Overcoming Obstacles
Being Responsible
A lesson all about responsibility details the importance of building trust. Scholars discuss and create posters about responsibility and explore strategies to become more responsible. Peers work collaboratively to craft a rainbow of...
Overcoming Obstacles
Having a Positive Attitude
Through discussion and reflection, scholars discover what it means to have a positive attitude, that an individual can choose to stay positive, and discuss the benefits of a positive attitude. Learners listen to negative scenarios to...
Overcoming Obstacles
Integrity
A lesson showcases the character trait of integrity. Scholars define the term, discuss how having integrity means being trustworthy, that one can choose to have integrity, and the significance of looking at situations from other...
Overcoming Obstacles
Respect
A social-emotional lesson focuses on respect. Scholars define the term and puzzle out the word. Pupils give examples of respect they observe at home, at school, and in the community. Cards showcase scenarios in that participants identify...
Overcoming Obstacles
Resolving Conflicts
A lesson about resolving conflicts guides young scholars through the process of identifying emotions and reflecting on the situation, all before taking action. The lesson encourages class members to stay open-minded and listen to the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Cooperation
Young scholars practice cooperation by working together for a common cause. After a short demonstration, learners fill in a T-Chart describing how cooperation looks and sounds. Small groups work together to pick up tiny beads and put...
Overcoming Obstacles
Kindness
Encourage kindness with a instructional activity that defines kindness, asks scholars how to show kindness, and share how others have shown them kindness. Multiple activities prove that kindness is easy to give through coloring,...
Overcoming Obstacles
Self-Control
A lesson uses a stop light to assist young scholars in using self-control. After the class defines self-control and how it boosts responsibility and independence, they practice a breathing exercise to reflect on their behavior. Learners...
Overcoming Obstacles
Coping Skills
A instructional activity brings awareness to a variety of emotions. After discussing the many types of emotions, scholars create a list sorting emotions as easy and hard and then brainstorm coping skills. Pupils draw a picture depicting...
Overcoming Obstacles
Fairness
Fairness is the subject of a lesson designed to boost relationship skills and social awareness. Class members discuss that fairness is getting what you need when needed, differences are okay, and review classroom rules to identify their...
Overcoming Obstacles
Listening
Young scholars boost communication skills with a lesson plan that explores what it looks like to listen with the whole body. Through modeling and practice, pupils observe what it looks like and then practice. A friendly game of "Simon...
Scholastic
Stressed Out?
Provide tweens and teens with information they need to know about stress with an article that details how stress affects various organs in the body. The article also offers tips for healthy ways to cope with stress.
Cultures of Dignity
Equity and Equality Lesson
Equality does not equal equity and this lesson explains why. Class members compare two images--one labeled "Equality" and the other "Equity." Using the provided discussion questions, they then develop definitions that distinguish between...
Purdue University
Exploring Whirligigs
What's that silly thing spinning in the wind? It's a whirligig! Explore wonderful windy whirligigs with a STEM-based unit that teaches the science and concepts behind these gigs. Scholars discover how gravity and air resistance...
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Can Girls Do That?
Why be limited by stereotypes? Young scholars examine a series of works of art, list the different ways boys and girls are represented, and then discuss the common stereotypes found in the works. They then search for art that does not...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Alice Paul" by Katharine Rolston Fisher
Powerful women need not look like Wonder Woman. After writing a paragraph about a strong woman they know, young scholars examine images of Alice Paul and then do a close reading of Katharine Rolston Fisher's poem "Alice Paul." Finally,...
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Excuse Me, Is This the Way to the Drainpipe?
Elementary kids read and color the story of Willy Wetsworth, a drop of water, as he describes the journey that he and his friends take to provide fresh water to houses. He tells his story to Martha Merriweather, a little girl, and...
NASA
Heavy Lifting
Accept NASA's challenge to design heavy lifting vehicles. Groups of three design balloon-powered rockets to carry as much payload to the ceiling as possible. The teams are encouraged to launch several times while making improvements to...
NASA
3...2...1...Puff!
Which will make it fly better? Individuals build paper rockets with fins that are launched using straws. After determining an average flight distance, they make adjustments, such as size and location of fins, and try again. A second...
NASA
Rocket Races
And they are off! Using Styrofoam meat trays and balloons, individuals build racers that demonstrate Newton's Third Law of Motion. Pupils run their racers three times and make improvements between each trial. To conclude the activity,...
NASA
Water Rocket Construction
What are the basics for building a rocket out of a two-liter bottle? The procedures outline the basics to create an air- and water-powered bottle rocket. Prior to launching the rockets, teams perform safety checks to ensure their designs...
Memorial Hall Museum
Dedham Deed
Class members examine primary source documents that expose the contrasting views of land ownership between the Pocumtuck and English settlers.
Anti-Defamation League
Who is Malala Yousafzai?
Malala Yousafzai may be young, but she's mighty! Young scholars listen to a short lecture about Malala's background, read an article about her winning the Novel Peace Prize, and meet in groups to discuss statements she has made. Class...