Browse lesson plans

Spider legs

This strategy for peer conferencing helps students learn to use "Spider Legs" to answer revision questions, and then insert the revised information into their drafts.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Stop that run-on!

Run-on sentences inhibit understanding and weaken someone's writing. In this lesson, students will learn to identify run-on sentences and how to fix them. They will then apply those skills to their own writing.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Story shackles: Linking students to written text

Chain your students to reading a given text critically! Story Shackles is an imaginative and stimulating way for students to acquire the ability to retell events of a story or text, sequence the action or happenings in a story, or to simply summarize the plot, main ideas with supporting details, or general information of a story or text.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

By Kim Rector.

Storytelling with Cherokee folktales

This is a two day lesson pertaining to telling Cherokee folktales. This lesson can be modified and used with any folktale.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Ricky Hamilton.

Tableaux tour of texts

Students express their empathy for characters and events from books read in small groups by creating tableaux (freeze-frames) of key scenes to present to the class.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)

By Kim Bowen.

Trick or truth: Recognizing the hottest trends in advertising

Students will study commercials and advertising techniques, will work in groups to select different types of ads from magazines, and make a collage to illustrate one of the ten techniques advertisers use.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–6 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Kathy Idol.

Try to see it my way; I'll try to see it yours

This lesson includes guided class discussion and a hands-on activity demonstrating the importance of clear communication in avoiding misunderstanding and conflict. Students use wooden blocks in a building activity that allows them to actually experience the difference in their own and another student's perception and understanding of verbal building instructions.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Guidance)

By Karen Osborne-Rowland.

TV careers: Reality vs. fantasy

In CareerStart lessons: Grade seven, page 1.6

In this lesson for grade seven, students discuss compare television portrayals of careers with reality.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Guidance)

By Jen Presley.Adapted by Kenyatta Bennett and Sonya Rexrode.

"Two Worlds" introductory activity

In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 1.1

Through the use of a carousel brainstorming strategy, this introductory activity for 8th grade social studies enables teachers to discover what their students already know about the geography and history of North Carolina. Students will work cooperatively and will recognize that they have much to learn about their state.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

Uncovering assumptions through critical writing

Students will learn to identify assumptions and propaganda techniques in advertisements. They will then use these techniques to create their own advertisement for a product and write a business letter persuading a company to produce their product.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

By Rennie Lee.

Water, water everywhere...

This is a good beginning of the year lesson to review fractions, decimals, geometry (the number of degrees in a circle and drawing a circle with a protractor), graphing, and metric measurement. This lesson is a good way for students to meet their peers while working cooperatively in a task-oriented group. The watermelon you will be using for the activity is also a good start-of-the-year treat. Be sure to get an extra watermelon or two to share at the end of the activity.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)

By Jayne Brown.

What do you see? (post-visit)

In this lesson, students will use observations and reflections made while visiting the Ackland Art Museum to draw conclusions about interpreting artwork (and other works/events), make quality scientific observations, and see how these concepts are related. Students will be reproducing artwork they viewed at the museum, sharing their personal interpretations of various works, and analyzing how the presentation of information (in any situation) can influence our interpretations of a work or event. This lesson is the final lesson in the series of lessons, "What Do YOU See?", which uses the Ackland Art Museum as a resource.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Visual Arts Education)

By Reagan West.

What do you see? (visit)

This lesson outlines activities for students to complete while visiting the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, NC. Students will observe and reflect upon a variety of artwork. In doing so, they will develop observation and communication skills, and learn to understand and appreciate others' interpretations and opinions of works of art. This lesson applies skills learned in the previous lesson, "What Do You See" (Pre-Visit).

This lesson may be adapted for use in a school/classroom by using museums and artwork found online (see Web sites listed below). A Powerpoint presentation which displays some artwork from the Ackland Art Museum is attached to this plan, as well.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Visual Arts Education)

By Reagan West.

The wolf in children's books

Students will explore the ways wolves are represented in children's stories. They will decide if the wolf is a protagonist or an antagonist in the story. They will also attempt to determine if these representations are scientifically accurate. The first in a two-part lesson.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Vanessa Olson.

Zigzag jump rope relay

Students participate in a jump rope relay race.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Healthful Living)

By Wilhelmina Cartwright.

Resources on the web

Exploring the Environment

Promotes science-literate and reflective students who are knowledgeable of the earth's processes and their responsibilities for stewardship using these instructional resources. Find activities and learning modules for coral reefs, global climate change, the... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: NASA

Scaffolding comprehension strategies using graphic organizers

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, collaborative strategic reading (CSR) is initially presented to students through modeling and whole-class instruction. To facilitate comprehension during and after reading, students apply four reading strategies: preview,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Teaching Resources

Powerful resources for teachers! Blackline masters, activities, books, workshops, and more are available on this site from Laura Candler. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Laura Candler

Using children's literature to develop classroom community

This lesson introduces students to the concept of collaborative learning with an activity based on Shel Silverstein's poem, “What's in the Sack?”. After developing a foundation for group and partner work, students explore children's literature... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink