Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
Our Dinopals with WordArt
Elementary schoolers use the writing process steps to write a descriptive paragraph about a fictional dinosaur. Using a tech tool lesson, they create a graphic title for the paragraph. A nice blending of technology with "old-fashioned"...
Curated OER
Stained Glass Flowers
Elementary and middle schoolers create decorative flowers using wire armatures and a special paint that remains flexible when it dries. The results from this project are stunning, but the materials needed may be tough to track down. An...
Curated OER
Street Cows
A light, and humorous lesson on "street cows" is here for you. Learners listen to the story, "Street Cows," which is embedded in the plan. On a map of the US and the World, they locate the cities where the "Cows on Parade" exhibit was...
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Huichol Yarn Painting
Young artists of many ages apply yarn painting techniques in combining their ideas and their art. After viewing actual examples of yarn paintings created by the Huichol people, learners choose an important scene from their own lives...
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Ani-mania
Young learners view images by the artist Robert Harris which are all paintings of animals. They engage in a variety of artistic activities which involve fantasty, and create their very own "fantasy animals." When all of the animals are...
Curated OER
Rock Around the Clock Math
An engaging and fun lesson on telling time is here for you. In it, young time-tellers listen to the song, "Rock Around the Clock," then use Judy Clocks to practice telling time to the hour and half hour. Finally, using paper plates, each...
Curated OER
Rain Sticks
Artists of all ages construct a three-dimensional form and fill it with rice to make gentle, percussive sounds. They discover that Native South American tribesmen would harvest dead branches from cactus plants, fill them with small...
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Little Owl Press Report/Newspaper and Newscast Project
Discover journalistic techniques by having learners prepare and write their own class newspaper. They discuss the five W's of investigative journalism and conduct interviews with school figures. They utilize video technology, podcast...
Curated OER
Pickles
Young learners compare healthy foods to junk foods. They examine the growing process of a vegetable from a seed all the way to maturity. The book, The Magic School Bus in a Pickle is used. Some nice cross-curricular activities in math,...
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Introduce a Weather Unit
Engage your learners by playing Water Music Suite by Handel. Different types of weather sounds play on the recording, and it's an easy lead into talking about the weather! What is weather? What kinds of weather exist? What is it called...
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The Mitten
Explore children's literature by researching a book and it's author. Youngsters read the story The Mitten by Jan Brett and discuss the animals and characters mentioned in the story. Then, they practice retelling their favorite portion of...
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Teaching Peace through Literature and Song
Negative effects of bullying come to light through listening to the book Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. Class members identify philanthropic acts portrayed in the story and make illustrations to connect them to their own...
Curated OER
A Listening Doll: Create Traditional Native American Storyteller Dolls
In this wonderful cross-curricular lesson plan, your youngsters will learn about Pueblo Indian storyteller dolls by creating their own! They discuss the tradition of story telling, especially in reference to Native Americans. Consider...
Curated OER
Role Models
First graders identify heroes by researching their family history. In this personal heritage activity, 1st graders define the term "hero" and the characteristics that represent it. Students research family resources and family trees in...
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The Honeycomb Challenge: Shapes and Colors
Play this game with young English language learners to help them learn color and shape vocabulary. As they make their way around the game board, they talk about the colors and shapes they pass and land on. Add math skills practice by...
Curated OER
ESL Vocabulary Trace and Read: Shapes and Colors
Intended for young English language learners, these worksheets offer scaffolding for youngsters to practice writing the names of colors and shapes. The first provides the most help, and the third provides almost no help at all....
Curated OER
ESL Vocabulary & Writing: Shapes and Colors
English language learners review names of colors and shapes, creating a sentence for each color or shape provided. Each vocabulary word includes two lines of handwriting paper to guide young learners' letter formation.
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ESL Vocabulary Connect the Dots: Shapes and Colors
Young English language learners trace color vocabulary words on the lines and match it to the correct illustration. A visual and direct approach to developing color vocabulary!
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Family Album
Kids of all ages discover their family histories through pictures. First, flip through the PowerPoint provided (or consider making one of your own). It should show pictures of your family and have clear, easy to understand sentences that...
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The Very Busy Spider
Youngsters explore visual arts by participating in a geometry identification activity. They read the book The Very Busy Spider and identify the techniques spiders use to create webs. Have you ever noticed that their webs are geometric...
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Shape Picture
Get your youngsters using rules! For this challenge, they measure the shapes that make up a house and a tree to practice measuring in centimeters. Then, they write down the equation for each shape. (Example: 4+6+4+6.) Finally, they...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Use a Graph: Measure Fish
Something's fishy here! Use the bar graph provided to determine the length of each fish shown. Small cartoon fish make this an engaging learning exercise for young learners. There are six questions provided.
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Stewart's Boxes
Learners collect memorabilia and create shadow boxes in the style of David Stewart. They also compose a poem and explain their identity in an oral presentation. This is a rare lesson that works quite well for a variety of age levels.