Overcoming Obstacles
Resolving Conflicts
A activity about resolving conflicts guides young scholars through the process of identifying emotions and reflecting on the situation, all before taking action. The activity encourages class members to stay open-minded and listen to the...
Curated OER
Looking at the World
This set of discussion questions prompts learners to think about their place in the global community. These questions encourage them to consider food availability, free community services, schooling, and what life in other countries...
Nemours KidsHealth
Empathy: Grades K-2
Second graders read articles about being afraid, dealing with anger and apologizing. In this feelings lesson, 2nd graders read articles and discuss the feelings they have. Young scholars describe their feelings and how to be supportive...
Read Works
Cool to Be Kind
Make a connection between empathy and bullying with a reading passage that has readers thinking about other people's feelings. After reading, learners respond to ten reading comprehension questions involving short answer and multiple...
Curated OER
Harmony Day - Driven Out
Children explore what life might be like for refugees and people migrating to a different country. Each student lists the five most precious items he/she owns and is then given an extreme scenario to consider. By the end of the exercise,...
Museum of Disability
Rolling Along
Kindness and empathy can be as important as reading comprehension skills, especially for younger learners. Reinforce both with a instructional activity based on Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair by Jamee Riggio...
Anti-Defamation League
Dealing with the Social Pressures that Promote Online Cruelty
Why do people engage in cyberbullying? What can be done about it? These are the questions middle schoolers consider in a very timely lesson. Participants view PSA announcements, read a case study, and participate in scenarios designed to...
Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 1: How Do Society’s Expectations Influence Education?
The history of women's education can be traced back to the delicate stitching of student samplers from the 19th century. Modern-day pupils examine and analyze four primary sources, three of which are images of embroidered samplers, which...
Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 2: How Do We Determine the Value of Education?
Have women always had the same educational opportunities as their male counterparts? Young historians read an 1819 essay by Emma Willard on the state of female education in the 19th century before discussing their views regarding women's...
Facebook
Respect and Boundaries
Respect is a must-have in healthy relationships! Pupils explore their boundaries and identify the elements of respect during a lesson plan from a library of digital citizenship activities. The teacher's resource section contains a...
Thoughtful Learning
Seeing Emotions in Body Language
Scholars test their skills of reading body language with a collaborative learning experience that focuses on showing and identifying emotions. Pairs take turns acting out an emotion, one uses body language while the other guesses what...
Museum of Disability
A Picture Book of Louis Braille
Teach kids about the beginnings of the Braille writing system with a lesson about Louis Braille. A series of discussion questions guide young readers though A Picture Book of Louis Braille by David A. Adler, and once they finish the...
Global Oneness Project
The Consciousness of Nature
Scholars voice their opinions about animal consciousness with an article that challenges common ideas about nature. After reading the article, learners engage in a thoughtful discussion before writing out their arguments in a persuasive...
Partners Against Hate
Building Community and Combating Hate
Put a little love in your classroom! Help middle school scholars understand differences among people and build a sense of community within their school through 10 well-organized lessons. Each unique lesson incorporates writing,...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...
Facing History and Ourselves
Protesting Discrimination in Bristol
Using the Bristol Bus Boycott as a case study, class members examine the strategies and levels of power protesters used to effect change. The two-day lesson concludes with individuals reflecting on the actions they might take in face of...
Greater Good Science Center
See The Good Challenge
Scientists study all sorts of things. For example, studies show that it feels good to feel grateful. Feeling grateful also contributes to physical health and strengthen relationships. In the second lesson plan about gratitude, class...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Pearl Harbor Activity #3: Public Opinion Word Cloud
As part of a study of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, young historians imagine the feelings of those who lived during the attack by creating a word cloud of 10 words they think express the emotions of people at that time....
Anti-Defamation League
‘Migrant Caravan’ and the People Seeking Asylum
The controversies surrounding migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. have recently been a hot topic. To understand some of the issues involved, young scholars investigate the Migrant Caravans of 2018. A 10-page packet, including photos, a...
Curated OER
Lesson: From Time to Time
A portrait The Radcliffe Family circa 1742 is inspiration for creative writing and empathetic reasoning. Your class discusses the period in which the piece was painted, then imagines what life was like for one of the people seen in the...
Film English
The Conditioned
Discover the lovely story of Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho with your class. Over the course of the lesson, pupils practice descriptive writing, write short narratives, collaborate in small groups, watch a powerful short film about Raimundo,...
Museum of Disability
Ian’s Walk and Apples for Cheyenne
Help young learners understand friendship and empathy with two reading comprehension lessons. Each activity focuses on a story about a child with autism, and encourages readers to compare and contrast the characters to each other and to...
Anti-Defamation League
We Were Strangers Too: Learning About Refugees Through Art
Did you know that "in the largest refugee crisis since World War II, more the 64 million people have been forced from their homes"? The Anti-Defamation League presents an activity that asks class members to examine a series of artworks...
US House of Representatives
From Exclusion to Inclusion, 1941–1992
New ReviewThe legacy of Japanese American internment impacted America for decades, including Congress. Class members consider the tenure of Asian American representatives in Congress and how the legacy of World War II affected their service. Other...