Scholastic
Choose Your Words Wisely (Grades 9-12)
Words, words, words. The function of words in persuasive writing is the focus of a group activity that asks members to analyze how words advertisers use are designed to influence targeted audiences.
Scholastic
Presenting Persuasively (Grades 9-12)
As a review of persuasive techniques, groups develop a one-sentence slogan designed to entice others to purchase a produce or adopt a point of view. The group then craft a storyboard for a commercial for their product.
Curated OER
6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 1: Poem
While originally created to accompany The Cay, this poetry lesson could be used on it's own, especially if you are working on dialect. Class members conduct a close reading of "When Malindy Sings" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and listen to an...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 6-8
Explore the behavior of light with different materials. Collaborative groups determine whether certain materials absorb, reflect, diffract, or transmit light waves. They then measure the angle of incidence and angle of reflection.
California Department of Education
I’m Ready to Work
Get ready to apply yourself! Lesson four in a series of five college and career readiness lessons introduces the basic parts of a job application. Pupils discover the necessity for good references and create a master job application for...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Working with Wind Energy
Teams design and build a windmill, under budget, that can lift an object. The groups evaluate and reflect on their own design, then on those produced by other teams. The goal is to determine which design is the most...
Channel Islands Film
First Contact: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 5-6
After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the experiences of...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
If Men Were Angels: Teaching the Constitution With the Federalist Papers
Much like the methods of group work, the writers of the Federalist Papers worked together to advocate for their viewpoints against the anti-federalists. The resource enables learners to break into small groups and conduct research before...
Curated OER
Childhood Lost: Child Labor in the United States, 1830-1930
Working in groups, middle and high schoolers describe and discuss photographs depicting working conditions experienced by child laborers in the 19th century. They then write a persuasive paragraph supporting an amendment to regulate the...
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
Curated OER
Lesson 11 BL Group
Three different groups work simultaneously in this lesson. One group works on sight word review by holding up common words on flashcards and passing them around in a circle. Another group reviews word blending by pulling graphemes out of...
Scholastic
Pilgrim and Wampanoag Daily Life for Grades 3-5
Thirteen steps make up a lesson plan that challenges pupils to compare and contrast the daily lives of Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe. Learners revisit the Graffiti Wall then break into small groups for an investigative reading...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Keep Finding the Positive
Group members take on roles to create a positive classroom community. Learners perform their role—leader, recorder, presenter, timekeeper, encourager, and collector—in preparation for a formal presentation of their positive thinking...
EngageNY
Getting to Know Esperanza (Chapter 2: "Las Uvas/Grapes")
Delve into Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan with close reading and evidence-based, text-dependent questions. Part of a unit series, this well-sequenced, Common Core-designed activity draws on material from the previous day and homework...
Nemours KidsHealth
Diabetes: Grades 6-8
After reading a series of articles that provide background information about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, class members design a meal plan and an activity plan for a weeklong summer camp for 5- to 8-year olds with diabetes. A second...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 10
What can consumers do to pressure companies to produce "ethically manufactured goods"? Readers examine the evidence Amy Odell uses in the supplemental text "How Your Addiction to Fast Fashion Kills" to support her argument and her...
Kentucky Department of Education
Patterns: Beads under a Blanket - Intermediate and Middle School Grades
Apply pattern knowledge to bead patterns. The formative assessment lesson provides pupils the opportunity to show what they know about patterns and functions. Learners take a pre-assessment, then build upon their answers at the beginning...
National Wildlife Federation
Fish and Ladders: Grades 9-12
Swim with the big fish. Using a similar simulation as Fish and Ladders: Grade 5-8, pupils model the migration of Chinook salmon. A large group of the learners play the role of fish, while others are fishers, predators, and hazards....
Pace University
Grade 7 Earth Day Statistics with Circle and Bar Graphs
Take a tiered approach to studying waste. The lesson uses Earth Day to present differentiated instruction around using circle and bar graphs. Each group gets a cube based on their tiers and works collaboratively as well as individually...
Nemours KidsHealth
School Lunch: Grades 9-12
Go! Slow! Whoa! As part of a study of the nutritional value of foods available on the school campus, groups label those that are fine anytime as "Go" foods. Those that are okay a few times a week get the "Slow" label while those...
Nemours KidsHealth
Asthma: Grades 9-12
Two activities encourage high schoolers to learn about asthma. In the first lesson, learners watch two videos that feature individuals talking about how they manage their condition. Groups then craft videos about how pupils can support...
Nemours KidsHealth
Colds and Flu: Grades 9-12
Flu fighters unite! To get the word out about the importance of getting vaccinated against the flu, groups create posters that persuade teens to get immunized. Also, scholars read articles about how to cope with colds, then create...
Penguin Books
A Guide to the Works of Jacqueline Woodson
The works of Jacqueline Woodson introduce readers to diverse characters and themes. A guide covers many of the author's best-known books such as Brown Girl Dreaming and Locomotion. Dive & Discuss and Explore & Extend activities...