Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Made Up Math
Is there a way to connect creative thinking, logical reasoning, mathematical understanding, and humor? You bet there is! Kids begin by creating creative math quizzes, which require creative thinking to solve. For example, 1+1=24, one...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Making of a Monster
Over the course of a week, the class will study how monsters are portrayed throughout literature. But why? Monsters in science fiction or horror often depict the darker side of human nature; they are described for their horrific physical...
Perkins School for the Blind
Beginning Map Skills
Maps can be so much fun, they help you understand spatial relationships, distance between objects, and can foster direction skills. Budding cartographers with visual impairments use the Wheatley Tactile Diagramming Kit to create their...
California Academy of Science
Colorful Fish Adaptations
I love lessons that incorporate the arts, they're so engaging and address a more diverse set of learners. Your class will investigate the reasons fish from the coal reef have adapted such colorful fins. They design a fish that uses color...
California Academy of Science
Carbon Cycle Poster
Humans can have a big impact on the environment, specifically the influence they have on the carbon cycle. First, the class will define and discuss each of the earths four major spheres, the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and...
Illustrative Mathematics
Pennies to Heaven
Even though pennies seem to be relatively thin, stack enough of them into a single stack, and you could have quite a high stack. Enough so, that the final result can be a surprise to you as well as your class. This activity centers...
California Academy of Science
Fish Prints
What do a dead fish, conservation, and paint have in common? The answer is a great lesson about fish anatomy, fun print making techniques, and unsustainable fishing practices. The class will start by making fish prints with a...
Perkins School for the Blind
Creating a 3-D Model of a Plant Life
Instructing blind or visually impaired learners means you need to make symbolic tactile representations of various processes to provide as much input as possible. But wouldn't it be even better to have your learners make the models...
Perkins School for the Blind
Integrated Skills - Laundry
I hate doing laundry, even if it is an independent living skill that requires me to count money, follow a sequence, and sort clothing by color. Learners with multiple disabilities discuss what laundry is, why they need to do it, and how...
Perkins School for the Blind
Timeline for Anne
It is key to the learning process to make everything a child with visual impairments does as tactile as possible. After reading Anne of Green Gables, the class discusses her life events in order to make a tactile time line. They choose...
Perkins School for the Blind
Find the Objects/Beginning Sound Indentification
If you are just starting out as a teacher for children with visual impairments and want a fun way to teach braille and phonemic awareness, look no further. You'll fill 21 boxes with objects that start with specific letter sounds. You'll...
Perkins School for the Blind
Accessible Labels
When you're blind it is extremely important to be able to navigate your environment in as independent a way as possible. This idea isn't a lesson, but it is a great way to foster independent mobility and literacy skills while making the...
Perkins School for the Blind
Tactile quilts that tell a story
Learners with multiple disabilities need to engage in projects that push them to know their full potential. They need to be able to express themselves in a variety of ways, and this very thoughtful lesson does just that. They make a...
Perkins School for the Blind
Making Choices
Here is an excellent and well-developed lesson intended to promote choice-making skills for learners with visual impairment and intellectual disabilities. It fosters choice-making skills through a soft version of discrete trial training,...
Shakespeare Uncovered
“Speak, I Charge You”: Macbeth On Your Feet, Not In Your Seat
“Is this a dagger which I see before me . . .” As part of a study of Macbeth, class members engage in a series of activities that get them up and moving. Individuals practice, then deliver, a line from the Scottish play. The entire class...
The New York Times
Fiction or Nonfiction? Considering the Common Core's Emphasis on Informational Text
Nothing aids in comprehension more than an explanation and understanding of why things are done. Address why the Common Core requires the reading percentages that it established and analyze how this affects your readers. Learners read...
Brookly Museum
Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe
Modern art is great to experience because it brings contemporary issues into everyday conversation. Upper graders consider the work of Mickalene Thomas, an artist that uses photo collage techniques to capture the beauty of African...
AMCO
Clay Face Masks
Let your class explore their sculpting skills with a lesson on making clay masks. Each step in the process is fully described alongside a helpful image. Kids of any ages will be able to construct fantastic representations of the human...
Bekshire Museum
Cloudy Skies: The Art of Classification
Such a great resource and perfect for learners in Kindergarten through third grade. The class will discuss cloud types and formation, and then they'll get outside and draw as they observe the clouds they see. They'll need to take note of...
Folger Shakespeare Library
Pre-Reading Hamlet with "Hamlet: An Insider’s Guide"
Prove that Gertrude did kill Ophelia from practicing the word inflections activities with these pre-reading strategies for Hamlet. Thespians practice the line, “Is that your sandwich?” as they stress and accent different words, and...
Discovery Education
The Everyday Science of Sports
Physical science juniors will enjoy this sensational enrichment on aerodynamics, especially if they are also sports fans! With a focus on physical features and behaviors, collaborative groups make observations on five different golf...
Brigham Young University
Socratic Seminar for Cold Sassy Tree
Tired of giving the same old multiple-choice tests, and have the urge for a new assessment? Then bring the precision of a Socratic seminar into your classroom. Even if you did not read Cold Sassy Tree the organization and explanation on...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Creating a Psychology News Wiki
If you're searching for a way to keep your class informed of current psychology news, this ongoing assignment is both educational and engaging. Class members locate and read a psychology article of interest, write a psychological...
Shakespeare Uncovered
War and Leadership in Shakespeare’s Henry V
“Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” These two views of war, embodied in George Patton’s statement and Lorraine Schneider‘s famous 1966...