Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans: 1st Grade
Have you ever gone to work when you needed to stay home but didn't because the thought of making substitute plans was too daunting? Don't feel that way anymore with a template designed for first grade equipped with general classroom...
Curated OER
Fifty States Field Day
Students explore the 50 states in preparation for a special field day. On the actual field day, the oldest students in the school manage each of 50 physical activity stations. They share information about each state and introduce the...
Curated OER
Write a Description
Finding the central idea is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers write descriptions of different animals using details and descriptive language. They watch a video of kids using descriptive language, and then use showing language...
PBS
Predicting/Making a Hypothesis
As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...
NASA
Creating a Space Exploration Infrastructure
What will it take to explore space? Teams of pupils determine the needs of a lunar outpost and research the required systems. The pupils then learn about the past space exploration vehicles. The third and final lesson challenges project...
Curated OER
Elizabeti's Series--Classroom Guide
Second graders explore the books in the Elizabeti Series. In this reading comprehension lesson, young readers discuss pre-reading focus questions about their feelings on the first day of school. They investigate the book and describe the...
University of California
You Are What You Eat: Testing for Organic Compounds in Foods
We have all heard that we are what you eat, but what are we eating? An informative lesson opens with a discussion of the foods pupils have recently eaten. Then, young scientists perform four experiments on seven...
Curated OER
Natural Gas: An American Treasure
Do your fourth graders need extra practice with evaluating fact and opinion? An informative resource provides two reading passages in which learners distinguish sentences as fact or as opinion. Additionally,...
Curated OER
Stars and Slopes
More of a math lesson than physics or space science, high schoolers take a set of data and plot it on a log-log coordinate system. The write-up for day two was never completed, but day one, "Stars and Slopes," is complex and cohesive....
Curated OER
Animals of the Arctic
Sixth graders research an Arctic animal. They survey the questions in the Animal Report in order to conduct their research. They investigate their chosen animal by using the Internet, library books and reference books.
Curated OER
Wheel of Trouble
While teaching about endangered species, you can incorporate this activity as a take-home reminder of what is threatening the sea turtle population. It is one of those paper plate projects in which a wedge is cut out to reveal a picture...
American Psychological Association
Psychology Goes to Madison Avenue
As part of a study of well-known psychologists, class members create a name, a business logo, an advertisement for TV, online, radio, or print, and a pamphlet for the business run by one of the psychologists on a provided list. An...
Curated OER
Harvest the Facts
Learners discover heath problems caused by tobacco. In this human health lesson, students identify the many diseases tobacco use causes and how to prevent such diseases. Learners investigate the organs in the human body...
All Things PLC
Professional!Learning!Community! Manual: Operationalizing!the!Big!Picture
Thinking of creating a Professional Learning Community at your school? Here's a 32-page manual that provides everything you need to get started.
PBS
Robot Body Language
How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...
Curated OER
Wolf Habitat
Pupils identify their own basic needs for food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement. They generalize that wolves and people have similar basic needs.
Curated OER
Getting through the day duck style
Students are introduced to how animals (and ourselves) cope with daily life. They discover that living things need certain conditions to survive. Students investigate how living things (including ourselves and a duck) have special...
Curated OER
More Than a Campground
Fourth graders participate in a class disucssion on the term "habitat". The class brainstorms on what makes a national park special. In small groups, they research a a national park and create a mural depicting those factors that make...
Curated OER
How We Use Rocks: Part 1
Second graders read books about rocks, observe rocks and locate a special rock to observe more closely. They complete a worksheet about the chosen rock and create an art project using rocks or pebbles.
Curated OER
Key Figures of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition
Students gain general knowledge of the goals, route, participants, and significance of the 1899 Harriman Expedition. They link names of glaciers, fiords, mountains, flora and fauna with names of the 1899 Harriman Expedition...
Curated OER
How Appropriate is that Tree?
Students identify trees and their environments using a dichotomous chart. In this exploratory lesson plan students use the Internet to identify conditions needed for the trees and what the climate is in their area.
Curated OER
Growing Native Plants From Seed
Second graders plant seeds of native plants. They study the concepts of native plants, where they grow, how they grow, and why they are so special. They assess long term care monitoring the seedlings as they grow and write the name...
Curated OER
Night Hike
Learners explore Upham Woods at night and investigate about the special adaptations of nocturnal animals. They identify three nocturnal animals and how they are adapted to the night. Students explain what night vision is and how it works.
Curated OER
Circular Motion
Students research physical science by completing worksheets. In this gravity instructional activity, students read assigned text regarding the rotation of Earth and the gravitational force caused by the speed of which it rotates....