Curated OER
Water and Land Ecosystems
Students investigate the differences between a land and aquatic ecosystem. They use the information in order to present it in an assessment. There are target questions that can be used to guide research, lead a classroom discussion, or...
Curated OER
Presentation of Our Family
Although there is no real lesson plan included here, you could easily recycle the idea! Get kids using vocabulary related to family, age, feelings, and nationality. Start by teaching basic vocabulary words and phrases (you'll need to...
Curated OER
An Apple A Day
Third graders brainstorm a list of how they can tell if someone feels bad about themselves. As a class, they describe three different apples shown to them. Individually, they cut out shapes of apples and color them to place them on a...
Curated OER
What To Do? What To Do? Part One
Third graders listen as the teacher exaggerates a way of inappropriately handling losing their job. They review life-changing events and what is in a person's control and what is not. They then are given a life-changing situation slip...
Curated OER
Getting Caught In The Web
Sixth graders brainstorm the ways a person's actions can affect a community. As a class, one classmate is given a ball of yarn and pass it along to another student creating a web. Next, some classmates are asked to drop their part and...
Curated OER
Respecting Differences
Fifth graders brainstorm what a relationship looks like in which both people respect each other. After completing a worksheet, they discuss the importance of respecting other beliefs. To end the lesson, they identify things they can do...
Curated OER
The Vacation Can Be An Education
Fifth graders are given a worksheet in which they choose a location they would like to visit. As a class, they brainstorm a list on what needs to be done before they go on their trip and why it is important to have a plan. To end the...
Bantam Books
The Martian Chronicles: K-W-H-L Activity
Prepare your class for a unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with an activity that works for pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading. Learners fill out a K-W-H-L chart to reflect on what they already know, what...
Code.org
Introduction to Conditional Logic
On one condition ... explore how to use conditionals within conditionals. Scholars apply conditional statements to improve upon the app they built during a previous lesson. They also learn about nested conditionals in the 11th lesson of...
Cornell University
Catapults
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.
Curriculum Project
Gandhi
Introduce class members to Gandhi's non-violent, non-cooperative ideas with Richard Attenborough's 1982 bio-epic. The film traces the experiences that gave shape to Gandhi's ideas and the actions that eventually lead to the end of...
Facing History and Ourselves
Taking a Stand: Models of Civic Participation
How does an individual take a stand for a principle or belief? what skills are required to do so? What are the challenges and risks in doing so? Class members study examples of individuals engaging in such activities and then identify...
NASA
Touchdown
Individuals design and build a set of shock absorbers to protect their astronauts when they land. Using a limited amount of supplies, pupils build a system that will keep two large marshmallows from flying out of a cup when it lands...
Teach Engineering
The Keepers of the Gate Challenge
Help your class make a connection between salt water and nanoscience. In the introductory lesson of a seven-part unit, the class explores why salt water helps a sore throat feel better. Pupils conduct preliminary research about the...
Curated OER
Scientific Method Experiment: Factors Affecting How Ice Melts
Young scholars demonstrate the scientific method by conducting an ice cube melting experiment. They make predictions and observations, and conclude what factors make ice melt more slowly or quickly than normal.
The New York Times
Looking for Answers: Making Sense of the Boston Marathon Bombing
How should America respond to acts of domestic terrorism? What motivates or prompts a terrorist attack? After reading an opinion piece on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, your learners will critically analyze factors that could have...
Sociology Central
Society Is Like...
To introduce the idea of different theoretical views about the nature of society, class members engage in a sociology activity that asks them to create an analogy between society and another concept, and then to explain the parallels.
Teach Engineering
Energy in Our Lives Carousel
Don't waste any more energy trying to find a great resource on energy. The third installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit focuses on energy use in pupils' lives. They consider how their daily routines consume energy and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Faces of Climate Change
Sometimes, the best solution to a problem can be found by walking in someone else's shoes. Here, scholars use character cards to take on the roles of people around the world. They determine how their character's...
Teaching Tolerance
Fairness Fair
How can we create a more fair world? Chances are, class members have some ideas! After reading a text about fairness, individuals create skits around the ideas of fairness. Extend the learning and make their presentations a...
Curated OER
Twelfth Night: The K-W-H-L Strategy
Readers of Twelfth Night use a KWHL chart to record information about what they know about Shakespeare's play, what they want to find out, how they plan on finding this information, and what they have learned or still want to learn about...
Jessica Winston
The Biggest Valentine Ever
Combine hearts with minds in a reading comprehension activity with a Valentine's Day theme. Steven Kroll's The Biggest Valentine Ever, named one of the best books for kids in 2014, provides kids with an opportunity to practice their...
C-SPAN
Polling and Public Opinion
Most people are eager to offer their opinions about topics of interest, but what's the most effective way to collect and assess these opinions as a matter of fact? High schoolers learn about the history of polling, as well as the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The "To Do List" of the Continental Congress
What is on your to-do list today? The second lesson of a three-part series on Lost Heroes of America investigates the laundry list of items in front of the second Continental Congress. Scholars research, analyze, and present information...