Smithsonian Institution
Engaging Students with Primary Source
Young historians learn how to analyze various forms of primary source documents. The colorful packet is packed with all you need to engage kids in this essential skill.
Stanford University
Lunchroom Fight II
To determine who should be suspended for a lunchroom fight, groups must source, contextualize, and corroborate the testimonies of various participants and witnesses.
Agriculture’s Lasting Heritage
Apples Around Us
Apple tasting launches an investigation of the story and travels of John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed. After listening to his story, class members craft a summary of the tale, chart his journeys on a map, and sample different...
Portland Public Schools
Opinion: Persuasive Essay Unit Introduction
Opinion, audience, purpose. Fourth graders are introduced to the three characteristics of persuasive writing in the third unit of a year-long writing program. The 98-page packet is complete with plans, model essays, graphic organizers,...
Portland Public Schools
Launching Writing Workshop Unit Introduction
Launch a year-long writing program with a narrative writing unit that introduces young writers to the systems, routines, and procedures of the writing workshop.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Incredible Stories: Challenge Activities (Theme 3)
Real or fantasy? Dogzilla, the Giant of Barletta, the Garden of Abdul Gassazi. To enrich their understanding of incredible stories, teams create a mouse newspaper and report on the invasion of Dogzilla, craft folktales, and draft a story...
Dick Blick Art Materials
No-Blender Pulp Painting
Like finger painting, this project is very tactile. Kids tear tissue paper into small pieces, add water, and mix up a pulp that can be pressed onto a canvas to create a colorful, textured painting.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Insoluble Paintings
Insolubility and density? Yup, it's art class, of course. To create insoluble paintings that continually move and change, kids mix water-based paint with mineral oil and seal the mixture in laminating pouches.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Simple Suminagashi
Go ahead. Spill the ink! Combine the study of art, social studies, and science with a Suminagashi (spilled ink) activity that produces "unique and unreproducible" works of art.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Painted Story Quilt
Creating story quilts is a great way to combine art, social studies and literature. Kids select a story, a published one or one of their own, to illustrate, paint on a canvas square, embellish, and mount on a felt backing.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Artist’s Challenge Coins
Make 'em, trade 'em, share 'em. Kids create artist's challenge coins to celebrate personal achievements, as mementos, or as encouragement. Originally designed for service personnel, these coins are a great way to recognize achievement.
Dick Blick Art Materials
Start with a Circle...
The Golden Ratio. The Divine Proportion. Yup. It's math and art blended into one colorful activity. Young artists combine colored tissue paper circles and parts of circles to create geometric patterns. As a bonus, kids get to figure out...
Positively Autism
"When I Can Scream" Social Skill Story
Sometimes it is okay to scream and sometimes it is not. This 18-slide presentation shows kids when to use a loud, outside voice and when to use a quiet inside voice. Customized this social skills story by inserting the child's name and...
All Things PLC
Cultural Shifts in a Professional Learning Community
Talk about a quantum shift in educational thinking. The shift in attitudes toward the fundamental purposes, the shifts in the use of assessments, the shift in the response of educators when students don't learn, the shift in the work of...
Curated OER
Silly to Serious Cards and Panels
What are the unwritten rules of formality in different social situations? Help learners identify when it is the appropriate time to be silly, funny, or serious with this collection of illustrated panels and cards.
Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.
Schedules and Routines: Grade 5
Before diving head first into the year's curriculum, take time to establish clear routines and procedures for your classroom. Starting with how to set up a class schedule that meets the needs of fifth grade learners, this sample chapter...
Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.
Classroom Setup: Grade 3
There's a lot of thought that goes into setting up safe and supportive classroom environments. From establishing a whole group meeting area and arranging desks, to organizing classroom supplies and creating bulletin board displays, this...
Positively Autism
"When I Feel Angry" Social Skill Story
Here's a presentation that shows kids appropriate ways to behave when they are feeling angry. They learn how to identify when they are feeling angry, calming strategies they can use, and words they can use to express their anger. The...
Positively Autism
Activities for "Decreasing Supermarket Tantrums"
Priming and shaping, two teaching strategies used to prepare kids for upcoming activities, are detailed in this resource that models how to prepare kids for a trip to the supermarket. Activities include creating a shopping list, matching...
Dick Blick Art Materials
“Decalcomania” Glue Paint Symmetry Prints
Who knew you could paint with glue? After first adding liquid water color paints to bottles of white Elmer's glue and applying them to paper, students of all ages are then challenged to use their imagination and creativity to draw in...
Positively Autism
Knights and Castles Boy/Girl Sort
Learners with autism examine a series of cards with drawings and photographs of knights and ladies, and then sort the images onto printed pages labeled "boys" and "girls." All the figures are dressed in courtly attire.
Positively Autism
Knights and Castles Vocabulary
Are your learners fascinated by dragons, knights, ladies? Capture their their interest with words associated with knights and castles. Each page features one image and the vocabulary printed in large type.
Attentance Work
Teaching Attendance: Everyday Strategies to Help Teachers Improve Attendance and Raise Achievement
Build a culture of attendance with the help of this 7-page toolkit loaded with suggestions for specific things you and parents can do to improve attendance, and in turn, raise the achievement of learners. Included are suggestions for...
Schoodoodle
September!
Here's a must-have resource for primary classrooms. The 144-page resource is packed with ideas, tips, suggestions, templates, worksheets, graphic organizers, and activities, all with a September theme. The calendar even notes special...