Curated OER
A Conventional Family
Students explore writing techniques by analyzing their own families. In this family values lesson, students view the film "The Incredibles" in class and discuss the different types of modern-day families. Students write about their...
Media Smarts
Looking at Food Advertising
Tony The Tiger, The HoneyComb Kid, The Nestle Quick Bunny. As part of a study of the methods advertisers use to sell foods and how this advertising effects their food choices, kids create their own spokescharacter and/or jingle for one...
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Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Curated OER
Random Strategies in Archaeology
Students critically evaluate cultures according to their artifacts. In this Random Strategies in Archaeology instructional activity, Students interpret evidence in order to better understand ancient societies. Students watch films that...
Curated OER
Sherlock Holmes: Teaching English Through Detective Fiction
Students read examples of mysteries and detective fiction. With a focus on Sherlock Holmes, they are introduced to the techniques for reading properly. In groups, they define new vocabulary, make predictions and summarize the stories. ...
Curated OER
What Difference Does A Name Make?
Students view the film The Persuaders that discuss the perspective and spin of language use for a variety of issues. They discuss the career of Frank Luntz, a man that runs focus groups to determine how to advantageously phrase issues in...
Curated OER
Nursery Rhyme Modernization
Students retell a nursery rhyme updating it and create a video. In this Movie Maker nursery rhyme instructional activity, students use technology to update a nursery rhyme. Students incorporate special effects, actions, and captured...
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Houdini
Students examine Houdini, and his legacy in the world of magice. Also, they explore documentary techniques that help tell a story. In addition, they perform a magic trick and discuss what goes into a magic act.
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Flexible "Glass" Sculpture
Older artists create 2-dimensional surfaces with paint, then use these paintings as the components of a 3-dimensional sculpture. They assemble a free-standing sculpture that may be viewed from any angle by using wire to create the shape....
Curated OER
Audio Engineers: Sound Weavers
Students explore audio engineering. In this career education and "sound" science lesson, students define related vocabulary and make connections between the music they listen to and the job an audio engineer does after listening to...
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Counting Crows
Young scholars discuss the fable, The Crow and the Pitcher. In this literature instructional activity, students read the fable and create a crow sock puppet. Young scholars use their puppets to dramatize the fable.
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Pointillism Landscapes
Students examine Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works of art, use watercolors to create effects of light, color, and shadow, consider what ideas are important and what ideas they want to visually communicate, and paint their own...
Curated OER
The Blues . Music Education
What ultimately influences a musician's creations? Is it the time in which he/she lives, his/her personal experiences, the music of the time and previous times, or the image the artist hopes to convey? This lesson explores these...
Curated OER
Sacred Places: California Missions from Different Perspectives
Young scholars create a project poster displaying photos, drawings, and journal writings that incorporate the major themes of California's missions, and use perspective and point of view both visually and in writing.
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Heroes and Legends
Students use print and nonprint sources of different heroic myths to generate a definition of the word "hero." They conduct a character study on three mythological heroes and formulate a definition of the word "hero" based on...
Curated OER
Cubist Self Portraits
Students investigate how other artists have expressed their ideas in a visual way. They practice on how to use oil pastels. Students consider what ideas about them are important and what ideas they want to visually communicate about...
Curated OER
Circuits
Students draw a schematic diagram of parts needed to build an op-amp. In this physics lesson, students test the operation of their machine. They graph and analyze data using excel.
Curated OER
Night of the Twister
Students use reading strategies for Night of the Twister. In this reading strategies lesson, students name five major catastrophes and books about each. Students complete a vocabulary section, make inferences and predictions, read the...
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Posing for Rembrandt
Students consider the elements of costuming and posing in Rembrandt's work. They collect various costumes and experiment with poses in the theme of the painting "Night Watch". Students take photographs of poses and write accompanying...
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We the People (Cultural Research)
Fourth graders conduct cultural research, collect oral histories using tape recorders and cameras, and share their ancestral heritage with classmates through family heirlooms and ethnic foods.
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All About Me
Students produce a slide show documentary designed to help them recognize their individuality, respect each other's differences, and discover what makes them unique. They examine the concept of digital portfolios. It is designed to...
Curated OER
What's For Lunch? (Digestive System)
Learners identify components of the digestive system and explain functions. They create and label a diagram of the digestive system. They watch the video "Passage of Food" and perform a proper dissection of a frog. They create a flow map...
Curated OER
How Does Mining Produce Acid Runoff?
Learners examine how mining and other industry operations can lead to acid runoff. In this mining lesson students study weathering and complete a lab on it.