Curated OER
Put Your Truss in Building Bridges
Students apply abstract concepts, such as stress, fulcrums, the law of gravity, and the strength of different geometric shapes. Groups of student contractors operate simulated architectural firms to create strong, economical bridges.
Curated OER
Tiling the Classroom
Students see how to identify regular polygons, how to slide, turn and flip polygons, and why certain polygons tessellate better than others. Groups create a one foot square design to be used to tile the classroom. Great lesson!
Curated OER
Build a Model Watershed
Collaborative earth science groups create a working model of a watershed. Once it has been developed, you come along and introduce a change in land use, impacting the quality of water throughout their watershed. Model making is an...
Curated OER
What's the Weather Like? Primary Level
Elementary schoolers and language learners will shine with a series of games and activities that feature weather words. The exercises can be adapted for pairs, small groups, or whole class participation.
Curated OER
You Be the Conservator: Looking at Objects Inside and Out
Young scholars examine the Hispanic American tradition of making santos, painted woodcarvings of saints in the Catholic Church. In this lesson, student have the opportunity to create their own santos, make an 'x-ray' and create a story...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Sky High
How are skyscrapers built? What does it take to make a structurally sound building? How can one work within a budget to complete a building project? These guiding questions will be investigated and answered within a hands-on lesson....
Curated OER
Tropical Rainforests
Students create their own rainforest environment. This tropical rainforest lesson, introduces where rainforests are located, their real world connections, and their structural make up. It includes further resources online.
Curated OER
Rivers and Streams
In this rivers and streams worksheet, students explore how rivers and streams react with the environment. Students also study where the major rivers flow in their local areas. Activities are provided that help students visualize the...
Curated OER
Genre Lesson: Autobiography
Start kids thinking about point of view and autobiographies by telling them a short story about your morning (first person), and then asking a volunteer to re-tell the story to you (second person). There are tips to help you tie this...
Curated OER
The Branding of America (And Your State)
Students investigate about the origins of some major U.S. brands. They explore local products that stimulate the economy. Students create a map showing where those products originate. Students discover the products that their local area...
Curated OER
The "Wright" Puzzle
A crossword puzzle based on the lives of the Wright brothers. Students research on their own or in small groups several brief biographies of the Wright brothers.They complete a crossword puzzle based on their reading.
Curated OER
Timeline of Historical Fiction
Students create a historical fiction timeline. They review the literature through the perspective of history (writing prompts provided). Students create a book cover illustration to appear with the book review in the appropriate spot on...
Curated OER
Adventures in Toyland
There are many ways to tell a story; Richard Patterson's three-dimensional painting If serves as the inspiration for some creative storytelling for elementary school writers. They watch a clip from Toy Story (you'll need to bring this),...
Curated OER
Flutterings and Flowers
Fourth graders investigate the significance of natural resources and the habitats of butterflies. They create a list of their own favorite foods, then watch a video about habitats. Students identify things in the video that animals and...
Curated OER
Call it "Macaroni"
Who knew there were so many fun educational opportunities featuring pasta? Scholars read a brief informational text about the history of pasta (note that "macaroni" is spelled two different ways, so address this if kids are reading...
Curated OER
Crowley's Ridge: An Upland in the Lowlands
This clever lesson combines elements of geography, art, literature, and storytelling. Pupils take a close look at the six geographical regions of Arkansas, and pay close attention to Crowley's Ridge - which is one of the six. In groups,...
Curated OER
Novel Character Study
Students complete a character study using a database to compile information from a novel. They design a five slide presentation highlighting the character's reaction to different situations in the book. They write an acrostic poem using...
Curated OER
Pizza! Pizza!
Third graders tally, sort, and organize pizza orders from monthly school sales. They create an advertising campaign to promote the School Pizza Sale, record the data in graph form, compare and contrast the tallies throughout the year,...
Curated OER
Alliteration
Learners recognize, identify and produce words that begin with the /sp/ sound. They decorate objects that have the /sp/ sound with items that have the /sp/ sound. Students create phrases with the /sp/ sound that describe the object...
Curated OER
Eating Up Idioms
Ah, food idioms! Now that sounds tasty. Class members read and discuss various food-related idioms, create an illustration of a food-related idiom, and develop a class book or bulletin board to celebrate figurative language and National...
Curated OER
Understanding Idioms Is a Piece of Cake
Interpreting idioms is a piece of cake! In groups, learners discuss the meaning of some common English idioms and choose 10 to use in sentences. Then, they illustrate the silly, literal meanings of those idioms and can engage in a fun...
Curated OER
Weather Proverbs
Define and write proverbs! Learners define proverbs, use the Internet to find weather-related proverbs, and talk with their parents to learn other proverbs. There's a well-structured worksheet included here.
Curated OER
Pablita Indian Legends
Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
We Are All Authors: Create a Book
Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their own to...