Curated OER
The nutritional value of snack foods
This lesson is intended as preparation for a school health fair but could be used anytime. Learners discuss and compare the nutrition found in typical snack foods. They compose investigative questions, collect data, and research a...
Curated OER
In Case of Emergency
A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness lesson. Youngsters...
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing instructional activity with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking...
Curated OER
A Primary Source Picture Book
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
Curated OER
Context Skills
Here is a fine lesson plan on teaching ways to use context clues. Upper graders split up into groups and use sticky notes to cover up five words in a passage of text. The passages are rotated to the other groups, and learners must use...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Abundant Area
Explore the relationship between perimeter and area. Learners input the area and perimeter for shapes on the Shape Explorer website, solve problems using geoboards, complete a worksheet, create a PowerPoint presentation, and take an...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Clotilde, The Last Slave Ship
The Clotilde was the last known ship to bring slaves from Africa to the United States - good riddance! Dive into the details of the ship, its cargo, origin, and route, and learn about the future of the Africans on board...
Curated OER
The Animals Kingdom
Students are introduced to the classification system of animals. In groups, they set up an aquarium in which they must maintain throughout the year. They also observe earthworms and how they react to various stimuli and research the...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Have your class conduct research to learn all they can about simple machines. They use the web, take notes from a video, write a script, then make a film describing various simple machines found in real life. These videos are then...
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson plan, individuals study both historic and present-day maps...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to Counting by 7s
Everyone takes a different journey through grief. A series of lesson plans for the novel Counting by 7s introduces readers to the main character who loses her parents in a car crash. Discussion questions and writing prompts combine...
Curated OER
Magazine Project
Groups of students create magazines that contain stories and images of one aspect of the ocean, and ocean life. The expectations for the final products are quite high, so this lesson will require some effort to properly implement. A...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian In Your Classroom: The Music in Poetry
Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...
Curated OER
Sly Book Channel
Create a commercial for a favorite book and broadcast this pitch on the Sly Book Channel! Learners practice retelling, summarizing, comparing/contrasting, and evaluation skills as they prepare their scripts. The approved scripts are then...
Curated OER
Abraham Lincoln- An Internet Buddy Activity
Students research the life of Abraham Lincoln. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students use the Internet to discover facts about his life. Students practice using Internet tools.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Dance Critic
What do writing and dance have in common? They both have a six-trait rubric for assessment. Just like a good story, a good dance must have a hook, beginning, middle, end, logical sequence, and a climax. Learners use a...
Curated OER
Comparing Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl
Pupils examine similarities and differences between cultures. They'll see that literature, reading, and story telling is something all cultures have in common. They should construct Venn diagrams to help them compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Antonyms, synonyms and homophones
Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. In this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.
Curated OER
Plagiarism
Don't get caught plagiarizing! Before starting your research unit, use this lesson to help your young writers identify plagiarism. The truth is, many kids don't even realize when they're doing it! They practice citing sources when...
Curated OER
The Daily Idiom
What is an idiom? Learners identify and read common idioms. They discuss what idioms are, and are given a black line master embedded in the plan that has 100 common idioms. Next, they complete "The Daily Idiom" worksheet, which is...
Curated OER
Me on the Map Lesson 2
Students analyze and interpret maps, globes and geographic information systems to define and identify cities, counties, states, countries and continents to create a booklet called me on the map. They also determine and calculate the...
Curated OER
Literature
Students read a book that is recommended on the Internet, then write their appreciation of what they have read. They send their opinion about others' written appreciation through the e-mail.
Curated OER
Ask an Expert-Grade 5-8
Young scholars conduct oral histories about water in their community. They interview community members, create a class oral history journal, and record their findings on a school website, in the school or public library, or in another...
Curated OER
Simple Internet Searching - Lesson 1
Students formulate strategies for locating information by identifying keywords and subject headings and by listing the steps to follow in carrying out information searches. They locate and access information from pre-selected sites.