guesses the genre. Students use tally marks to keep track of how many of each piece there are in class. Once the data collection is complete, 4th graders create a...
Curated OER
Illinois Biodiversity
Students examine the amount of biodiversity in the state of Illinois. They practice using new vocabulary and listening to stories about animals. After given time to reflect, they write their own haiku. They work together to create a...