Overcoming Obstacles
Cooperation
Young scholars practice cooperation by working together for a common cause. After a short demonstration, learners fill in a T-Chart describing how cooperation looks and sounds. Small groups work together to pick up tiny beads and put...
Curated OER
Teamwork Towers
Students work in a cooperative groups to create a free standing tower of straws and pins in ten minutes. They watch a video of the cooperative groups working, discuss the process and list the things they could do to improve the cooperation.
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Working Cooperatively in a Social System
Using an informative resource, scholars view a PowerPoint about working cooperatively in a social system. Pupils then use their newfound knowledge to create a flowchart defining the systems of an organization.
Baylor College
Mapping the Spread of HIV/AIDS
Where is HIV/AIDS most prevalent and what are the current trends regarding HIV? Have groups work together to map the world's HIV/AIDS rates, then create a class map with all the data. Lesson includes cross-disciplinary concepts including...
Smithsonian Institution
Conflicting Voices of the Mexican War
Americans wanted to fulfill Manifest Destiny, and this pattern continued with the Mexican War. The resource specifically teaches about the Mexican War through a variety of exercises including a research project, group work, brainstorming...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Sources of Discord, 1945-1946
From Allies to enemies within a year. Scholars research the falling out between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945-1946 in the first lesson of a three-part series. Using primary source materials, group work, and interactive...
Curated OER
Picture-Go-Round
Students demonstrate how to participate in a cooperative group. In this philanthropy instructional activity, students create drawings by working together as a group and contributing their thoughts and feelings.
PBS
Evaluating Conflicting Evidence: Sultana
What sunk the Sultana? Scholars become investigators to uncover the facts behind the 1865 sinking just after the end of the Civil War. Through group work, videos, and primary documents, they research and analyze why 1,800 men died....
Baylor College
Energy for Life (Energy from Food)
Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...
iCivics
Conflict & Cooperation
Considering such conflicts as the Vietnam War and the war in Afghanistan, what motivates nations to cooperate? Your class members will analyze past and current international events in order to understand the types of conditions and...
PBS
Team Work and Planning
Welcome to the Great Marshmallow Challenge. To conclude a unit study designed to help scholars develop teamwork and collaboration skills, groups are charged with developing a free-standing structure using only one marshmallow, 20 pieces...
Curated OER
All About Groups And Community
Second graders examine the kinds of rules that different groups have. They work cooperatively in small groups to make rules for different groups and complete a worksheet imbedded in this plan. They have a greater understanding why rules...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Finding the Positive
To instill the importance of a positive classroom community small groups create a collage out of magazine clippings that highlight three characteristics of self-awareness. Written examples accompany the finished product. Groups turn in...
Rutgers University
How the Allies Won World War II: Island-hopping in the Central Pacific
Using primary source documents, young historians explore the strategies the US used to defeat Japan during WWII. They also learn about the American military experience, and innovations that changed the style of warfare. Students benefit...
EngageNY
Tax, Commissions, Fees, and Other Real-World Percent Problems
Pupils work several real-world problems that use percents in the 11th portion of a 20-part series. The problems contain percents involved with taxes, commissions, discounts, tips, fees, and interest. Scholars use the equations formed for...
Rainforest Alliance
Investments in Forest Carbon
One hundred metric tons of CO2 can accumulate in one acre of forest over time—that's a lot of carbon! In the activity, groups of middle school learners determine what makes forests important. They then solidify the concept by using a...
EngageNY
Reading and Talking with Peers: A Carousel of Photos and Texts about Frogs
Frogs are the theme of a lesson plan that challenges scholars to examine photographs, read informational texts, then ask and answer questions. Scholars work collaboratelively as they rotate through stations, discuss their observations,...
Curated OER
Literature Circles
Literature circles let kids interact with each other and hear different perspectives. explore literature circles. Group your class into small reading groups, and then assign each class member a specific role to keep them focused. After...
Curated OER
Locating Information Quickly in a Variety of Resources
Here is a lesson plan which may be best suited for a library science teacher, or one that can be done by a regular teacher when in the library. In it, learners explore the best ways to use print and electronic resources to find...
EngageNY
Reading about Freaky Frogs: “The Amazon Horned Frog"
The Amazon Horned Frog is the focus of a activity designed to encourage readers to ask and answer questions. A frog-themed poem opens the door to a whole-group discussion. Following a read-aloud of an informational text, a three-page...
Health Smart Virginia
Class Rules
Scholars complete a worksheet describing their hopes and dreams then work with a partner to discuss the importance of class rules. Learners brainstorm a list of rules to be compiled and displayed for all pupils to reference.
Curated OER
Working in Small Groups
Pupils learn the advantages of working in small groups and how it is a lifetime skill. They learn that each member has responsibility to contribute to the plan of the group. They then learn group cooperation rules.
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Arctic Smorgasbord
Though the walrus spends roughly one third of its time on land, it eats organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean. The first in a series of five, the lesson uses a variety of plant and animal cards to have scholars build an arctic...
Curated OER
Traits Needed for Effective Group Process
Young scholars compile a list of 10 desirable traits for working with others. They evaluate the traits that are necessary for specific jobs and describe them in work settings.