Curated OER
Language Arts: Creating Original Fiction
Fourth graders create fictional stories and demonstrate the use of various writing techniques. After selecting their main ideas, they find appropriate graphics to use as illustrations. In groups, 4th graders apply Hyperstudio in...
Curated OER
Cloudy Days Are for Reading and Writing
Students consider a variety of well-known proverbs that refer to the weather. They research the scientific validity of these proverbs, conduct interviews about public perception of the proverbs and summarize their findings in writing.
Curated OER
I, Spy
Fifth graders utilize the library in order to find the answers to three questions about The Revolutionary War. In this writing and library skills activity, 5th graders pretend they are a Spy, and write the answers in a fictional letter...
Curated OER
Castles With Character
Young scholars read historic or contemporary fiction that is set in and around castles. Then they build castles and characters to use in retelling stories, demonstrating their understanding of fiction texts and period architecture....
Crafting Freedom
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Lover of Literacy
This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.
Curated OER
Hawthorne: Author and Narrator
Learners examine the difference between a narrator and author. They read Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, 'The Scarlet Letter,' write a description of the narrator, and research how Hawthorne was impacted by the politics of the time.
Curated OER
Cultural and Social Transformation since 1865
High schoolers research the evolution of cultural and social issues in areas of Westward Expansion, Immigration, and Civil Rights. They practice writing clear details with supporting evidence and examples and evaluate ways of improving...
Brain Targeted Teaching
Tuck Everlasting Novel Study
The broad ideas included here provide clear ideas on how to use brain-targeted learning, what activities work best with Tuck Everlasting, how to apply the knowledge gained from their reading, and ideas for evaluation. Not teaching Tuck...
Curated OER
You're Invited...To A Tea Party
Kids read the book Boston Tea Party by Steven Kroll and use maps to locate various landmarks. They identify the cause and effect of the events related to the Boston Tea Party, then write a descriptive composition.
Curated OER
Henry Spelman: The Powhatan Indians' English Boy
Sixth graders read and analyze narrative writing by and about Henry Spelman, a boy-laborer who helped settle Jamestown. They read biographical information, discuss the harsh conditions, and write a narrative piece on Henry's experiences.
Curated OER
And You Were (Almost) There
Students explore the genre of biography in both its traditional and nontraditional forms. They examine Edmund Morris's unorthodox biography of Ronald Reagan. They conduct research on an historic American and write their own biographies.
Curated OER
Football: It's Not Just for Jocks!
Eighth graders complete a variety of football-themed activities. They develop creative writing projects with a football inspiration, research and interpret football statistics and practice football skills in P.E.
Curated OER
Ellis Island: The "Golden Door" to America
Students write a narrative from the perspective of an immigration inspector or European immigrant. In this Immigration lesson, students read an online history of Ellis Island and evaluate its significance by writing answers to discussion...
Curated OER
Dancing Feathers
Fifth graders read and analyze the novel, 'Dancing Feathers.' They identify the main story elements, develop personal and fictional narratives, retell the story from a different point of view, create a mask, and design a postcard.
Massachusetts Department of Education
Nostalgia
To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine how...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 5: Creating a Supporting Character
As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...
Vanderbilt University
Stories from the Panama Canal
The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a lesson about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build, the working...
Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters
Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for easy...
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters
Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...
Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
Track your class's progress on all of the ELA Common Core standards with these handy charts. Along the left side, each seventh grade identifier is listed along with the full text of the standard. As you teach, reteach, assess, and...
Broadway GPS
Kinky Boots—The New Musical: Official Show Guide
Drag queens in thigh-high shiny red leather boots! Welcome to Kinky Boots, the Tony Award-winning musical about a young man trying to save his family-owned shoe-making business. With an engaging story line and songs by Cyndi Lauper, the...
Planet e-Book
David Copperfield
Don't let the length scare you away. An eBook version of David Copperfield contains all 1,307 pages of the story. This digital version of the classic coming-of-age novel follows the title character from childhood into adulthood, giving...
Curated OER
The Story of Us: Mud Woman Rolls On
Young writers will literally step into art and creative writing as they become the figures featured in the sculpture Mud Woman Rolls On. Begin by showing your class a picture of the sculpture and having a discussion about its most...
Curated OER
Outside The Castle
Students examine pictures of people who lived during the feudal system. In groups, they research the role and lifestyles of the nobility and commoners. To end the instructional activity, they draw their own fictional person and write...