Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Comparing Cultural Dances
All cultures express similar thoughts, feelings, and ideas. But, often times those things are expressed differently. Learners compare and contrast traditional dances from two cultures. They watch videos of each performance, stop to...
Japan Society
Tanabata: Japan's Star Festival
The Star Festival or Tanbata, is a holiday celebrated in Japan every year. People make tanzakus out of paper and hang them on the trees. Pupils will learn about this culturally significant holiday while creating tanzakus of their own....
Curated OER
Cartography Project
A lesson involving mapping, the use of a compass, writing and following directions, and exploring the first two themes of geography is here for you. Learners create original maps that show the routes they take through their own...
Desert Discoveries
What's For Dinner?
Youngsters compare the teeth of plant-eating dinosaurs with those of meat-eating dinosaurs. The concepts of herbivore vs. carnivore are also introduced. There is an excellent worksheet embedded in the plan which shows five skulls of...
Desert Discoveries
Dinosaur Quiz
Young scientists explore the world of dinosaurs. They engage in a variety of activities designed to help correct misconceptions about dinosaurs, and which help them to determine which animals are dinosaurs and which are not. There is a...
Desert Discoveries
Who Depends on the Saguaro?
Young scientists design a picture of a saguaro cactus that shows the cactus and some of the animals and plants that interact with it. There are many of these special relationships between plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert. Your...
Curated OER
Kodomo No Hi: Children's Day Celebration
Children's Day is a beloved Japanese holiday with many colorful and engaging traditions. On this national holiday celebrated yearly on May 5, children are honored for their strengths and given good wishes for happiness. Your younger...
New York Public Library
What's for Lunch?: New York City Restaurant Menus
Do you remember the days when a cup of coffee cost five cents? At A.W. Dennett restaurant in 1894, you could buy a five-cent cup of coffee and as well as a five-cent slice of pie to accompany it. The menu from that year is a primary...
Illustrative Mathematics
Toll Bridge Puzzle
Here is a great problem-solving activity for young mathematicians. Intended solely for instructional purposes, the activity is appropriate for learners to add four numbers together. Not only must they add four numbers together,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Building toward fluency
Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...
Curated OER
Fabulous, Fractured Fables
Elementary schoolers develop an awareness of the literary form known as the fable. They explore how authors write fables to pass along moral lessons. After reading and discussing many famous fables embedded in the plan, learners attempt...
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Elders' Stories
Very young learners study the ways that oral traditions play such a huge part in the culture of Native Americans. They see how Elders pass along stories to the younger generations. If possible, a tribal Elder comes into the class to...
Curated OER
What Can I Do?
Here is a good way for children to identify ways to handle conflict. They discuss the connection between feelings and conflict. Everyone listens to a story about a conflict between two friends and they discuss what they could have done...
Curated OER
Inventions- The Impact
Students investigate inventions and the impact they can have on people. In this technology activity, students research Thomas Edison and discuss how the invention of the light bulb impacted others. Students sketch out an invention they...
Curated OER
What Can I Do?
Students investigate conflict resolution strategies. In this character education lesson, students list things that make them feel sad and are introduced to the conflict resolution strategy "think and share." Students role-play various...
Curated OER
Vitamin D and Me
Students create a graphic organizer showing the importance of Vitamin D intake. In this Vitamin D lesson, Students list problems with Vitamin D deficiency and create poster boards in small groups. Individually, students will create menus...
Curated OER
Create a BIG Book
Students explore about big books. They create a big book version of a favorite story or an ABC book about a favorite topic. Students describe the size of a book. Students are explained that big books are books that have large pictures...
Curated OER
Deck the Halls with Literature Trees
Reinforce and assess reading comprehension by having your class make a literature tree! After reading a book, pupils make decorations to represent the book's themes, characters, and setting. Materials for decorating can be as diverse and...
Curated OER
Water Fun
Students examine uses for water. In this water lesson plan, students discuss how they use water. As a class students make a PowerPoint by naming one swimming safety rule. Students compare and contrast fishing for fun and fishing for...
Curated OER
Lesson: Nimble Symbols
Comparative thinking is one way to build critical analysts. Budding artists discuss symbols and how they represent concepts, beliefs, or ideas. They compare the symbols found on an ancient Egyptian mummy case to those found in...
Curated OER
Lesson: Sacred Secrets
As educators we are always looking to boost our learners' self esteem. Here they will analyze a Colombian sculpture, identify its traits, and then list positive traits about themselves. They'll create treasure boxes that exemplify a...
Curated OER
Lesson: More Than a Dollar's Worth of Meaning
The Chinese, Dish with the Eight Buddhist Emblems contains symbols and visual references for learners to explore. They search for Buddhist symbolism on the dish and then they use their observation skills to locate and explore the meaning...
Curated OER
Be "Sun-sible" about Heating Water
Students create a solar water heater. In this solar energy instructional activity, students conduct an experiment to determine which colors absorb more radiant heat. Students investigate the relationship of heat loss to insulation....
Curated OER
Where Is Away?
Students explore garbage. In this landfill lesson, students investigate how much garbage is collected in landfills on average each day. Students discover hazardous materials that are disposed of improperly and the effects of these...