Illustrative Mathematics
Naming the Whole for a Fraction
How many different ways can you represent a whole? In a picture that represents six parts (two of which are shaded), learners are asked to label the parts appropriately to show how three different mathematical interpretations can be...
Curated OER
Tool Shop
Students learn how tools help us accomplish things. In this tool discovery lesson, students review the function of tools. They then make a class chart and categorize different types of tools found in the classroom. Finally, they create a...
Curated OER
Using Maps in the LCTL Classroom
Students review terms and prepositions of location and view a map to illustrate the meanings of the prepositions students are unfamiliar with. They play "Where am I?" game utilizing correct prepositions then they work with a partner to...
Curated OER
The 1980s Series - Graffiti
Students explore life and work of Keith Waring, and create their own "Graffiti Wall" in the classroom.
Creative Visions Foundation
Developing a Structure for Documentaries
Provide some group brainstorming and story-planning time with the fifth lesson in a series on examining and creating documentaries. After you've explained the purpose of each section of a documentary, groups meet to plan the beginning,...
Curated OER
Track Traces
Students explore animal characteristics by participating in an animal anatomy activity. In this animal tracks lesson, students identify the differences between specific animals and the shape of their footprints. Students utilize a...
Curated OER
Are You Sleeping?
Here is a measurement activity focusing on length. Learners use their feet as the unit of measurement for furniture in the classroom and at home, and sketch the pieces of furniture they measured.
Curated OER
Roger the Rock
Here is a creative way to assess your geologists' grasp of the rock cycle: have them write and illustrate a children's book in which the main character journeys though his life, i.e. the rock cycle! A brief student instruction sheet and...
Curated OER
Exploring Weather Conditions Through Painting
Your advanced class will paint a picture of a particular weather condition. In this painting lesson plan students describe elements of art in pieces of artwork. They analyze the weather and seasons in the artwork. The students use paper,...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Connecting Africa: A Project-Based Learning Adventure
Mission Possible: Your task is to design a new highway route from Tunis, Tunisia to Cape Town, South Africa. If you accept the challenge, you must create a small map of the route that has already been rejected, a...
Curated OER
Happy Birthday
Students engage in a creative project of making a birthday card for the school principal. The cards are to be presented to the principal as part of a celebration in the classroom with cake and ice cream. Students brainstorm in order to...
Curated OER
Act It Out!
An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play,...
Curated OER
Civil Liberties and 9/11
Fifth graders examine the effects of 9/11 on two guarantees in the Preamble of the Constitution, the preservation of liberty and the establishment of common security. They examine how our personal liberties been affected by the 9/11...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Creating Narrative
Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson plan...
Curated OER
Innovation for Good
Many historical innovations were created for the common good. Get your learners ready for life as a critical thinker with this lesson which defines the differences between innovation and invention. They will conduct Internet research,...
Curated OER
Red Riding Hood in China
Inspire young writers to compose their own version of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood." They begin by reading "Little Red Riding Hood" and the Chinese version <i>Lon Po Po</i>, then they compare and contrast the two...
Curated OER
Graffitti
Here is a fun way to encourage a cooperative classroom, drawing skills, and creative expression. Each child draws a design or shape on his paper, then he rotates to the next child's paper where he adds to the previous design. When the...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Mask Symmetry
When you engage learners in creating symmetrical objects you are also building their vocabulary and math sense. Kids discuss key words such as, asymmetrical, symmetrical, balance, tint, and shade. They use these elements of design to...
Curated OER
Cotton Swab Skeletons
To truly teach through the arts means one must tackle both art and core content in one lesson. This quick activity does just that. Learners make skeletons out of cotton swabs in order to study relief sculpture and the skeletal system....
Nemours KidsHealth
Skin Cancer: Grades 6-8
Do we really need sunscreen? What are the risks of tanning? Learners explore these questions through a series of informational texts and engaging, hands-on activities.
Curated OER
The Flat WSD Students
Students engage in creative writing and performance using Flat Stanley. After reading Flat Stanley your class summarize their understanding and then create a flat image of themselves. Students then brainstorm ideas of how they would...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Using Positive and Negative Numbers in Context
Measure the temperature of your math class with a temperature-based instructional activity on adding and subtracting rational numbers. The thermometer serves as a vertical number line for learners as they work together to solve a...
National Council of Teachers of English
A Bear of a Poem: Composing and Performing Found Poetry
Scholars work collaboratively to compose a found poem from one of their favorite stories. With a finished product in hand, class members form a circle and perform their work for an audience by taking turns reciting one line till the poem...
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...