Facing History and Ourselves
Confirmation and Other Biases
As the investigation into the reporting of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, continues, class members consider how bias influences perception, how the tendency is to collect evidence that supports preconceived notions. The big idea...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Comparing Cultural Dances
All cultures express similar thoughts, feelings, and ideas. But, often times those things are expressed differently. Learners compare and contrast traditional dances from two cultures. They watch videos of each performance, stop to...
Reading for Meaning
Sample Lessons and Worksheets
If you need to bulk up your reading comprehension worksheet collection, take a look at a resource that includes graphic organizers and reading comprehension questions. The series of 50 worksheets addresses novels such as Julie of the...
Curated OER
What Are The Properties of Sea Water?
Ninth graders conduct research on the subject of sea water. They use a variety of resources to obtain information. There are helpful resource links listed in the lesson. In conjunction with the research students make inquiry of the...
Curated OER
Hispanic World - Spain
Take your class on an electronic field trip to Spain! Visit Cordoba or Barcelona, and run with the bulls (virtually) in Pamplona. Groups search the Internet to find sites that permit them to explore the original Spanish-speaking country....
Curated OER
Marvelous Moods
It isn't always easy to tell another person how we feel; and little ones have an even more difficult time identifying and expressing their emotions. They get a chance to discuss and explore how they can express how they feel in different...
Curated OER
Our Nation's Natural Disasters
Sixth graders classify their regions' natural disaster(s). Within this lesson students enhance their research skills by utilizing different resources, as well as their writing skills by composing short research papers.
Curated OER
Angles All Around Us
Explore with your class the characteristics of acute, obtuse, right, complementary, and supplementary angles. They take digital photographs around the school and identify the angles in the images. Uisng software, they label and print the...
Curated OER
Tour of the Solar System
Learners engage in science, math, and language activities as they do research on the components of the solar system. The class begins with some anticipatory activities and discussions before it is divided into small groups to conduct...
Curated OER
Multiple Perspectives: Newspaper Stories and Editorials
Newspapers are the perfect medium through which to explore different perspectives in informational text. After researching the fur trade and resultant colonization, groups write a newspaper, including an editorial page, selecting one of...
Curated OER
That's the Spirit
Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...
Curated OER
The Minority Majority
Students design a census class and school, then tabulate the results. They respond to a sample census, then reflect on why questions of race and national origin are different.
Curated OER
Introducing Biographies - Getting to Know You
Learners explore several different types of biographies to determine their area of interest, choose one notable person they would like to explore, complete online tutorial on biographies, and use written and Internet resources to...
Curated OER
Armadillo: Reporting on War
Point of view is everything, especially when reporting about the war in Afghanistan. Class members compare and contrast the same event from the war in Afghanistan as reported by five different sources. Learners are also asked to rank the...
Curated OER
Trip to an Art Gallery
Have your Spanish speakers give museum tours with this interactive plan. To simplify this entertaining idea, bring in art pieces and create a gallery in your very own classroom. Provide the names of different works of art and have your...
ARKive
Invasive Species
Learn about how invasive species and introduced species impact the environment around them with a presentation and lesson plan. After viewing the presentation, learners go to the library and computer lab to look up various species and...
Blake Education
Drama Warm Ups
Here's a 15-page packet packed with ideas for warm-up activities that can be used for drama classes or in content courses. Each activity is coded to indicate materials needed, space requirements and appropriate audience. A great addition...
NASA
Science Fiction Story
A lesson allows you to go back in time and see the big bang actually happen. Bazinga! In reality, pupils research the Big Bang Theory and theorize what it would be like to go back in time and see it happen. There are four different...
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the novel...
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 gaps to...
Khan Academy
Project: Bookshelf
Start your own virtual library with this JavaScript programming project. Create arrays of book objects, and fill the shelves with different books, different colors, titles, authors, etc. Let coders create their own unique display.
American Documentary
Comparative Religion Investigation: What Happens When We Die?
How do different religions offer explanations for what happens when we die? Invite your learners to consider the variance and complexity of religious beliefs, and to research and compare/contrast the concept of death and afterlife...
Alberta Learning
Area and Perimeter of Irregular Shapes
Evaluate young mathematicians' understanding of area and perimeter with this series of three assessment tasks. Challenging learners to not only calculate the area and perimeter of irregular shapes, but to explain in writing their...
Florida Department of Education
Phonemic Awareness
Build your library of strategies and activities for teaching phonemic awareness with the ideas provided in this resource. Described here are five different activities to try out with your class.