Read Works
The What and Who of Elections
As citizens living in the United States, it is our civil duty to vote. But how does the voting process work? After reading a five-paragraph passage on the basics of elections and voting, young constituents respond to 10 questions...
Beyond Benign
Scale the Wall
How can you fit an entire school on one sheet of paper? You use scale! Scholars measure rooms in the school and, using the correct scale, design a floor plan that includes area calculations with their data.
Beyond Benign
Measurement Madness
Behind all good design and construction lies a perfect set of plans that are created by a person who knows his, or her, math! Youngsters practice using one of the key tools of the draftsman, the ruler, to practice measuring...
California Department of Education
Creating a Therapeutic Soundscape: Ambient Improvisations and Planned Catharsis (CTE)
How is music a form of therapy? Scholars explore the topic using the fourth and final instructional activity from the Changing One's Tune: A Music Therapy STEM series. Learners explore the relationship between music and the mind and...
California Department of Education
Instruments of Change: Making a Simple Stringed Instrument (CTE)
What materials and skills does a person need to build a simple working instrument? With the first of four lessons from the Changing One's Tune: A Music Therapy STEM Integrated Project series, scholars learn about the basic structure of...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Word Checkers
Young scholars practice reading high-frequency words by playing word checkers. They use the provided checker mat and checkers to read their way to the other side of the mat, making a less stressful way to provide necessary practice.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phoneme Feud
This is a phoneme feud! A literacy game that is very similar to the classic card game War! has partners challenging each other for the most phonemes. They place one picture card face-up at a time and segment the phonemes aloud. Whoever...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phoneme Dominoes
Unlike regular dominoes, these have pictures of simple objects. Images are matched (like pig and plant) based on their initial phonemic sound. Learners will have fun playing and saying various words, matching initial letter sounds as...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Sentence Game
How many words do you hear? As you introduce the way sentences are made up of words, this listening game offers an excellent independent practice opportunity. Kids take turns with a partner as they listen to a sentence twice, counting...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Picture Slide
Here is another fun and engaging way to help youngsters build phonological awareness. In pairs, they use the provided picture cards to sound out segments of words. As they slide the picture together they say a segment of the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Word Blender
Little learners will love being able to blend sounds together to make words. This game provides eight onsets and eight rimes that can be used to mix and match to sound out words. This activity is to be completed in pairs and is a great...
Florida Center for Reading Research
One Card Out
Remember the song, "One of These Things is not Like The Other?" Well, this phonemic awareness activity is just like that. The only difference is that learners work to determine which initial phoneme is not like the others on the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Final Phoneme Pyramid
Little learners identify final phonemes found in various words. They play a game where they pick a card, say the name of the object on the card, identify the final phoneme, then match it to an image with the same final phoneme. Whoever...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Pocket Rhymes
Rhyming is fun and it helps build phonological awareness that is key in early reading. Learners use a pocket chart and a set of 40 cards that make 20 rhyming sets to practice recognizing rhyming words. Peer one picks a card from a bag...
K20 LEARN
Electoral College: Does My Vote Count?
How can a candidate get the most votes, yet still lose the race for the presidency? This is has happened more than once in American history, including in the elections of 2000 and 2016. Using an activity for creating group notes, young...
Center for History Education
U.S. Foreign Policy and the Iran-Contra Affair: Was Oliver North a Patriot, a Pawn, or an Outlaw?
If you had to write a song about Oliver North, would it be a ballad or a dirge? If you had to put him on a trading card, would he be a hero or the bad guy? Young historians decide for themselves after examining documents from the...
Center for History Education
Cold War Case Files: The Rosenberg Trial - Was Justice Fairly Served?
The Rosenbergs—executed for their role in a Soviet-era spy ring—continue the captivate the American imagination. Using a history lab format, young historians examine the trove of documents associated with the case, including photographs...
Center for History Education
To What Extent Were Women's Contributions to World War II Industries Valued?
Women rose to the challenge when the nation's war effort called them—but were sent home when the GIs came back from World War II. Young historians consider whether the United States valued women's contributions during the war using a...
Center for History Education
Guatemalan Coup of 1954: How Did the Cold War Influence American Foreign Policy Decisions?
Was it all about the bananas—or the fear of a communist threat? Young historians use a history lab to examine documents from the American-led 1954 Guatemalan coup. Using graphics, government documents, and speeches, they examine the...
DocsTeach
What Kind of Leader Was General Douglas MacArthur?
For five decades, General Douglas MacArthur shaped US military involvement around the world. His career ended when he went toe to toe with President Dwight Eisenhower over the Korean War. Young historians evaluate the complicated command...
Center for History Education
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: Is Anyone to be Punished for This?
The stories of bodies falling to the pavement and girls dying in their seats echo to the present day. The New York City Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—which killed 147 people, mostly young women and girls—galvanized the labor movement...
Center for History Education
Reshaping American Society: How did Immigration and Urbanization Affect America in the mid 1800s?
From the Know-Nothings to the Bible Riots, immigration and urbanization changed the face of America in the middle of the 1800s. Using documents that range from immigrant experiences to renderings of violent conflict between immigrants...
DocsTeach
The Suffrage and the Civil Rights Reform Movements
It's the American way to put one foot in front of the other and march. Using images of protests from the civil rights and women's suffrage movements, young historians analyze similarities between the two watershed moments of social...
Mr. Nussbaum
American Revolution
Test scholar's reading comprehension skills with a practice that challenges pupils to read an informational text about the Amerian Revolution then answer 10 questions.