Curated OER
Teach Ancient Greece!
“We alone regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs, not as a harmless but as a useless character.” Pericles’ comment, part of a funeral speech, sets the tone for a unit study of Ancient Greece. A series of activities...
Smithsonian Institution
Young People Shake Up Elections (History Proves It) Educator Guide
Vote, it's your civic duty! The resource provides several videos about voting in the United States. Scholars watch a series of topics ranging from youth participation to civic action. The educator's guide provides teachers with...
True Blue Schools
Now, We’re Cooking!
Practice nutritional cooking with a collection of fun meal preparation lessons. Each lesson includes a focus, objective, collaborative activity, and recipe to culminate what young cooks have learned about healthy eating.
Curated OER
Mirror Exercise
Kids get up and act! To promote inventiveness, timing, and clowning, they pair up and act as though they are looking in a mirror. Child A does a move while child B attempts to mimic it as closely as possible. This is a fun activity that...
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
Honesty
Get your youngsters talking about what it means to be honest, and how difficult it can be to try to cover up the truth, with one of the several collaborative activities listed in this resource.
Illustrative Mathematics
Running on the Football Field
Make your class into Pythagorean theorem fanatics in no time. What a great resource to get your sports enthusiasts into the math game! Read the commentary so you can you can strategize how to apply the three math practices.
Curated OER
Hula Hoop ABC Relays
Adding hula hoops to any activity can present a fun challenge. This worksheet explains how to conduct an activity that combines the recognition of capital/lowercase letters and a hula hoop relay. Outside on the playground, each student...
Curated OER
Distances Between Houses
This resource sneaks in the math so your learners will be adding and subtracting positive and negatives on a number line while thinking they are mapping out houses. The activity starts by putting houses the appropriate distance away from...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Chair Lift Challenge
During the Winter Olympics, this would be an engaging task to include in your STEM lesson. Design teams plan, construct, and test a miniature ski lift that can carry a pingpong ball up and down a rope line without falling out. With this...
Curated OER
Tree Measurement
Measure a tree? Yes, measure a tree! Learners get outside and measure a tree's trunk, crown, and height. Each group compares their answers to determine if any re-measuring is necessary. Once back in the classroom, students make bar...
Curated OER
Tug of War Exercise
Learners hone their acting and imagination by playing tug-o-war with an imaginary rope. Each group works together and pretends to pull the other group over the imaginary line with an imaginary rope. This could be a good improve warm up...
California Polytechnic State University
Australian Geography Unit
At the heart of this resource is a beautifully detailed PowerPoint presentation (provided in PDF form) on the overall physical geography of Australia, basic facts about the country, Aboriginal history, and Australia culture and lifestyle.
Computer Science Unplugged
Tourist Town—Dominating Sets
As an introduction to using a network to determine the fewest number of nodes that meet a given condition, small groups work together to determine the fewest number of ice cream vans, and their locations, to be able to serve the people...
Mr. Roughton
Cold Case Rome
Pupils are transformed into detectives in the case to solve the motive behind the assassination of Julius Caesar. This resource includes eight engaging "exhibits" of unique primary and secondary sources for students to analyze during...
Food a Fact of Life
Meal Appeal
To demonstrate their mastery of time management and kitchen organization skills, groups prepare either a shepherd's pie, lasagne, or spaghetti bolognese.
Food a Fact of Life
Mini-Meals
Young cooks demonstrate their understanding of the various aspects of food preparation they have studied so far by preparing a main meal component. Koftas, spicy bean burgers, or a fish and veggie stack are among the options they may...
TRAIN Educational & Community Services
Multicultural Activities
From catching stars developed by African pygmy tribes to chop stix pick-up or the Hanukkah dreidel, use this list of diverse multicultural activities to help your learners draw connections to unique cultures of the world.
Curated OER
Dilworth Elementary Character Education Respect (September)
R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to your class! After a grand conversation about what is, and how one can show respect, scholars take part in a plethora of activity choices such as role playing, a game of Simon Says, wood working,...
TCI
What Are the Biggest April Fools Jokes of All Time?
After working in groups to analyze primary sources related to a historical hoax, learners will discuss how people managed to be fooled and work to identify one of the biggest April Fools jokes in history.
Anti-Bullying Alliance
Anti-Bullying Lesson Plan
Wicked is not just a Tony Award winning broadway musical. It also makes for a strong base to teach character education, specifically anti-bullying. Scholars listen, discuss, role play, and show what they know through a group presentation...
Curated OER
Hatchet: Multicultural Strategy
Sometimes it's easier to read one part of a novel when focusing on discussion points. Partners work together to read a few paragraphs of Chapter 5 from Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and discuss the plot and theme of the book.
Tick Tock Curriculum
Whodunnit? The Case of the Missing Poodle
Who purloined the poodle? Class groups read police reports and theorize whodunnit. The sixth of a ten-lesson series on mysteries.
Curated OER
What A Feeling ... Just Dance!
Hopefully your middle schoolers have had some introduction already to dance movement before you do this lesson. If they have, then giving them ribbons and instructing them to make up a little routine should be a fun activity. Encourage...
Curated OER
How Do Adjectives Improve Writing?
Using adjectives to create vivid descriptions is the focus of exercises in this resource. A cloze reading activity asks class members to add missing adjectives to passages from Mark Teague's The Lost and Found. They then read Teague's...