Learning to Give
Five Thousand Dollars!
How does consumerism affect global poverty? Upper graders find out about cost benefit, wants and needs, and making good consumer choices as they explore this global topic. They role-play an impulse spending experience and work through...
Curated OER
Be the Change: Core Values
How do core values and identity contribute to citizenship and leadership? After engaging in a series of activities that explore core values, writers craft a children’s story that focuses on one value. They arrange to read their story to...
Curated OER
5,6,7,8 Line Dance
5,6,7,8 Line Dance is a very simple, but very fast-paced line dance. It is comprised of the grapvine steps, moving forward and backwards, moving diagonally, jumping, and clapping. There is a repeating section of the dance which calls for...
Curated OER
Lummi Stick Macarena
Hey, Macarena!! The Macarena is very simple to dance: left, right, left, right, wiggle the hips. Spice it up a bit by giving the class things to hold in their hands such as lummi sticks or scarves. Give them anything that will not be too...
Illustrative Mathematics
Crude Oil and Gas Mileage
Here is an activity that presents a real-world problem about the relationship between crude oil production and the gas mileage of modern automobiles. After learners write functions to describe the relationships, they are asked to...
Curated OER
Representing Data 2: Using Box Plots
What information can be gleaned from a box and whiskers plot? Discuss the five summary values - minimum, maximum, upper and lower quartiles, and median - and what conclusions can be made from these values? Included here is a matching...
The New York Times
Getting Personal: Writing College Essays for the Common Application
Develop an understanding of the open-ended questions that are a part of the college Common Application. Future college learners collaborate, discuss prompts acquired from the application, and philosophize on their plan of attack for the...
Concordia University Chicago
Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte
Discuss the balance, color, emotion, and context of the painting Paris Street; Rainy Day by Caillebotte. After a deep discussion, let creativity run free in your class as learners create a dimensional piece that reflects a...
ARKive
Endangered Animal Easter Eggs
I love any activity that addresses more than one subject area. You and your class will discuss endangered animals; each child will choose one animal and then create a decorated egg to represent their animal. After the eggs are decorated,...
Curated OER
Torn Insect Art
Sometimes the best way to drive home a concept is through an art project. Here is a quick and easy activity that can help learners remember or become more familiar with the parts on an insect's body. They tear brightly colored paper into...
Exploratorium
Magnetic Shielding
Elementary magnetologists investigate magnetic shields using a variety of materials in a "shielding sandwich." While the activity isn't novel, it is engaging, and this particular resource includes a brief explanation of the phenomena...
Exploratorium
Holding Charge
Slide paper over a plastic straws to generate static electricity, and then stick that straw to glass, a wall, or even your own hands! This is a science activity that students can use to show parents what they learn in school whenever...
Exploratorium
Whirling Watcher
Pupils put together their own stroboscopes so that they can observe how cyclically moving images appear to merge into a singular object. This, and several other activities published by the same source, illuminate the way the brain...
St. Joseph Community Consolidated School District #169
Nutcracker
'Tis the holiday season and the Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker Prince come alive with a teaching and study guide for Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Background information, activities, games and puzzles are all included in...
Education World
St. Patricks Day Lesson: The Real Story of St. Patrick
Fun St. Patrick's Day facts abound. The lesson plan tells the story of the most famous icons associated with the holiday: the shamrock, snakes, Celtic religion, Irish history, and St. Patrick himself.
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Story Impression
Craft your own fairy tale based on Momotaro, a Japanese story referenced in Kyoko Mori's Shuzuko's Daughter. A list of nouns guide learners in writing their own story, and predicting what might happen in the novel.