Curated OER
Everyone's a Critic: Analyzing Sitcoms as Cultural Texts
Start by defining the word sitcom with the goal of launching a discussion. What exactly is a sitcom? How is a sitcom different from sketch comedy, drama, and reality television? Class members give examples, remember storylines they've...
Wake County Public Schools
Language
Have your class doing everything from reading literature, analyzing literary devices, identifying independent and dependent clauses, discussing, and writing creatively with the rich resource found here. After a mini lesson on independent...
New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Council for the Humanities
Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park
What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...
New York State Education Department
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 1
Work out your core, Common Core State Standards, through the first workshop in a series of 15 designed for educators. Inquiry-based activities designed for all content areas and grade levels explore the shifts to new standards,...
Curated OER
Navigating The Road to my Future
Some kids think that making a plan for the future is a cinch! Let them discover through peer work and discussion that the road through life isn't always an easy one. The activities and worksheets in this lesson provide them with an...
Curated OER
What Type of Students do Colleges Want?
What do college admissions teams look at when deciding who get's in and who doesn't? The class considers the types of classroom and extra curricular activities they participate in and how those might improve their chances at getting into...
John Wiley & Sons
Introduction to the Student Leadership Challenge
"Leadership is learned, and everyone has the potential to be a leader." From modeling the way to encouraging the heart, learners discover the five practices of exemplary leadership through a series of rich, hands-on, collaborative...
Curated OER
Bill Robinson: Mr. Bojangles
Mr. Bojangles was born just after slavery was abolished and became one of the most beloved entertainers of his time. Explore key vocabulary, the life of an African-American entertainer, and the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on...
Queen of Heaven School
Computer Curriculum
Need some extra resources to get your class computer savvy? How about several years' worth? Show pupils in K-8 a progression of proficiency in a series of computer lessons. Learners master the basics, then work with the Microsoft Office...
National Park Service
The Young Naturalist
Beginning with a brief history of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, then followed by a discussion of his interest in nature, young scientists take to the outdoors to locate and observe local plants and insects. Scholars return to...
Creative Educator
Sell It with Propaganda
Augment a unit on propaganda by prompting class members to create propaganda. Using Frames software, groups demonstrate their understanding of propaganda techniques by designing a new product, creating a commercial to sell their product,...
University of Oklahoma
Advocating For My Needs After High School
A three-lesson unit teaches learners with special needs how to advocate for their needs after high school. Class members review appropriate was to disclose their disability during interviews and applications, and how to request...
Smithsonian Institution
Autobiography through Objects
Show youngsters how objects can tell a story! Here your class will learn about Cuban salsa dancer Celia Cruz by analyzing pictures of her dress, her shoes, and her marriage certificate. After describing Cruz's items and imagining what...
Curated OER
America's Heartland: Step-By-Step Lesson Guide
An excellent resource gets kids looking at agricultural production to better understand the careers needed in distributing foods from the farm to the consumer. Book, poster, web, and video links are included for teacher use. There is...
Curated OER
Transportation Fuels: What Car Will You Drive?
How many different types of biofuels are out there? Seventh graders watch a series of videos and participate in a series of activities in order to better understand all the transportation options available. They consider what type of car...
Curated OER
TECH: Geneticist
A brief PowerPoint is used to introduce the class to the field of genetics by explaining the fields of work, the education required, and the job prospects. A trait inventory worksheet is completed by individuals, and then they gather...
Crafting Freedom
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Lover of Literacy
This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.
Curated OER
Buying and Selling: Getting Cherries into a Pie
Kids keep score as they take on the roles of buyers and sellers in an agribusiness introduction. They play the game for five rounds, each round is made different by having a new economic element added, a discussion follows. Everything...
Middle Tennessee State University
The Invention of the Telephone
All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his sketch of the...
Curated OER
DNA: Expressions in Agriculture
What is DNA extraction, and can you make a living doing it? Yes, if you are in a biotechnology field. Kids learn about DNA extraction, GMOs, and biotechnology careers. They then watch videos and complete activities to understand the use...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to Sue Monk Kidd's: The Secret Life of Bees
A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.
Curated OER
Lesson: Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone
Kids consider the pure abstraction and minimalism found in Mary Heilmann's work. They analyze several of her pieces through critical discussion and then think about her use of a song title as the title of her exhibit. Learners then use a...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Understanding the Columbian Exchange Through Old World and New World Foods
If you're interested in teaching your class about the impact of the Columbian Exchange on contemporary society, this is worth a look. The plan begins with an introduction to the topic, which stems from a cell phone poll...
Umoja Student Development Corporation
Martin Luther King, Jr.: What Did He Do? Why Does It Matter?
Young historians examine the work of Martin Luther King Jr. by reading and answering questions about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Albany Movement, the Birmingham and Chicago campaigns, and the Memphis Sanitation Worker's Strike.