Endowment of United States Institute of Peace
Active Listening
Ensure that your pupils listen to one another in constructive ways by introducing them to active listening skills through discussion, role playing, and partner work.
US Institute of Peace
Responding to Conflict: Active Listening
Did I hear you right? You need a great lesson on active listening? Through large- and small-group activities, learners differentiate between poor and excellent listening skills. The resource, 7th in a series of 15, focuses on active...
TESOL
Are You a Good Listener?
Your learners talk to each other every day, but are they really listening? Use a lesson based on listening skills to ensure that class members feel heard and respected. It includes games, discussion topics, and self-assessment tools that...
Curated OER
Team Assignment - A Parking Dilemma
Class groups are challenged to solve the school’s parking problem. Each team must establish ground rules for their discussion, determine criteria that must be met, and brainstorm possible solutions. Next, they agree on one solution and...
Curated OER
Writing Skills: Fables
Use fables as a fun way for English Language Learners to gain confidence and fluency in their reading and speaking skills. After reading a fable in class, they retell their story to a group of their peers. When this jigsaw activity is...
EngageNY
Final Performance Task: Fishbowl Discussion about Editorial Essay
Using the resource, learners share their essay revisions with a partner. Afterward, they participate in a Fishbowl discussion, receiving peer feedback about their editorial essays.
Health Smart Virginia
Social Emotional Skills
A list of seven ideas designed to boost social-emotional learning provides ample opportunity for identifying and expressing feelings. Activities include ice-breakers, role-playing, thoughtful discussions, and more.
Columbus City Schools
Poetry Speaking and Listening Standards
Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet.
Curated OER
Magazine Production
Analyze magazines as a class, looking carefully for the target audience, advertisements, and topics presented. Small groups then work as a publication team and receive a magazine that they have to "sell." Each individual has a different...
Curated OER
ESL Grammar Lessons
Practice makes perfect when it comes to learning grammar with this ESL resource. Offering a great way to teach about relative clauses, this activity engages students with a series of partner, small group, and whole class speaking and...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Sally’s Super Day
After having a bad day, Sally took scholars' suggestions and had a super day. Pupils listen to her newest short story then discuss the events that occurred. They sort each event by what was in her control and what was not. Participants...
British Council
Forced to Wear a Skirt
What's the dress code? Scholars read brief texts about school uniforms and discuss opinions for and against them. Pupils then work with a partner to role play a conversation about school uniforms.
Curated OER
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Fishbowl Discussion Instructional Routine Guide
What exactly does make life worth living? In preparation for a fishbowl discussion of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, readers of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel highlight sections that show a character grieving, coping, or suffering...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Friendship Line Dancing
Develop social awareness with a instructional activity that challenges scholars to properly communicate with their peers. Standing in two lines, participants practice introducing themselves, asking how their partner is feeling, asks if...
Digital Writing and Research Lab's – Lesson Plans
Teaching Close Reading through Short Composition/Revision
This activity may have writers evaluate short compositions, but their subjects are quite tall: great Americans. Pupils read one another's compositions and closely examine how specific phrases and diction contribute to shaping American...
EngageNY
Choosing a Book That Interests Me: Seeking the Superhero Reader in Me
Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the classroom....
Curated OER
Tell Me; I’ll Listen
Encourage respect, responsibility, and caring within your classroom with a collection of lessons that spark dialogue and self reflection. To address character traits, lessons touch on topics such as staying safe in the cafeteria,...
British Council
How Green Are You?
Go green! Scholars survey their classmates to determine how green they are and then write a report to summarize their findings. Finally, pupils agree on five changes they can make in their lives to help the environment.
Health Smart Virginia
Communication
In preparation for a game in which they guess the type of communication used in a scenario, scholars examine and discuss the four types of communication: passive, aggressive, assertive, and passive-aggressive. Learners identify "I"...
Project B.A.S.I.C. Child Development Specialist and Child Care Consultation
Better Attitudes and Skills in Children
Little kids often have very big feelings, and need help expressing them. A set of social emotional lessons provide tangible ways for young elementary learners to visualize their emotions, focus on clear communication, and channel their...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Dinosaurs Before Dark
Young readers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs in this literature unit based on the story Dinosaurs Before Dark. Intended for use with upper-elementary special education students, this resource provides reading comprehension,...
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Many Roles I Play in My Community
Small groups brainstorm their roles in the community. Then, individually, complete a community roles web worksheet. Peers share their completed product and extend the conversation to include the feelings and character traits that go...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Nasreen's Secret School: How Do People Access Books in Afghanistan?
Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...
Academy of American Poets
On "El Florida Room" by Richard Blanco
Scholars of all ages examine Richard Blanco's poem, "El Florida Room." Looking closely at pictures, pupils look for details that stand out to them, then read the poem. A whole-class discussion allows learners to reflect on what they...