Overcoming Obstacles
Presenting Yourself
"Presenting Yourself," the last lesson in the "Looking to the Future" module, asks participants to review and reflect on what they have learned about themselves in the Overcoming Obstacles course. They review their course folder and...
Overcoming Obstacles
Learning How You Learn Best
Scholars think of a special place, then represent that place through pictures or written words— a poem, song, or short story. Peers show off their organizational skills by reviewing their binders and notebooks, comparing strategies, and...
Overcoming Obstacles
Writing Reports
Following a review of how to research and take notes, scholars define the term paraphrase and identify ways to organize information and finish reports. To put their newfound knowledge to the test, learners interview a peer, take notes,...
Facing History and Ourselves
Becoming Ourselves
Here's a great way to build community during the first days of the new school year. Participants read personal narratives, then craft and share their stories with others.
British Council
Reading House
Scholars work in pairs to describe their homes and draw a picture of their partner's home. Next, individuals discuss their ideal home in small groups and follow up their discussion with a written description.
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Marine Biology Stationary
Encourage letter writing with marine biology-themed stationary. Three versions showcase a variety of underwater creatures.
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Horse Stationary
Write a letter on horse-themed stationery. Three pages to choose from showcase a variety of horses and the history of horseback riding.
American Museum of Natural History
Space Travel Guide
Scholars showcase their narrative writing skills with a science fiction writing assignment. Six pages present writers with a question to answer accompanied by a detailed picture to draw. All together, pages create a space-travel guide.
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Astronomy Stationary
Scholars follow five steps to create personalized, astronomy-themed stationary.
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Earth Stationary
Scholars follow five steps to make personalized Earth-themed stationary. Personalization includes name and returns address.
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Dino Stationary
Scholars follow five steps to create dinosaur-themed stationery using basic computer skills.
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Making Your Mark: Free Verse Poetry
Using the insight they have gained into the experiences of detainees at the Angel Island Immigration Station, young poets create their own free verse poems that they feel captures what it may have felt like to be an immigrant interned on...
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Leaving Home Forever: What Would You Put In Your Suitcase?
Scholars put themselves in an immigrant's shoes to decide what items they would take on their journey to a new home. Learners read primary sources, take part in a whole-class discussion, and make a list that they share with their peers,...
Nemours KidsHealth
Food Labels: Grades 6-8
With the help of two activities, scholars discover what's in their favorite foods by reading nutrition labels. Activity one challenges participants to write a letter to a fictional peer about the importance of making healthy choices....
Tech4Learning
Set SMART Goals
A video by Kid President kicks off a lesson about setting goals. Scholars use SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely—in identifying what goals or resolutions they wish to accomplish. After writing down and revising...
EngageNY
Performance Task: Hosted Gallery Walk of Scientific Posters
The guests have arrived. Scholars participate in a hosted gallery walk, using their scientific posters to share their research about DDT with their classmates. Then, using sticky notes, individuals leave positive feedback on their peers'...
EngageNY
Finishing Poster and Preparing for Gallery Walk
Practice makes progress! Using their drafts and resources from the previous lesson, pupils complete scientific posters for an upcoming gallery walk. Next, they practice presenting their posters to assigned partners.
EngageNY
Completing Reflection: Preparing a Poster for Presentation
Prewrite, plan, draft, revise, edit, share. Scholars complete a worksheet to reflect on how they used the writing process to improve their writing. They also draft plans for their scientific posters that they will display in an upcoming...
EngageNY
Planning Content of Informative Consumer Guide: Sustainable Fishing Methods
There's no such thing as over-planning. In preparation for their informative consumer guides, scholars complete a Quote Sandwich graphic organizer to compile their information about sustainable fishing methods. Next, volunteers share...
EngageNY
Planning Content of Informative Consumer Guide: The Issue of Overfishing and Fish Depletion
Let's get organized! Pupils organize the information they have gathered about overfishing into a Quote Sandwich graphic organizer in preparation for their informative consumer guides. Next, they engage in a pair share activity to discuss...
EngageNY
Performance Task: Final Draft of the Newspaper Article
It's time for the grand finale! Scholars complete the final draft of their newspaper articles for the End of Unit 3 Assessment. They share their article with a classmate for peer critique. After considering all feedback and including a...
EngageNY
Evaluating Eyewitness Accounts
That sounds like a plan! Scholars complete the Newspaper Article Planning graphic organizer to understand the process of writing a newspaper article. They also use what they learned about researching factual information and gathering...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Features of a Newspaper Article
There's more to newspaper articles than meets the eye. Scholars learn the different features of a newspaper article, including headline, byline, subheadings, etc. Pupils circle the features in an article as the teacher discusses their...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Exhibiting Common Threads
Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...