Curated OER
Phineas Gage: The Teenage Brain and Connections: Free Choice Activity
During this lesson, which is all about making connections, learners watch a documentary about the teenage brain and connect it to Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, their own lives, and the world.
Scholastic
The Science of Marijuana—How THC Affects the Brain
Marijuana can affect every part of a user's life—starting with the delicate nervous centers of the brain. An informative article and worksheet prompt teenagers to learn more about how the THC found in most forms of marijuana can...
Curated OER
Brain-Controlled Robotic Arms: Cloze activity with Article
Fascinating content about current medical research on brain-controlled prosthetics comes in cloze activity form with a link to the original article. Useful for listening and reading comprehension skills development, and for any science...
Curated OER
Daily Lesson Plan for a Struggling Reader
Strategy-based programs that are executed with consistency are the best for achieving growth in any learner with a learning disability. Here is a seven-step lesson plan that is highly structured and is intended to help learners with...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Syllable Hopscotch
Let your little learners move while they practice breaking words into syllables or chunks. Place a hopscotch "board" on the floor (this can be done with tape). Your class takes turns choosing picture cards, and then they say the name of...
Curated OER
Walking in Their Shoes
Young scholars explore the challenges of those who have "learning disabilities." They develop a storyboard and create a video which depicts learning disabled students coping with life. Special effects are added to the video scenes, as...
Curated OER
Phonemic Awareness and Sounding Out Words
Although designed for children with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, the multi-sensory tips and tricks included in this illustrated eight-page packet are designed to develop phonemic awareness and are appropriate for any classroom.
Curated OER
Reaction Time 2: Zap!
Students explore critical thinking by conducting a reaction time experiment. For this human brain lesson, students utilize a timed Internet worksheet activity to research how fast their brain works when answering questions. Students...
Scholastic
Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz
There are a lot of myths surrounding marijuana. Read a passage that clarifies the dangers of teens smoking marijuana, its harmful effects on the development of the brain, and the possible correlation of cigarette smoking to marijuana...
Curated OER
Daily Lesson Plan for the Struggling Writer and Speller
Special educators know that it isn't all about the lesson plan, but rather the strategies and practices you choose to use. Here are a set of research-based practices and tips you can use to inform your choices when teaching learners who...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What Parents Need to Know About Marijuana Use and Teens
The teenage years find adolescents yearning for independence—and often isolating their parents from their everyday lives. Educate parents on the warning signs of marijuana use, including its effects on the brain and the likelihood of...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonics: High Frequency Words, Sand Paper Words
Learners use a stack of words embellished with tactile elements, such as sandpaper, to practice high-frequency words. Pupils trace the tactile surface of each letter in the word, write it on their paper, then find and glue that word from...
Curated OER
The Digestive System
Discover how the human body's digestive system works with a brain and stomach friendly activity. Scholars taste test a variety of foods to find out how they behave once in the mouth. Class members then play a game called Move That...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Extend-sive Thinking
Can knowing about things of the past help predict the types of things seen in the future? Advanced learners consider the idea that things extend. In other words, concrete things like bridges and intangible things like ideas extend from...
Curated OER
Allowing Students to Explore Simple Physics and Marketing in English Class
Scientific method, linear measurements, friction, inertia. Imagine learning scientific vocabulary in an ELA class. Before researching and developing a presentation about simple machines, class members build a common, but decidedly...
Curated OER
Cell Phone Radiation
Should people be more worried about cell phone radiation? Scholars read extensive background information about the issue to prepare for a class discussion or debate. As they explore the website, they learn the main arguments for and...
Steered Straight
Marijuana Awareness
February is Marijuana Awareness Month, and a set of interdisciplinary activities can make your class aware of the social, medical, legal, and psychological effects of marijuana. With writing prompts, research opportunities, and...
Curated OER
Character in a Box
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
Curated OER
Environmental Awareness and Children's Literature
Use an alternative setting for pregnant teens and young mothers, as well as special education children to examine environmental topics through literature. Included in this unit is a visit to neighborhood libraries to select children's...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Notecard Vocabulary Strategy
Understanding the vocabulary in a text, especially a text like Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science that includes quite a few technical terms, can be the key to understanding the text as a whole. Learners focus on...
Scholastic
Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz
Teenagers get the real information about marijuana use based on the history of tobacco legislation and research. As they read an educational passage about marijuana laws, science, and changing attitudes, they address their preconceptions...
Curated OER
Teen and Decision Making
Students examine how the brain develops. In this neurology lesson students read an article citing evidence that the different areas of the brain mature at different rates. They discuss emotional versus logical aspects of decision-making....
Curated OER
The Human Memory
This is a well-designed, creative lesson to help students learn more about the human memory. Working in pairs, students complete tasks and gather data. Excellent websites for resources are also provided.
Curated OER
Pieces of Mind: Remembering What Matters
Students watch the program "Pieces of Mind" from PBS and participate in a class discussion about PET scans and their advantages. Students then brainstorm activities a PET scan could be used for.