Curated OER
Author's Purpose
Find the author's purpose in this review worksheet. Fourth graders read each of the three following paragraphs and decide whether the author's purpose is to persuade, inform, or entertain. You could use this activity as a class...
Curated OER
Like Water for Chocolate: How-to Narrative Essay
Connect Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate to student experience with this how-to narrative essay. Writers weave the instructions from their own family recipe into a narrative using sensory details. This assignment sheet includes...
Education World
Use Boolean Search Terms to Shorten Web Searches
Have you ever conducted a Web search and received too many hits? Teach your class about Boolean search terms and provide them time to practice conducting efficient online searches. This lesson plan contains several fun activities which...
Great Schools
Different Types of Writing
What type of writing is this? Learners read a brief introduction to various types of text: instructions, explanations, poems, folk tales, novels, informative, and arguments. The introduction doesn't explain these, so consider going over...
Curated OER
Mythology by Edith Hamilton: Silent Discussion
Get everyone up and participating! High schoolers reading Mythology, by Edith Hamilton, complete a graphic organizer independently, and then record one of their thoughts on the white board for a silent discussion. Decide how you're going...
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Biopoem
Explore characters in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through biopoems. Pupils follow the specific formatting presented here to write 11-line poems about characters in the novel.
Curated OER
Ivan the Fool: Lesson 3
Students read and analyze the Eastern European folktale of 'Ivan the Fool.' They discuss the term 'quest,' identify quests in their own lives, and in small groups design a board game that illustrates the czar's quest to find good wives...
Curated OER
Using Transitions
Students explore the importance of using transitional phrases in their writing. They discuss why transitions are important to their writing and various types of transitions that they can use. Students practice using transitions in their...
Curated OER
Like Water for Chocolate: Family Tradition
Engage young writers in family tradition with this writing assignment for Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel. Using sensory details, learners write a narrative about a family tradition involving food. Scholars also talk with...
Curated OER
Presenting Information
How do you make a pizza? Scholars examine a recipe for one of their favorite dishes. After reading the eight steps, they must re-write the steps in order. Although this offers great printing practice, younger writers may find the narrow...
Curated OER
Transition Words
Do your emergent writers need extra practice using transitions? After reading a brief definition, learners select a transition from the provided word bank that best completes the sentences in each set. No answer key is provided.
Curated OER
Socratic Questioning
If you are new to the technique of Socratic questioning, check out this resource that details the five steps in the Socratic method. The examples of each step are drawn from Brave New World.
Curated OER
4 Corners Pre-reading Strategy for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
High schoolers consider different statements based on the themes from Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, and decide what they think of the statement. They share their ideas as a class and discuss all sides to a idea.
Curated OER
WHAT DARWIN NEVER SAW: Evolution, Science, Biology, Natural Selection
Students view video showing recent field work on a twenty two-year study of finch beaks on a small island in the Galapagos, showing natural selection clearly operating in the wild.
Curated OER
No bones About It -A Mosasaur
Students model a paleontologist's activities. They identify dinosaur bones and reassemble them into a skeleton of an extinct reptile.
Curated OER
The French in Texas
Fourth graders use Internet to examine early French exploration and settlement in Texas, and write journal entries from point of view of 17th Century French settler, French or Spanish explorer, or Native American whose land was taken.
Curated OER
Ivan the Fool Lesson 3
Students determine that a quest is central to many folk stories. They name stories from their own literary traditions that involve quests and write their own, incorporating a quest. They design a board game that illustrates the czar's...
Curated OER
Descriptive Verbs
Students read a piece of literature and locate the descriptive verbs in the piece. In this descriptive verbs lesson, students understand the value of using descriptive verbs. Students rewrite a story they've written with more descriptive...
Curated OER
Time Management: Piece of Pie
Middle schoolers examine their own lives and how well they manage their time outside of school. In this this time management instructional activity, students discover the amount of time they spend on other activities, and create a pie...
Curated OER
How Does Power Affect Conflict?
Students use several short stories to analyze different types of power. While discussing the role of power in these short stories, students will practice communication skills essential to conflict transformation, specifically attentive...
Curated OER
Integrating Language Arts and Math
Here are simple ideas to integrate math and language arts skills.
Curated OER
Goals and Perseverance
Define the word perseverance to have learners understand why it is important in reaching goals. Young scholars research how Martin Luther King needed perseverance to accomplish his goals. They write acrostic poems using the word...
Curated OER
Grammar Bytes - Parallel Structure
The first exercise in a series of worksheets, this handout asks learners to read 10 sets of sentences and choose the one with no errors in structure. Tip: Find all of the worksheets on parallel structure throughout our website and create...
Curated OER
May The Best Character Win
Students examine the financial committment to running a campaign. They discuss the difference between electroal and popular votes. They realize how involved a political campaign is!