Media Smarts
Gender Messages in Alcohol Advertising
Make your students critical consumers of media, and foster an awareness of how culture is reflected and shaped by media. This resource covers how alcohol advertising presents and promotes gender stereotypes. After a discussion on...
Curated OER
Science NetLinks: Adolescent Sleep
Wake up, sleepy head! High schoolers craft a creative presentation that represents how they feel when they wake up on a school morning. After the presentations, a reading of Academic Sleep Times and Academic Performance launches a...
CPALMS
Analyzing Vonnegut's View of the Future and His Commentary on the Present in Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" engages adolescents with its theme about the dangers of complete societal equality. Learners complete a graphic organizer to track literary elements in the story, as well as an inference...
Curated OER
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
Sixth graders discuss how people, society, and technology change over time through a unit of integrated lessons. In these changes in society lessons, 6th graders discuss the answers to many questions about how changes effect the...
Purdue University
Healthy Body Image: A Lesson Plan for Middle School Students
This is a very valuable instructional activity for middle schoolers on the importance of maintaining a healthy body image through diet, exercise, and positive mentality. The resource includes four lesson plans. The first two plans...
Curated OER
Identity in A Raisin in the Sun
Ninth graders read the play, "A Raisin in the Sun," and participate in a class discussion about "identity." They discuss racial identity and examine and interpret how community influences a personal identity. They demonstrate how...
Curated OER
Paper Clip Game for Learning the Value of Rules
Rules may carry a negative connotation with many adolescents, but this simulation activity reminds them of the importance of a fair and consistent set of laws. It's very simple: pupils are arranged in rows, with the first person in each...
Curated OER
Female Adolescent Identity Formation: Am I Powerful or Powerless?
Students explore the "coming of age" process experienced by adolescent girls on their journey from children to adulthood. They focus on the middle years or limbo period in which girls decide who they want to become as women or rather,...
Curated OER
Helping the Adolescent Cope with Family Life
Students are introduced to the proper ways to deal with conflict at home. In groups, they define family based on what it means to them and identify factors that lead to a breakdown in communications. They participate in role-playing...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Introduction to Personal Genetics
Adolescents have the opportunity to consider how they feel about the possibilities presented by the current availability of genetic sequencing. After some instruction, they participate in a four-corners activity in which you read a...
Curated OER
Teaching Human Sexuality in the Social Studies Classroom
Ninth graders examine the social problem of teenage mothers. In groups, they examine the consequences of a teenage pregnancy and how it can be considered a breakdown in family structure. They discuss the physical changes during...
Curated OER
Abuse and Neglect: United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child
Young scholars analyze the consequences of inadequate or inappropriate care giving (e.g., the effects of neglect or abuse). They analyze the influences that have impact on growth and development during adolescence. Pupils analyze...
Curated OER
Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...
Curated OER
Teens Making a Difference
Is your opinion significant? Help your class discover the influence their opinions hold and encourage them to make a positive change in their community. To start, they get in teams and brainstorm why their school should have more healthy...
Curated OER
Using Pop Art Imagery to Inspire Healthy Eating
Create a visual art project about obesity. In this art lesson plan, 8th graders research and explain the importance of eating healthy and exercise. They document their eating habits in their journal and analyze it.
Curated OER
American Political Culture
Examine American political culture with your scholars using this self-assessment lesson. Individuals rate a list of 14 values from highest to lowest, including ideas such as financial security, right to private property, justice,...
Curated OER
Ethical Decision Making in Biology
Students explore a model that illustrates the spread of HIV through an adolescent population. Acting in the role of epidemiologists, students explore the dilemmas of HIV infection presented by a simulation. Students produce a play, skit,...
Curated OER
People are People
Explore human diversity in this human rights lesson. Middle schoolers compare novels, speeches, videos, and short stories that promote diversity and basic human rights. They complete daily coursework as they read the selected literature...
Curated OER
Character Traits
Explore character traits using this resource. After reading the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, learners fill in a graph identifying character traits. Then, they write and put on a skit. This resource provides a motivating way to...
Curated OER
Identity: A Path to Self-Esteem
Sixth graders participate in a brainstorming activity in which they identify the types of decisions they make everyday. Individually, they complete a worksheet on making decisions effectively. After reading a poem, they identify the...
Curated OER
Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood: Understanding Its Responsibilities and Impact on Life
Young scholars receive factual knowledge from competent individuals on the various methods of pregnancy prevention. They improve their self-esteem and determine how to be assertive when communicating with others. They realize that...
Curated OER
Shakespeare: Advice From 400 Years Ago
Students will: Analyze an extract of a document from 1616 concerning male adolescent behavior. Decide if the advice offered is sensible. Determine if the content of that document is relevant to contemporary adolescent males. Compare the...
Curated OER
The Teenage Single Parent
Students examine the challenges a single teenage parent faces. In groups, they research ways to positively cope with an unplanned pregnancy and design their own layette for their new baby. As a class, they discuss what it means to be...
Curated OER
Made You Look
Students spend some time in the world of marketing and advertising by analyzing and creating slogans and campaigns geared toward adolescents. Students work with a partner to create their design and share with the class