Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
All Together Now: Challenge Activities (Theme 1)
For scholars who need a challenge in the classroom, here is a unit for you. Learners explore topics such as animals, sports, helpers at home, the past, and funny things that have happened in their lives. Youngsters also engage...
Reed Novel Studies
Robinson Crusoe: Novel Study
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what book would you want with you? Robinson Crusoe of course! During his years stuck on an island, Crusoe learns to survive by making a canoe, finding food, and living in solitude. Scholars read...
National WWII Museum
Dear Mother: Synthesizing Historical Evidence
It's one thing to read history, it's another to live it. Pupils examine secondary and primary sources that detail the training of soldiers before deployment. Then, they consider the impact of primary sources on how they understand the...
Health Smart Virginia
"SuperBetter" Stress Management
The goal of this Health Smart instructional activity is for freshmen to develop a personal system for coping with stress. They create a power-up list of things that make them feel happier, healthier, or better connected, identify people...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
What Does It Mean to be a Good Citizen?
Civics scholars are challenged to determine what it means to be a good citizen. Class members select three adults in their lives and interview them to discover what the term "good citizen" means to each of these people. The class then...
Virginia Department of Education
Physical and Chemical Properties of Water
How can you effectively provide detailed concepts of water properties to your high school class in a way they find exciting and challenging at the same time? By letting them play, of course! Through a variety of...
Exploratorium
Radioactive Decay Model
Toss 100 pennies (or poker chips or any other two-different-sided objects) and remove all of those displaying tails. Line them up and repeat. The lines of pennies collected get smaller each time, successfully representing half-life.
Curated OER
Artifacts 1: What Can We Learn From Artifacts?
Sixth graders are introduced to artifacts and explore an online archaeological site to connect clues about how people once lived. In this deductive reasoning lesson, 6th graders participate in the stratigraphy game on Kids Dig...
BBC
Community Action
Upper graders and middle schoolers engage in a instructional activity on community. A class discussion kicks off the instructional activity. Pupils share things that they do as community service after school or on weekends. They imagine...
Curated OER
What's Important to You?
What are the most important things to your second graders? Learners read the poem "There Isn't Time" as inspiration to list things that are important to them. They list five things they would like to do in order of priority....
Curated OER
Your Day as a Cycle
Fourth graders examine a variety of cycles. They take a look at life cycles of plants and animals, the cycle of the moon and tides, and other sequences of events in their daily lives. An interesting part of the lesson is how kids keep...
Curated OER
How Is A Frog Able To Swim In The Trees?
Fourth graders explore the interdependence of frogs and trees. They discuss the various things they need everyday to survive. Students select an animal from their local bioregion and research things that animal is dependent upon for...
Curated OER
Habitats
Students identify butterfly habitats. In this butterfly habitats instructional activity, students read and discuss Where Butterflies Grow. Students study pictures and guess which are butterfly habitats. Students list the life needs of...
Curated OER
Life as a colonial silversmith
Young scholars study the life experiences of people who lived in colonial Boston prior to the American Revolution. They define key terms including Loyalist and Patriot. They write a journal entry as Nathaniel Hurd, a silversmith.
Curated OER
How We're Connected
Pupils take a survey in order to find out how they live in relationship to the environment. They take the time to investigate the differences between a need and a want. This is done as part of the self-assessment. Students also study how...
Curated OER
Manduca
Students study the definition of a "global society". They take this knowledge and speculate about the positive and negative ramifications of living in a global society.
Curated OER
Move it! With Simple Machines
Students know the six simple machines and explain what they do and how they have changed the lives of humans.
Curated OER
Climatic Zones
Third graders recognize and locate Frigid, Temperate, and Torrid climatic zones on the word map or globe. They explain that plants, animals, and human societies display adaptations to the climates they live in .
Curated OER
Geography of China (Tibet)
Sixth graders study the geography of Tibet. They create maps of Tibet. Students predict population, land area, water area and coastline length of the United States and Tibet. Students compare and contrast the day-to-day lives of people...
Curated OER
Indian Story Bag
Students use an object to tell an interesting story from their lives. They write and present a short story about an interesting episode from their life and gather objects in a story bag, which illustrates their story to the class.
Curated OER
Investigating Light
Learners study concepts associated with light. In this light lesson, students observe an demonstration by the teacher. They examine reflection and refraction of light and name things that reflect light and those that refract it. They...
Curated OER
A Fundamental of Culture—Cultural Context
Students examine the impact of cultural context. For this culture lesson, students discuss the unwritten rules that cultures live by and how context determines behavioral norms within the culture.
Curated OER
I Can Balance. You Can Balance.
There are many, many reasons why people do not maintain an energy balance. Talk to your young learners about balance, what gets in the way of eating healthy, and things that get in the way of doing physical activity. Some obstacles may...
Curated OER
Create Your Own Hero
Chinese legends are the focus of an interesting lesson that combines social studies with writing. Learners read the Chinese folk tale, "Li Chi Slays The Serpent." After the story is over, they make a list of the courageous things...