Science Matters
That’s An Otter Story
Young scientists discover how sea otters' habitats have changed due to human impact. Through conversation, video observation, and story reading, scholars identify how human interactions change a specific ecosystem in both positive and...
Curated OER
Idioms Lesson Plan
Sixth graders discover idioms. In this idioms lesson, 6th graders evaluate idioms and discover their meaning. Students read Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein and create unique idioms. Assessment rubric is provided.
Curated OER
A Colony is Born : Lesson 6 -To Leave or Not to Leave
Fifth graders connect reasons for coming to the New World with identity. The create identities and place them in one of three settled regions. They refer to prior study notes in their Colonial Notebooks to establish their identities.
Curated OER
Library Lesson Plan: Table of Contents
Third graders create a table of contents. In this library skills lesson, 3rd graders read Welcome to the White House and use the provided worksheet to create a table of contents for the book.
Curated OER
Virtual Tour of John F. Kennedy Library
High schoolers take a virtual tour of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. In this Kennedy presidency lesson, students access the library via the Internet and take notes on the experience. High schoolers write essays using the...
Curated OER
Activity Plan 2-3: Baby Animals
Students get to be creative in learning about baby animals. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop fine motor, math, and science skills as they sing, read, and share about baby animals.
Maine Content Literacy Project
Setting in "Hills Like White Elephants"
Continue your study of the short story with the next lesson in this fourteen-lesson series. After wrapping up a study of "Hills Like White Elephants" through a quiz and discussion of the setting, learners are introduced to the final...
Curated OER
In Case of Emergency
A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness lesson. Youngsters...
Curated OER
The ABCs of the Holocaust
The ABC book format is used to organize information found in a Holocaust research project. Class members use the library and/or online resources to collect information and organize their findings under key terms, places, or names. Before...
Curated OER
Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
Curated OER
Plagiarism: Avoiding Accidental Internet Plagiarism
Demonstrate how to cite information from Internet sources without plagiarizing. If your class is working on an Internet research paper, and you have observed learners cutting and pasting directly from the Internet, the activities and...
Curated OER
My Personal Wellness
Merge technology and wellness. Class members complete inquiry-based research on a personal wellness issue and create an annotated bibliography, uploading their completed work to their personal wellness websites. Prior to beginning, your...
Curated OER
Ban That Book!
Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique students' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book, get...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to Counting by 7s
Everyone takes a different journey through grief. A series of lesson plans for the novel Counting by 7s introduces readers to the main character who loses her parents in a car crash. Discussion questions and writing prompts combine...
Curated OER
Weighing the War
Study opposing viewpoints with this lesson, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or against the reasons to...
Curated OER
A Primary Source Picture Book
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
Middle Tennessee State University
Fights, Freedom, and Fraud: Voting Rights in the Reconstruction Era
As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...
Curated OER
The News Behind the Story
What a fun way to analyze plot, setting, and character. Learners review story elements, read a short fictional story, then turn the events of that story into a headlining news paper article. Not only does this lesson engage critical...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Weather or Not
What is the difference between weather and climate? This is the focus question of a lesson that takes a deeper look at how weather data helps determine climate in a region. Using weather and climate cards, students decide...
American Library Association
Creating 21st Century Superheroes
Create 21st century learners by utilizing technology and library databases. Scholars explore the concept of comic books as literature and create a superhero who could uniquely solve a 21st century global issue. Databases such as SIRS are...
Curated OER
Our Constitutional Connection Lesson 3: To Vote Or Not To Vote? That is the Question!
Students design colorful posters to "get out and vote" after studying the three amendments to the US Constitution that extend voting rights. They analyze the importance of voting to a healthy democracy.
Curated OER
Got a Problem? Let's Solve It! Lesson 1:
Students investigate how problem solving skills contribute to philanthropy. In this animal welfare lesson, students use problem solving skills to make suggestions about how to solve an issue regarding the humane treatment of an animal.
Curated OER
Forest Ecosystem
Learners take a field trip and explore a temperate rainforest. In this rainforest lesson plan, students discuss many items they see on their journey and experiment with different tree leaves.
Curated OER
Kidspiration Lesson Plan
First graders are able to successfully create a web featuring five community workers from the school. They are able to include a digital photograph of each of the five community workers. Students are able to write one way that each...