EngageNY
Determining Main Ideas and Summarizing: Philo Farnsworth’s Early Years
Teamwork makes the dream work! Learners work in groups to analyze pages 2-9 of The Boy Who Invented TV, The Story of Philo Farnsworth. They complete a first read to determine the gist and a second read to identify main idea and...
Center for Civic Education
The Power of Nonviolence: Change Through Strategic Nonviolent Action
How did major historical figures, such as Henry David Thoreau, Susan B. Anthony, and Mohandas K. Gandhi, explain and defend their beliefs in nonviolence? Your learners will begin by studying the backgrounds of these individuals, and then...
Curated OER
Taxes and Sales
Collaborative discussions around this retail store problem will be taxing. Calculating discount and tax and the order of the operations are used to motivate an opportunity for learners to make a convincing argument using algebraic...
Curated OER
Building a Quadratic Function Form
Comparing the movement of graphs geometrically when small changes are made to the parent function motivates this collaborative discussion on the transformations of functions to their various forms. Vertical and horizontal shifts due to...
Federal Reserve Bank
Worth!
Before loaning a friend money, what factors would you consider and why would you lend it? Your young economists will face questions like these in a lesson on banking, profit, risk, and reward, which includes the reading of the book...
Cornell University
Nano Interactions
Tiny particles can provide big learning opportunities! Middle school scientists explore the world of nanoparticles through reading, discussion, and experiment. Collaborative groups first apply nanotechnology to determine water...
Cornell University
Build a Fuel Cell
Discover the connection between redox reactions and fuel cells. Collaborative groups build a Hoffmann Apparatus that demonstrates the electrolysis of water and then convert their models into a fuel cell. They use their fuel cells to...
K20 LEARN
Simply Elementary, Watson!
Explore the process of inductive and deductive reasoning. A collaborative lesson has some groups apply an inductive approach and others a deductive approach. Through class discussion, scholars compare their processes and discuss...
Middle Tennessee State University
The Declaration of Independence: Its Legacy and Ideas in Today’s World
How is it possible that such an old document still triggers modern discussions? Teach scholars why the Declaration of Independence is still so important today using an informative resource. They watch various educational videos, work in...
US House of Representatives
Hispanic Americans in Congress During the Age of U.S. Colonialism and Global Expansion, 1898–1945
To be Puerto Rican, in the words of one politician, is to be "foreign in a domestic sense." Young historians consider the American role in colonialism and its impacts on Hispanic Americans through the first part of the twentieth century...
US House of Representatives
Legislative Trends and Power Sharing Among Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1977–2012
Bilingual education, voting rights, and Congressional redistricting come up often in the news. Explore these topics from another view—the perspectives of Hispanic members of Congress. Activities include an article with comprehension and...
Center for History Education
Freedom for All? The Contradictions of Slavery and Freedom in the Maryland Constitution
Freedom for the few! An interesting lesson focuses on the Maryland Constitution and its lack of freedom for African Americans. Scholars examine the premise of freedom for all—which only extended to a limited few. Academics complete...
Curated OER
Once Upon a Time
Young artists view pieces of artwork by Robert Harris, then have class discussions, write collaborative stories, make a painting or drawing, and analyze and create their own advertisements. This series of lessons should lead to some...
Curated OER
Make a Farm
After a class discussion about where their food comes from learners construct a farm from a print-out (embedded in the plan). They work in groups, and trace a food source from the beginning. For example, they discover how a farmer grows...
Curated OER
Tens and Ones Fun
Youngsters use their large motor skills to build numbers to 20 in this outdoor, kinesthetic, collaborative activity. Amass cardboard boxes for groups to stack, sort, and bundle into 10s and 1s to show numbers and place value. They'll...
Curated OER
Things Fall Apart: Research, Writing & Presentation Project
A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few...
Curated OER
Number Addition Race
Practice basic addition facts and measuring skills. In this addition and measurement lesson, students are provided with drywall tape and work in groups of four at a long table. Partners take turns generating addends and marking the...
Curated OER
Number Operations
Inject fun into your math review! Pupils review basic math operations with decimals as well as addition and subtraction with simple fractions. In this number operations lesson, students work in groups to create a game for the math skill...
Curated OER
Transportation Fuels Debate
Students study the different transportation fuels. In this energy sources lesson students debate the merits of their fuel over others while working together in groups.
Bright Hub Education
"The Kid in the Red Jacket": Book Activities
Learning stations aren't just for little ones; middle schoolers can have fun while learning about the main character in the book, The Kid in the Red Jacket. Outlined are three different activities that are completed as each small...
Curated OER
How Diverse is That?
Compare various types of biological diversity in a coral reef and calculate a numeric indicator that describes the diversity found in coral communities. Your class can work in groups to look at the abundance and distribution data of...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Presidential Candidates
Build critical analysis skills with this cartoon for the classroom. Upper graders answer three critical thinking questions to help them analyze a political cartoon, which depicts how Presidential Candidates are judged and chosen. Put...
Indiana University
Asian Literature: “The View in Spring” by Du Fu
Over the course of the lesson, your pupils read and analyze a translated eight-line poem from the Tang Dynasty written by Du Fu, a poet caught behind enemy lines during the An Lu-Shan rebellion (755-763). Literary/historical context is...
Curated OER
Do These Add Up?
Common Core mathematical practices require that young mathematicians not only know how to add fractions with unlike denominators, but also to recognize when adding fractions are appropriate for the word problem. Fifth graders are given...