Browse lesson plans

Literature biography project

Students will learn to develop the various processes used in researching and writing a biographical research paper, including brainstorming, note taking, outlining, creating a bibliography, and writing the final draft.

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

By Sandra Dail.

Making a video critique of an information source

After finishing their social issues research paper for their English class (or any other type of research paper), students will write and present orally a critique of one information source used in their research papers. Students will work in pairs to videotape each other, and they must also design appropriate backdrops for their oral presentations. Students will watch and evaluate all critiques.

This interdisciplinary assignment combines information skills and language arts skills, and requires collaboration between the media specialist and the English teacher.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Bonnie Snyder.

My favorite women: My Great Aunt Arizona

These three (or four) 45-minute lessons will introduce kindergarteners and first graders to Women's History Month. The students listen to the story of author Gloria Houston's great-aunt, Arizona Houston Hughes. During and following the listening and viewing experiences, the students will discuss their experiences with women in their own history who are helping them become good citizens and grow up well.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Floanna Long.

North Carolina regions

Working in cooperative groups, the students will learn about their assigned regions of North Carolina. A list of questions will be generated. When the research is completed, the students will design a way to orally present the information to the class. This also will integrate Visual Arts and Informational Skills.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Information Skills and Social Studies)

By Patricia Britt.

Reading guides

Groups will develop a Reading Guide for each non-fiction resource book for units in science, social studies, and other curriculum areas. Students will identify useful features each book and where the important information will be found. Reviewing non-fiction features of print resources will familiarize the class with material on reserve for the unit. Overviewing and identifying text features will help students determine how to approach the various formats of text relevant to the topic.

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

By Elizabeth Hubbe.

Research frenzy

Students will use a variety of reference materials to complete a trivia-question scavenger hunt assignment. Within the context of this assignment, students will be exposed to questions in many curriculum areas.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Information Skills)

By Jan King.

Resource recon

Teams of students will search for the answers to questions using various information resources. The questions will be in categories such as: biography, current events, historical events, geography, language. Besides competing for the fastest answer, the students will learn (1) how to use the resource effectively and (2) which resource is best for finding different types of information.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–7 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Keith Dudley.

Search for synonyms: A thesaurus lesson

Students will expand their vocabulary and learn the advantages of using a thesaurus. Students will edit and enrich personal writing samples using both print and online thesauri.

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

By Erin Bradfeldt and Joan Milliken.

Sell me on Dewey!

Students create short, snappy, written commercials about the main categories in the Dewey Decimal System. Commercials are viewed by the class to reinforce Dewey and help students locate books in the Library Media Center. Dewey Commercials can be used in Library Media Center Orientation for grades 3-5.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Information Skills)

By Sonja Beckham.

Snails: Fact and fiction

This lesson on snails integrates Science, Language Arts, Technology and Math. Teacher will share a fictitious snail story with students. Students will complete a K-W-L chart on snails with the help of the internet. As a related activity, students will take a poll on snail preferences and graph it.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Mathematics)

By Jody Shaughnessy.

Solar sizzlers

Group projects of building solar cookers or collectors provide arena for learning about energy sources and transformation. Gathering data for comparison and analysis exercises students' graphing skills and thinking.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Information Skills, Mathematics, and Science)

By Larry Parker.

Sticky-note discussions

Sticky-notes discussions are fun, add variety to reading, and allow students to respond to the written text immediately. They are easy to implement in all content areas. Sticky-note discussions are effective when used individually, in a small or large group, or a combination of settings.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–8 English Language Arts)

By Kim Rector.

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.

Strategy lesson: KWL

This lesson activates students' prior knowledge about famous North Carolinians and helps them organize thoughts and questions before they read biographies.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Alisa McAlister, Sherry French, and Harnetha Hudgins.

Underground Railroad quilts: Fact or folklore?

In this lesson, students explore the controversy surrounding a book entitled Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, which was published as a non-fiction account of fugitive slaves sending coded messages through quilt patterns. Students evaluate numerous sources and assess the validity of each in an attempt to determine if the quilt codes are fact or folklore.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)

By Abby Stotsenberg.

We read every day!

Through observation outside of the classroom, students will gather and bring to class five items that exhibit different sources of information comprised of more complex vocabulary.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

Who's Theodor Seuss Geisel?: Meet the real Dr. Seuss

Students will search internet resources, print and multimedia encyclopedias to research information on Dr. Seuss. Students will use a "Biography" template to document information, site resources, and write a simple biography report.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Amy Rhyne, Paulette Keys, and Sarah Carson.

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.

Resources on the web

American Memory Project Learning Page

Use the American Memory web site to teach about United States history and culture with these tips and tricks, frameworks, activities, and lessons that provide context for their use. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Library of Congress

Center for Media Literacy

Guided by the philosophy “Empowerment through Education”, the Center promotes three concepts: Media literacy is education for life in a global media world, The heard of media literacy is informed inquiry, and Media literacy is an alternative to censoring,... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan