Overcoming Obstacles
Using Communication Skills Effectively
Miscommunication is often the basis of conflict. To improve their communication skills, pupils first review what they learned about assertive (as opposed to aggressive or passive) communication, role-play several scenarios, and then...
Teacher's Corner
Dr. Seuss Book Report - Solution
A great way to incorporate a beloved author into the classroom. This book report learning exercise requires young readers to write a short summary of their favorite Dr. Seuss book. It's up to you to decide how long the summary should be....
US Institute of Peace
Negotiation Role-Play
War-torn Kosovo is experiencing another crisis—thousands of broken-down cars clogging the damaged highways, making travel impossible. Which local auto shop owner will get the contract to clear the road for progress? After some research,...
Curated OER
Leadership
Learning about leadership, and different styles can be an important step toward understanding government and local organizations. By participating in a survey to evaluate leadership styles, involving 60 questions, learners get a better...
Health Smart Virginia
Mental Health/Social Emotional Skills
Looking for social-emotional resources? Check out this seven-page packet that includes activity and lesson ideas, as well as links to information resources that support the social and emotional development of tenth graders.
Curated OER
Group Alignment
Students discuss proper ways to work in a group. In this character education lesson, students identify the vocabulary words "inclusion" and "exclusion" and create a list of ways to respect others in a group setting.
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Story Elements
Middle schoolers in particular will benefit from this simple presentation. Forty slides cover story elements like the protagonist, antagonist, and setting, and literary devices are also included. Some examples are given, but for the most...
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Talking Over the Wall
Students explore how conflict resolution techniques can be used to resolve difference of opinion, both on a global and local scale. Students write in a journal about conflict using a phrase from the article as a starting point. ...
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Bill of Rights
US history classes explore constitutional rights as they relate to court cases involving teens. Your class must already be familiar with the Bill of Rights before beginning this series of exercises. In preparation for a debate-style...
Curated OER
4-H Leadership - Advanced Learner's Page
In this 4-Hl leadership skill worksheet set, students examine different types of leadership styles. They determine what type of leader they are by completing a questionnaire, determine how they handle conflict, examine service ideas and...
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Satyagrah: Social Change vs. Social Transformation
Students examine the difference between social change and social transformation. they learn through discussion in order to be able to research and analyze a systematic social injustice. Students identify their part in a wider social...
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
West Side Story Suite and In The Night Fancy Free
West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet—two classics in their own rights that help young literature lovers better analyze different works. Learners research and compare the characters and story elements of West Side Story and Romeo &...
Curated OER
Be Our Guest
Students share their own opinions about proper and poor etiquette in school. After reading an article, they discover matters of etiquette and conflict that occur during holiday rituals. They role-play the potential conflicts and...
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The Higher Power of Lucky
Students complete activities using the book The Higher Power of Lucky. In this literature lesson, students read the story and identify the parts of the story. They create a wind chime like that found in the book.
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Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
Curated OER
America's Civil Rights Movement, Activity Seven
Students model the writing style of the author of a piece of literature and present them to the class.
Conflict Resolution Network
Empathy
Children are naturally friendly and communicative, but often have a hard time expressing their emotions in a clear and understandable way. Help them hone their communication skills with a set of activities based on creating empathy,...
Curated OER
Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...
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Discovering Language Arts-Intermediate Fiction
Explore the elements of science fiction. Learners investigate the literary elements present in science fiction and write their own science fiction stories.
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Redesigning the Classroom
Young scholars redesign the classroom space. In this geometry instructional activity, students part take in making classroom rules and assigning value to the space in the classroom. They investigate measuring and problem solving in this...
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Storytelling: Writers' Workshop Learning Center
Evaluating a variety of narrative texts can help build strong writers. Pupils identify plot elements and their relation to personal experience, then apply what they gleaned from the class discussion to create their own narratives.
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Eisenhower National Historic Site
Students complete a variety of activities that go along with the study of and possible fieldtrip to the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, PA.
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Thaw in the Cold War: Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Gettysburg
Students discover how President Eisenhower's brand of diplomacy at this Pennsylvania farm temporarily eased the tensions of the Cold War.