PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Learning About Opioids
Feeling high is not the only side effect of abusing prescription opioids. Middle and high schoolers learn more about specific painkillers, including Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Clonazepam, as well as their common brand names and extensive...
Curated OER
What Makes a Good Law?
Why were laws created? Spark a group discussion on why we need laws to co-exist. Should the sale of some things be outlawed on Sundays? Read a case summary between Target and the state of Minnesota that debated this issue. Ask your...
Student Handouts
Think-Pair-Share
Ever ask students to share their thoughts with a partner, but then hear them only talking about their weekend plans? Nip that common classroom practice in the bud with this worksheet, in which class members log the content of their...
EngageNY
Researching and Note-Taking: Becoming an Expert on a Colonial Trade
Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...
Curated OER
Matthew Henson
Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...
Curated OER
Strategies to Build Comprehension Skills
Reading strategies that realy work. Here is an introduction of six active reading strategies to improve reading comprehension. Super helpful for newer teachers.
Curated OER
Quiet on the Set!
In pairs learners perform a silent skit portraying relationships between two known characters from a popular book or a play for their classmates. Next, the class will read and discuss a NYTimes article about a film school in the Bronx...
Curated OER
The Chosen: Problematic Situation
"What my father had anticipated was now actually happening." The Chosen explores the complicated relationships between parents and their children. Readers make personal connections to Chiam Potok's story, set in Brooklyn's Hasidic...
Curated OER
Map Skills
Thirds graders reinforce that a map is a drawing that shows what a place looks like from above. They use a map key and symbols to create a map of the school and its neighborhood.
Curated OER
Tech-Lab Station--Introduction of Unit
In this activity, students are introduced to a unit Students discuss a unit as a group and interest is generated. Good suggestions for sparking students' interest in general and the value of student discussion are given.
Curated OER
Glaciers: Then and Now
A large data table is given to your elementary earth scientists in which they record observations that they make while viewing pictures of Alaskan glaciers. They compare and contrast recent photos with older photos. Hold a discussion...
Macmillan Education
Cultural Awareness
The importance of cultural awareness, of becoming aware of our own and other cultures, and the benefits of gaining a deeper understanding of the differences between cultures, is the focus of this resource. Working individually, in pairs,...
NOAA
Calling All Explorers
Let's get moving! The second installment of a 2-part series of six adventures helps learners take part in individual explorations by sea and by land. After navigating the waters in an informative WebQuest, groups create and hide their...
Curated OER
The Play's the Thing
Students describe to a partner theater experiences they have had in their lives that were memorable, and analyze why. They study about one director's original artistic choices for staging Shakespeare by reading and discussing "Nature's a...
Macmillan Education
Self-Awareness and Respect
The eighth in a series of 23 life skills exercises focuses on self-awareness and respect. Groups record, on the provided worksheets, words and phrases that signal respect, and generate lists of behaviors that signal respect.
University of Colorado
Clay Planets
Why do scientists use models? In the first installment of 22, groups create scale models of our solar system. They then share and discuss their models.
EngageNY
Setting Purpose for Research: What are Fair Working Conditions?
Life may not be fair but working conditions should be. Scholars research working conditions at Wegmans by studying the company website. They complete a working conditions anchor chart and discuss their findings in a think-pair-share...
Curated OER
National Oatmeal Month and Nutrition
January can be a time to delve into a science lesson about nutrition through a discussion of whole grains, like oatmeal.
Curated OER
A Pleasant Evening: Listening Comprehension Lesson Plan
Dating in America is the subject of a focused listening exercised that could be used with language learners as well as native English speakers. The richly detailed packet includes a writing assignment, supplemental exercises, vocabulary...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Driver’s Licenses And Unauthorized Immigrants
Should driver's licenses be granted to unauthorized immigrants? That is the question class members grapple with in a instructional activity that asks them to first read a fact sheet that details the arguments for and against...
Ideas From Suzi
Guided Reading: Beyond the Basics
Elevate children's reading comprehension skills with this collection of guided reading resources. From paper dice with basic comprehension questions printed on them to a system for using sticky notes to identify key...
Curated OER
Draw an Inch, Walk a Mile
Students work in small groups to solve the problems presented. The main project, mapping the classroom, use these discussions to collaborate in creating a tangible demonstration of their understanding.
Curated OER
You Can Say That Again!
A discussion of the Supreme Court’s Opinion of Tinker v. Des Moines generates a discussion of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. Although the key elements of this lesson are based on a video that is not included, the activities...
Curated OER
Shakespeare Was A Black Woman
"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...