Sharp School
The Bill of Rights and Supreme Court Cases Project
Social media and United States history combine as your young historians design a Facebook page for two major defendants of landmark Supreme Court cases. The resource includes a detailed rubric for research and page design, as well as a...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...
New York City Department of Education
Egypt
This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they...
Curated OER
Knights of the Round Table adapted by Gwen Ross
Everyone loves the tales involving King Arthur and his knights. After reading Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Gross, learners draw inferences and conclusions, analyze story elements, and discuss figurative language, including...
National History Day
Heroes Who Made a Difference: Memorializing a Distinguished Service Cross Award Recipient
Ever wonder how to memorialize World War I heroes in the classroom? Activities in a high-quality social studies resource prompt middle schoolers to research Internet sources, complete a graphic organizer, and write an editorial feature...
Agriculture in the Classroom
A Holiday Tradition: Which Christmas Tree Will You Choose?
Different varieties of Christmas trees provide an interesting way to combine social studies, science, math, and technology. Class members not only research the history of the Christmas tree holiday tradition, they compare and...
National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Runoff, Impervious Surfaces, and Smart Development
Can a sidewalk increase the amount of pollution in local streams? Scholars learn the answer to this question though research and experimentation in the fifth unit in the six-part series. Pupils study runoff, impervious surfaces, and the...
National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Food Safety
Did youknow that chicken causes the greatest risk of food-borne illness. The fourth unit in a six-part series addresses food safety. Scholars research common scenarios of food causing illness through the National Institute for Health....
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...
Building Evidence-Based Arguments: Grade 9
High schoolers investigate the dilemma of a proportional response with a lesson about the history of terrorism and militant extremists in the United States. As they examine memos from the FBI and speeches from President Bush and Obama,...
Curated OER
Debating the Issues: Ralph Bunche and Civil Rights
Synthesizing information from a PBS documentary Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, its companion website, and several other resources (links to which are provided), high schoolers evaluate whether Bunche did all he could to advance the...
Curated OER
Searching for Answers
How does a judge in the federal judicial court decide on a verdict? Give your middle and high schoolers a better idea of how final decisions are made in the judicial system. Then split your class into four groups, assigning each group a...
Curated OER
Playing With Science
Young scientists investigate the scientific concepts and principles that help make common toys such as hula hoops, yo-yos, slinkies, and silly putty work. As a class, they read "Backyard Rocket Science, Served Wet" to get a look behind...
Curated OER
Phase Changes of Water
A micro-unit on the phase changes of water includes three laboratory activities. Junior scientists compare the densities of ice and water, and then they do the same for cold and warm water. They examine freezing and boiling temperatures....
Federal Reserve Bank
The Story of the Federal Reserve: Middle School Lesson Plan
After reading the charming cartoon about the United States Federal Reserve, pupils often need to complete activities to retain their learning. The resource does a wonderful job of using class discussion and various written exercises to...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Children Learn Social Skills in Web World
In this English worksheet, students read "Children Learn Social Skills in Web World," and then respond to 1 essay, 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Study Doubts Aromatherapy's Effects
In this English worksheet, students read "Study Doubts Aromatherapy's Effects," and then respond to 2 graphic organizers, 47 fill in the blanks, 7 short answers, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the...
Curated OER
Kids' Newsbreaks
Group learners together to identify a question relating to an issue and create a 60-second kids news break highlighting information that begins to answer the question. They research and answer issue questions in a news story format.
Curated OER
I Need More Information!
Students decide on an issue and then determine what questions they would like to have answered while researching the topic. They develop and improve their research skills by using a variety of available sources to investigate and write...
Curated OER
Volcano Research Project
Eighth graders research about different types of volcanoes. In this earth science instructional activity, 8th graders create PowerPoint presentation on the information gathered. They share findings with the class.
Curated OER
Pandemics
Students develop an awareness of the effect of pandemics and acquire knowledge to prevent a pandemic from spreading. In this pandemics lesson plan, students build research skills using a variety of sources. Students investigate...
Curated OER
Polar Day: Comparing My Community to a Northern Community
Third graders practice their geography skills. For this Polar Day-themed lesson, 3rd graders use their research skills to compare and contrast the place, regions, and human systems in their community to a Canadian northern polar region...
Curated OER
Olympic Shadow Boxes
What a cool way to incorporate art and use reference materials. Learners use classroom reference materials such as almanacs, encyclopedias, and dictionaries to answer one of four questions, and then they use the information to create a...
Curated OER
Basic Search Methods Using Online Resources
Second graders practice using technology to gather information. For this online research lesson, 2nd graders use technology to find information for a research project. Students write a research paper, and give a presentation to the class...