Curated OER
Brain Breaks to Liven Up the School Day!
Short brain breaks increase engagement and encourage teamwork in elementary, middle school, and even high school classrooms.
Exploratorium
Jacques Cousteau in Seashells
Visionaries create images out of dots to demonstrate the eye-brain connection. Through this activity, they learn that the brain interprets data collected by the eye into recognizable information. Search online for "Jacques Cousteau in...
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...
PBS
Color Code
Don't let your brain play tricks on you! Learners test brain reaction rates while it is receiving multiple stimuli. They time each other reading a set of color words written in different colors and again when they are written in black....
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Music and the Brain
Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...
Curated OER
Lesson: Animal Journeys
Here is a great way to get the brain going. Children look at an image of the sculpture, Jar and then imagine what an animal would look like as it moved inside the sculpture. They then use clay and cookie cutters to create a...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Strangest Dream
Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...
Poetry4kids
Creativity Exercise - Describe the Sky
Scholars stretch their writing muscles with an exercise that asks them to describe the sky using similes and metaphors.
Curated OER
CREATIVE PRINCIPLES
Jr. high learners review the basic principles of design (balance, unity, movement, rhythm, pattern, contrast and emphasis) by watching a video by Gerald Brommer. Then they provide "aerobic exercise" for the right side of their brains by...
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
Art & Creativity
Students take notes on how to teach art. They determine if they are right or left brained and experience the frustration of teacher-directed art and trying to stay in the lines of a coloring book. They experience different art...
Curated OER
Wackie Wordies
In this brain teasers worksheet, students solve 12 brain teasers. Students have a card with an expression/word written in a creative way.
Curated OER
Artists are...In their Right Minds
Students complete experiments to aid in the understanding of the separate functions fo the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Students complete a drawing based on a verbal description.
Curated OER
Are You an Animal Safety Sleuth
In this animal safety lesson, students brain-storm ways to be kind and safe with animals throughout the year. Students create a Kind Calendar for Animals in art class and distribute copies to other classes in the school. grocery...
Curated OER
Crayon Resist
Kids usually love crayon resist projects. It is so fascinating for them to see how the dark paint accentuates and resists the waxy crayon. Here are instructions for executing a crayon resist project of your own. Tip: Make the project fit...
Curated OER
Fill a Jar
Sometimes short lesson outlines are enough to give you a great idea. Young writers draw any object inside an image of a jar, that doesn't belong in a jar. They can draw a tree, truck, or dinosaur. Tip: Have kids write a short story...
Curated OER
Body Systems
In this body systems lesson, students work in small groups conduct research to become an 'expert' on one of the 7 body systems. Students present their findings to the class via power point, poster, or song.
Exploratorium
Persistence of Vision
Ahoy, matey! Peer through a special telescope to explore the persistence of vision. The telescope has only a thin strip with which to view the world, but as it scans the area, your eye and brain work together to create a complete...
EngageNY
End-of-Module Assessment Task - Algebra 1 (Module 4)
Critical thinking is an important aspect of mathematics — it's time to put your brain to work! Use this assessment to challenge pupils and test their skills. Concepts assessed include function notation, factoring, completing the square,...
Curated OER
Trite Expressions Worksheet 1
In this grammar worksheet, students read twenty sentences to find the trite expression in each one and then think of a creative way to rephrase it.
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...
Exploratorium
Far Out Corners
Construct a three-dimensional optical illusion when your class is exploring vision and how the eye and brain work together. Three concave corners are mounted inside of a black box, but as a light is shined upon them, they appear to be...
Poetry4kids
Five Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block
Every writer knows how terrible writer's block can feel. Use these five writer's block-busting techniques to help young writers get out of their rut and into a better state of mind.
Two Lives Left
Cargo-Bot
What would you think of an app that provides a creative introduction to an important 21st century skill, challenges learners at many levels, and is an addictively, fun game? Did we also mention it was free? We think you will find all...