Curated OER
I'm A Star!
Fourth graders answer questions about being responsible community member. They listen and brainstorm ideas of why it important to be responsible community members. Students are given a copy of "I'm A Star Community Member" game...
Curated OER
How Does Who I Am Relate to Employability?
Sixth graders work in groups to discuss ethics and the role honesty, courage, responsibility, self-discipline, and self-respect may play in a future employment opportunity. Groups present their ideas to the remainder of the class as well...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: June 2015
Heroes rise from adversity. That theme forms the focus of the critical lens essay in a sample comprehensive English examination. The exam, which is part of a larger series of sample standardized tests, also includes two short response...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: June 2016
Those in positions of authority don't always have the best interest of their people in mind. As part of a sample assessment question, readers must consider how works of literature they read apply to a quote from Edmund Burke—"The greater...
Curated OER
Conservation vs. Economic Growth
Investigate the choices people make between economic growth and personal growth and development using the ethical/decision making model. Small groups create and present a position paper describing their feeling for or against the...
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: June 2018
Is graffiti art? Writers explore that question as part of a source-based argument within a set of questions from the NY Regents examination. The assessment from June 2018, part of a larger set of standardized tests, consists of three...
Carfleo
Substance Use and Abuse
What is substance abuse? What is the difference between a depressant and a stimulant? Here is a comprehensive unit on drug use, including three lessons with such activities as categorizing and defining key terms, identifying...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Unit 3 Pre-Test, Grades 7–9
Earth's systems respond to changes in environments in all types of ways including migration, extinction, adaptation, immigration, and emigration to name a few. Part one in a series of seven is a pre-test consisting of 14 questions. Some...
Missouri Department of Elementary
What Is Comfortable and Uncomfortable Touch?
Two stuffed animals open a lesson that examines two types of touch. Scholars discuss the difference between comfortable and uncomfortable touch. They offer examples then brainstorm ways an individual can keep safe from uncomfortable...
Curated OER
The Lightning Thief: During Reading Strategy
After reading up to page 371 of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, get insight into how Percy felt making a major decision through active discussion strategies that enable both academic...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Conflict Mediation – Part 2: Practice
A instructional activity challenges scholars to prove their understanding of conflict mediation. Small groups role-play scenarios using two mediators and two disputants. Peers observe then discuss their findings. A worksheet outlines...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Conflict Mediation – Part 1: Getting Ready
Two scholars walk into a room arguing, what is happening? Peers observe the two actors in preparation for a whole-class discussion about conflict. Learners establish a conflict, name the three approaches—passive, aggressive, and...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Parental Liability
How many teenagers have wanted their parents to let them make their own decisions? The answer is ... all of them! Scholars investigate where parental liability begins and ends in the eyes of the law. Using case studies and legal...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Put Yourself in Check
The final lesson in a four-part unit on conflict resolution offers middle schoolers strategies for how to keep themselves in check when involved in conflicts. A role-play activity and a reflective journal stress the importance of...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Juggling New Opportunities
Life is like trying to juggle three tennis balls! That's the big idea in a lesson that asks freshmen to consider that sometimes juggling the areas of their lives (social/emotion, academic, and career) runs smoothly and sometimes not so...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Understanding Influences
"Understanding Influences," a richly detailed, carefully scaffolded unit, asks middle and high school scholars to examine how internal and external factors like friends, media, and society influence their attitudes and...
Curated OER
Responsibilities and rights: Making civic decisions
Young scholars, working in small groups, investigate concepts related to social and economic decision-making. They define issues for some different groups within Australia, then assign either government or individual responsibility for...
Curated OER
True Friends
Fourth graders examine qualities of friendship. In this friendship lesson, 4th graders investigate responsible decisions and healthy relationships. Students will role-play relationship situations.
Lesson Snips
Taking Responsibility
Billy finds himself in many difficult situations because he is unsure about how and when to take responsibility. Collaborative groups work together to answer if Billy made responsible choices and what he should have done instead....
Curated OER
The Public Choices of Senator Aspyer Tu Moore
Students role play roles of people in the life of Aspyer Tu Moore. They analyze his public choices and solve a problem related to them. They answer questions to end the lesson.
Curated OER
Make a Different Graph
What is the difference between a picture graph and a pictograph? Young learners are given a picture graph detailing how many muffins three friends have, and they must complete a pictograph using a symbol of their choice. An answer key is...
Curated OER
WWI Propaganda Choice Activity
World War I propaganda techniques employed by the United States government are the focus of this lesson plan. The resource includes an excellent handout of propaganda techniques, ranging from appealing to authority to repetition, lying,...
Overcoming Obstacles
Defining Problems Big and Small
Problems come in all shapes and sizes, but the first step in solving a problem is to identify just what the problem is. Through a series of games and activities, middle schoolers learn first to identify a problem, decide on a solution,...
Overcoming Obstacles
Considering Pros and Cons
Middle schoolers continue to study the problem solving process by identifying the pros and cons of different options they listed on their "How Could I Do This" activity sheet from the previous lesson. After weighing the options, they...