Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapmaker, Make Me a Map!

For Teachers K - 1st
Here is a well-designed, very thorough lesson plan on mapping for very young children. Within the six-page plan, you will find everything you need to implement the instructional activity. They will identify various landforms found in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tiles, Blocks, Sapphires & Gold: Designing a Treasure Map

For Teachers K - 2nd
Young cartographers in groups hide treasure at school and then create a map to find it using pattern blocks and tiles. They make paintings with clues to create a visual representation of the location of their treasure. Groups present...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Life Map

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students create their own life map in which they introduce themselves to each other by sharing what they are most proud of. They use a life map to expressive themselves creatively.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Rainforest Alliance

Knowing the Essential Elements of a Habitat

For Teachers 1st Standards
To gain insight into the many different types of habitats, individuals must first get to know their own. Here, scholars explore their school environment, draw a map, compare and contrast their surroundings to larger ones. They then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Character Chart for the Secret Garden

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The Secret Garden, is a wonderful book to read with your class. After reading, why not employ the lesson plan presented here as a follow up activity? In it, pupils create character charts that portray the tremendous changes that...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Encourage scholars to retell their favorite short story or folktale, adding personal details to make it their own. After reading their book of choice several times, story tellers retell a tale verbally to their classmates. 
Unit Plan
Curated OER

A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Arizona's Biotic Communities Lesson 1: Mapping Biotic Communities

For Teachers 6th - 10th
As part of a unit on Arizona's biotic communities, young ecology learners create a map. They describe how humans and animals adapt in their habitat. They take notes and create graphic organizers from articles they read. Beautiful maps,...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Mapping Your Identity: A Back-To-School Ice Breaker

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping Out the Story

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Discuss the reading comprehension strategy of summarization with your elementary schoolers! They read a chapter from their social studies textbook, Regions Near and Far, and create a map, or word web, for the chapter. They identify...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Forming a Research-Based Claim: Cascading Consequences Charts

For Teachers 7th Standards
Life is all about choices and consequences. Using a Cascading Consequences chart, scholars create a visual map of the effects of a particular choice or action related to water management. With their researcher's notebooks and copies of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Visit to Hogwarts

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students collaborate in groups to read excerpts or entire selections from two Harry Potter books, use educational software to create concept maps detailing similarities and differences between first two Harry Potter books, and analyze...
App
Notion

Popplet

For Students 1st - 12th
Add color to the mind-mapping process! Users double tap to create a bubble and everything flows quickly from there as they drag, draw, type, and more.
Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Eastern European Studies

For Students 6th - 10th
One worksheet, three projects. Learners explore Eastern Europe and mark Eastern European countries on a map. They then collect and record census data on thirteen different countries, and write a 3-5 page expository essay on one of the...
Unit Plan
University of  Wisconsin

Teaching Things Fall Apart in Wisconsin: A Resource Guide for Educators

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
“There is no story that is not true, . . .” And uncovering the truths in Things Fall Apart is the focus of a 68-page resource packet designed to provide instructors with a wealth of materials that enhance understanding of Chinua Achebe’s...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Story Map Using Kidspiration

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders use computer software, Kidspiration, to create a graphic organizer detailing main characters, setting, problem, solution, and theme of their favorite short story. Students also discover how graphic organizers can help them...
Lesson Plan
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1
Curated OER

Setting the Story: Techniques for Creating a Realistic Setting

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
“It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus begins the 1830's novel Paul Clifford and, of course, all of Snoopy’s novels! Encourage young writers to craft settings for their stories that go beyond Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s often-mocked phrase...
Unit Plan
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program

The Backpack Travel Journals

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...
Lesson Plan
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The New York Times

Stress Less: Understanding How Your Mind and Body Respond to Anxiety

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Walk Around the School: Mapping Places Near and Far

For Teachers K - 1st
After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Taxi: A Book Of City Words

For Teachers 1st
First graders engage in a literature study that helps them to focus on the concepts of goods and services. They describe the various skills people may need at home, school, and work. Students create a map of businesses found in the city.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Landscape of a Novel

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students, after reading a novel, utilize geographic skills to map out the places described in the novel. They collect data, envision spatial features and then design a map to work off of to complete their assignment. Each student also...
Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Artistic Expression Showcase

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
No one is too young to create a masterpiece. Elementary artists delve into the topic of social justice with original artwork. Scholars keep journals to reflect on their experiences before putting paintbrush to paper. Final artwork is...