In this lesson, students work in groups of 3-4 students to analyze their paired novella in order to deepen their understanding of the text. Each student takes on a specific role - leader, skeptic, or scribe in order to form an assertion, support that assertion with evidence, and refine their assertion in order to craft a clear, specific argument. In addition to providing a collaborative, multi-modal analysis experience, this lesson also incorporates movement and reflection and is easily adaptable to any paired text or close-reading skill.

Welcome to Making Open Educational Resources with and for PreK12: A Collaboration Toolkit for Higher Education. This toolkit is designed to address known gaps in knowledge and practice which limit the development of generative relationship-building processes between higher education faculty and PreK12 educators.

Higher education and PreK12 are vastly different domains. Well-intended, collaborative relationships do not always result in hoped-for creation of useful and reusable learning materials for PreK12 classrooms, nor of effective partnerships.

The main landing page for this book is https://doi.org/10.21061/OER_PreK12_highered. The toolkit is also available at https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/higheredk12collaborationtoolkit. Associated slides, handouts, and other downloadables are available at this site and other sites linked within the toolkit. A print version is available for order here.

The toolkit is part of the Scholarly Communication Notebook and is intended to prepare and position practicing and future academic librarians and interested higher education faculty, staff, and students consulting with librarians to address gaps related to outreach to PreK12. It aims to expand use and re-usability of learning resources through informed practices regarding copyright, open-licensing, and accessibility. Designed for use in formal graduate-level library and information science courses and relevant for self-study by academic librarians already in practice, this toolkit includes videos, presentations, transcripts, activities, guides, assignments, and assessment tools for learning and delivery by librarians to faculty and students in higher education, and for use by interested instructional designers, other faculty, staff, and graduate students seeking to improve their service to PreK12 educators.

Are you a professor or academic librarian reviewing or using this toolkit? We would love to hear from you. Please use the form at https://bit.ly/interest_hek12 to leave your feedback.

Shared narratives can be found in art from many cultures and throughout time. Use this resource to encourage students to explore diverse narratives, discover their own personal narrative, and express that narrative through their own work of art.Using provided engagment strategies students are able to hone Critical, Creative, and Communication skills using works of art in the Virginia Museum of Arts collection. Discussion prompts and activities offer instructional oppotunities for building Collaboration and Citizenship skills. 

Shared narratives can be found in art from many cultures and throughout time. Use this resource to encourage students to explore diverse narratives, discover their own personal narrative, and express that narrative through their own work of art.Using provided engagment strategies students are able to hone Critical, Creative, and Communication skills using works of art in the Virginia Museum of Arts collection. Discussion prompts and activities offer instructional oppotunities for building Collaboration and Citizenship skills. Symbols that we find in literature and the use of figurative language to describe artworks go hand in hand.  Find two pieces of artwork that move you one in Virginia and one in an international museum and create multiple examples of 10 different types of figuative language.

This lesson remixes an original lesson plan created by Austin Meyer entitled: "Teach Design: New Choice." This will work well as an introduction to a storytelling unit or a creative writing class. It is also a fun and interactive anticipatory activity when introducing the idea of close-reading for authorial choice. Students will work in small groups to create an original story based on a whole-class prompt. Each group, however, will have a different literary element to change as the story continues (for example, character or conflict). When "new choice" is called, a new storyteller from the group takes over and adjusts the story as needed in order to meet the challenge of the new choice.

This lesson remixes an original lesson plan created by Austin Meyer entitled: "Teach Design: New Choice." This will work well as an introduction to a storytelling unit or a creative writing class. It is also a fun and interactive anticipatory activity when introducing the idea of close-reading for authorial choice. Students will work in small groups to create an original story based on a whole-class prompt. Each group, however, will have a different literary element to change as the story continues (for example, character or conflict). When "new choice" is called, a new storyteller from the group takes over and adjusts the story as needed in order to meet the challenge of the new choice.

What is the Essential Understanding(s)/Big Ideas that are applicable to this lesson and refer to VA SOL and Framework if applicable?ES.2 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of science and scientific reasoning and logic. Key concepts include b) evidence is required to evaluate hypotheses and explanations; c) observation and logic are essential for reaching a conclusion;What is the essential objective in this lesson?To help these students better understand/identify necessary information that they may need while doing research projects or for this course their final project.

Use artworks as a laboratory for communication skills across the curriculum! This activity fosters meta-cognition by challenging students to gather and communicate crucial information. It also encourages close observation, problem-solving, synthesizing, critical thinking, and collaboration.

This resource provides Summative extension activity options for an existing resource entitled: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorrain Hansberry. Teachers work with the original resource first to guide their main unit-instruction: https://goopenva.org/courses/a-raisin-in-the-sun-by-lorraine-hansberry-2/view

Next, they can review the Summative extension options provided in this resource to produce creative sythensis activities designed to extend the depth of knowledge students will gain from this lesson.

This resource provides Summative extension activity options for an existing resource entitled: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorrain Hansberry. Teachers work with the original resource first to guide their main unit-instruction: https://goopenva.org/courses/a-raisin-in-the-sun-by-lorraine-hansberry-2/view

Next, they can review the Summative extension options provided in this resource to produce creative sythensis activities designed to extend the depth of knowledge students will gain from this lesson.

This resource is intended as a Summative Extension activity to the resource created by Samantha Gibson entitled "The Fire Next Time." The original source contains a detailed lesson plan that incorporates primary source documents in order to compare and contrast leading figures of the Civil Rights movement. This extension activity is intended to provide a synthesis activity that asks students to consider and explore a modern-day example of social protest and evaluate various approaches to the same issue.
Optional extension activities include a collaborative persuasive presentation that requires research and rhetoric skills to be successful and/or an individual written research paper.

A list of tips for educators who are collaborating online to develop resources.

This lesson uses Panic at the Disco's song, "Hey Look Ma, I Made It" to explore specific literary elements: metaphor, inversion, irony, and tone in order to consider how these devices help shape meaning. Students will work in pairs to employ close-reading skills for specific analytical tasks. They will reflect on their learning continuously throughout the lesson. The lesson will culminate with a brief analytical paragraph that asks them to consider how the figurative devices employed by the songwriters shapes meaning. Finally, they will reflect on the process of close-reading to consider how this process informed their understanding of the text and how they can transfer this skill to other analytical tasks.

This lesson uses Panic at the Disco's song, "Hey Look Ma, I Made It" to explore specific literary elements: metaphor, inversion, irony, and tone in order to consider how these devices help shape meaning. Students will work in pairs to employ close-reading skills for specific analytical tasks. They will reflect on their learning continuously throughout the lesson. The lesson will culminate with a brief analytical paragraph that asks them to consider how the figurative devices employed by the songwriters shapes meaning. Finally, they will reflect on the process of close-reading to consider how this process informed their understanding of the text and how they can transfer this skill to other analytical tasks.

Padlet is a free, online resource. For educators it only requires a simple setup, and allows for change in regards to privacy and other settings. For students, it provides a link and space for them to access anytime.

This article provides an overview of the free online tool VoiceThread and discusses how elementary teachers might use it in language arts and science classes. Resources provided.

I created this activity to review proper fractions and whole numbers.  Also, it is a beginning lesson for improper fractions and mixed numbers.  This activity supports sol 3.2b, represent fractions and mixed numbers with models and symbols.  This activity begins in small groups of 2-4 students.  The teacher gives 4 cards to each group, one each of proper fraction, whole number, improper fraction, and mixed number and a recording sheet.  The teacher directs the students to work together to write characteristics about the numbers on the cards and draw any models they can but does not tell them the names of improper fractions and mixed numbers.  Activities like this one gives students opportunity for productive struggle by allowing them to collaborate without too much help from the teacher, it is more rigorous, and the result is students have a deeper understanding.