Curated OER
How Tragic!
Students study and interpret a classical tragedy and role play a character from the play. In this tragedy lesson, students discuss a specific work to discover the form, structure, and characteristics of the genre and interpret the...
Curated OER
The Mayflower Compact
Twelfth graders discover the ideas of our government by reading the Mayflower Compact. In this U.S. Government lesson, 12th graders identify the main ideas of the Mayflower Compact, how it came to be and who was affected the most by...
Curated OER
Call Me
Students write essays to persuade their families to use a particular long-distance phone plan. They compare a 10-10 plan to a regular long-distance plan.
Curated OER
Natural Resources and Ancient Cities
Students explain how the availability of natural resources has affected human settlement patterns. They recognize the interactions of human populations on environments and compare the growth of two ancient cities in relation to natural...
Curated OER
Understanding Cause and Effect
Identify the author's organizational pattern for expressing ideas. After reading an article on the California Gold Rush, middle schoolers determine the author's purpose for writing a passage of informational text. A full list of...
Curated OER
Book: Crossing the Seas
As learners read each chapter of Eric Schwartz's Crossing the Seas, they analyze the actions of United States in Venezuela, Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the intent of the Monroe Doctrine. They then compare American...
Curated OER
Water Uses and Children's Lives in East Africa
Students explore water usage around the world. In this "water" social studies lesson, students brainstorm ways in which water is used. Students visit the Water in Africa website to view pictures of water usage in Africa. Students...
Curated OER
Playing with Puns
"O pun" the door on this activity. Have your pupils compare the puns and word play in scenes from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to those in Gary Blackwood’s The Shakespeare Stealer. Warm up and introductory activities, as well as...
Curated OER
Tejana Military Members in World War II
Seventh graders discover who the Tejanas were and how they contributed to World War II. In this World War II instructional activity, 7th graders listen to their instructor discuss who the Tejanas were prior to researching the...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 9: Debating Imperialism
To gain an understanding of Imperialism, class members read Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The White Man's Burden" and Mark Twain's essay, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness." Groups compare these perceptions of non-white cultures with the...
Curated OER
teaching Geography Using Literature in K-University Classrooms
Young scholars read one of the following books: Minn of the Mississippi, Paddle-to-the-Sea, or Seabird, all by Holling C. Holling, and identify the five themes of geography as well as make a literature journal with chapter field notes....
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Virginia Department of Education
Developing a Research Strategy - Define Your Topic
Your budding scholars spent the day in the library looking for a topic for their research essay, and now they are all in tears because there is too much information available on their topics. Wipe those tears away with the ideas and...
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Cubing Strategy
The toss of a die determines what questions your pupils will answer in this instructional activity. Learners respond to questions based on Bloom's taxonomy, discussing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with classmates along the way. They...
Curated OER
Biographical Poems
Students write a biographical poem about themselves. They observe a teacher-led demonstration, write an autobiographical poem and a biographical poem about a famous person using a template form, and display the poems side-by-side.
Curated OER
Like It Or Not?
Write a review of the film adaptation of Holes. After viewing the film, your young reviewers make recommendations about viewing the film. Using details to support their opinions, they highlight the important parts of the movie without...
Curated OER
Charles Darwin Meets John Paul II
If you teach AP English language and composition and are looking for a way to address the differences between written and spoken arguments, consider this lesson. Over the course of three days, class members research Charles Darwin or...
Curated OER
Commonly Misspelled Words
Display this list of commonly misspelled and frequently confused words for your learners. Though there is no interactive component, this handout is a great reference tool comparing many homophones such as sole and soul. One tip...
Curated OER
Culture and Kingdoms of West Africa
Africa was home to many great ancient civilizations, this presentation covers aspect of 4 of them. Middle schoolers explore aspects of civilizations from Nubia, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Topics covered are achievements, culture, great...
Eastconn
Women of the California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush was not just an opportunity for the male gold miners sifting for shiny nuggets. Small groups read accounts of the ways women took advantage of the influx of workers to run hotels, bake pies, and wading out into...
Great Books Foundation
Rattlesnakes
John Muir may be a friend to the natural world, but as a short reading passage confirms, he is no friend to rattlesnakes. As young readers learn about Muir's encounters with the dangerous creatures, they answer four comprehension...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A 24-page teacher's guide to Romeo and Juliet includes scene-by-scene plot summaries, focus, discussion questions, and suggestions for individual and group projects.
Curated OER
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Students examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...
Curated OER
Columbus: Hero or Villain?
Students explore Christopher Columbus's motives. In this character education lesson plan, students research Internet and print sources regarding the life and actions of Christopher Columbus in order to write essays that his actions as...