Curated OER
Hate 2.0
Combat hate online by bringing it into the light. Begin by giving learners a quiz, then lead a discussion based on the issues the quiz brought up. As a class, develop strategies to confront online hate. Assign different venues to groups...
Curated OER
Media Literacy in Presentations
Middle schoolers study the three types of mass media messages: visual media, written media, and audio media. After a class discussion which has them list examples of each, learners get into pairs and work on analyzing the "Four A's" in...
Poetry4kids
Forced Rhymes and How to Avoid Them
Ready to take your poetry writing to the next level? Use an independent lesson to iron out all those forced rhymes, wrenched rhymes, and near rhymes from first-draft poems.
Curated OER
Technical Merits
What is technical knowledge? The class explores what technical knowledge might mean to an Olympic athlete. They catalog the different types of information that athletes would need to compete in various Winter Olympic sports and develop...
Curated OER
Of Human Bondage
How does the particular point of view in a situation affect the way it is presented? Focusing on perspectives on slavery during the Civil War, middle schoolers use research to write narratives from the points of view of their historical...
Curated OER
Everyone's a Critic: Analyzing Sitcoms as Cultural Texts
Start by defining the word sitcom with the goal of launching a discussion. What exactly is a sitcom? How is a sitcom different from sketch comedy, drama, and reality television? Class members give examples, remember storylines they've...
Curated OER
When Something's Missing: Diagnosing Vitamin Deficiencies
The New York Times "Education" section posts an extensive lesson on vitamin and mineral deficiencies. It involves class discussion, examination of food packaging labels, and the reading of a blog post about Vitamin D. The highlight of...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Analyzed
Fourth and fifth graders define the term media literacy, then come up with examples that they share with the class. The types of media studied are auditory, visual, and written. Learners get together in pairs and perform a media...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6
Make the move toward incorporating more technology in your classroom and help to prepare your class for the professional world. Here is a resource that describes the Common Core standard while incorporating technology and English...
Starry Night Education
The Year and Seasons
Turn your classroom into a live demonstration of how the earth and sun interact to create the four seasons. Using a globe, a light source, and a series of constellation cards, super scientists discover how the motion of these...
Louisiana Department of Education
Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver's Travels tells the story of a man who goes on voyages and encounters strange people. A unit plan introduces readers to the classic text, as well as excerpts from other examples of sarcasm and satire, such as "A Modest Proposal"...
Bringing History Home
Ellis Island Simulation
Young historians step into the shoes of immigrants coming to Ellis Island. A simulation creates an experience in which participants visit several rooms, go through an interview process, and receive a stamp in their passport—either making...
Echoes & Reflections
Antisemitism
Propaganda and anti-semitism were linked to evil ends during the Holocaust. Using video testimony of Holocaust survivors, examples of Nazi propaganda, and discussion questions, learners explore the roots of anti-semitism in Europe and...
News Literacy Project
Critical Observation Challenge: Was Elsa Really Arrested?
A 14-slide presentation showcases a social media post featuring Disney's Elsa from the movie, Frozen. The seemingly harmless post received lots of attention, raising the question, how do we know posts are factual? Scholars go through...
Overcoming Obstacles
Being Responsible
Responsible-decision making is the focus of the social-emotional learning lessons. After reading, The Ant and the Grasshopper: An Aesop Fable, scholars come up with six steps to take responsibility for their actions and then practice the...
Curated OER
The Killing Fields
Eleventh graders explore ethnic divisions in the West African nation of Ivory Coast and research instances of ethnic cleansing in nations throughout history. They create global history textbook entries that explore, compare and contrast...
Curated OER
The Ugly Truth about Hate
Students investigate examples of hate crimes and their causes by participating in a round-table discussion. They also write a personal essay describing their personal views on the subject and describing a plan for putting their views...
Curated OER
My Home is Not Your Home
Students examine tension in Slovakia over issue of the rights of Romas (Gypsies). They compare and contrast situation in Slovakia to other historical examples researched in class.
Curated OER
E-tiquette
Students develop appropriate ways to communicate via e-mail. They evaluate examples of inappropriate e-mails and create preferable alternatives.
Curated OER
What's in a Name?
Students explore how one uses examples from history to inform themselves of past and present events. After reading an article, they examine the significance of renaming a base in Germany after a soldier who survived the Holocaust. They...
Curated OER
Whose Rights are Right?
Students consider the concept of 'human rights' in relation to the current conditions and history of East Timor and discuss the terms "human rights" and "force," applying their responses to specific historical examples.
Curated OER
Curious Crossbreeds
Students discover the diverse roles of hybridization among animals. They research certain examples of animal hybrids as a springboard to analyzing a zoo's potential exhibit of animal hybrids.
Curated OER
Lifestyles of the Extreme and Adapted
Students explain challenging theories about the evolution and distribution of microbes. They also investigate other examples of extremophile species, then create posters and write diary entries about them.
Curated OER
Political Puzzles
Students investigate how different liberal democracies around the world organize their governments and decide major policies. They compare their findings to the American political system, using examples of current political issues.