Curated OER
Rating Systems
Your favorite sports team is ranked #1. How do the powers that be determine this rating? Learn how ratings are mathematically computed using probability concepts, from the Elo Rating System for chess to the Rating Percentage Index for...
Curriculum Corner
Coniferous and Deciduous Trees
What are the differences between coniferous and deciduous trees? Supplement your tree lessons with a set of activities that has learners describing, naming, comparing, and reading about deciduous and coniferous trees. The activities are...
Curated OER
Look At Those Leaves!
Kids observe, classify, and measure tree leaves with a scientific eye. They examine leaves, group them according their attributes, and use standard units of measurement as they compare their sizes. They access a web site to learn how...
Curated OER
Project-Based Learning: Community Service
Community service is the basis for a project based learning experience. Your class participates in four weekly activities that require them to research community issues and contribute their time and talent to assist those in need. This...
Curated OER
Recognizing the Importance of Sight
Students discover the true value of their senses. In this sight lesson, students discover the difficulty of life without sight by performing everyday activities without the help of their eyes. The students examine their results and the...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Alligators Everywhere Fill-In
Meant to be used with the article, "In Florida, the Natives Are Restless" (included here), this is a great source of high-interest, nonfiction reading. A fill in the blank vocabulary activity and an activity focusing on reading...
Worksheet Web
Let it Snow
After reading an informational text detailing the ins and outs of snowflakes, scholars draw their own special design then work cooperatively to role play a snowman building scenario.
St. Joseph Community Consolidated School District #169
Nutcracker
'Tis the holiday season and the Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker Prince come alive with a teaching and study guide for Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Background information, activities, games and puzzles are all included in...
Virginia Department of Education
Evidence of Evolution
What an impression fossils make! In this activity, aspiring paleontologists view fossils and construct a timeline to further understand how the lack of natural adaptation caused historical organisms to become extinct. While they...
Cornell University
Renewable Resins and Composites
Merge chemistry with environmental science to study biodegradable materials. An engaging activity allows learners to experiment with different resin concentrations and composites. Through experimental tests, scholars test their creations...
University of California
Jewish Holidays
Modern Jewish holidays have ancient roots with many connections to today. Using photographs of primary sources, such as fragments of a shofar, as well as texts, such as the Hebrew Tanakh, learners explore how Jewish holidays reflect...
Education World
Every Day Edit - Nellie Bly, Journalist
In this everyday editing instructional activity, students correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about journalist Nellie Bly. The errors range from capitalization, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Curated OER
"Circles of Strength: What Do You Stand For?" ~ A Reflection of Us~
Middle schoolers determine how they are included in "Circles of Strength." In this character activity, middle schoolers reflect on how they are part of "Circles of Strength" in the "Circle of Life." They make an individual circle that...
Curated OER
There Was An Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly
Students complete activities with the book There Was An Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly. In this literature lesson, students hear the story and recognize the animals. They create fly soup and discuss healthy foods and junk...
Curated OER
Hand Washing
Mostly discussion, this lesson explores the importance and methods of hand washing. A few true stories of community illnesses spread by the neglect of washing hands serve as an anticipatory set. The activity is most memorable if you are...
Curated OER
Travis the Train: Spring Time Animals
Tag along with Travis the Train as he encounters various baby animals that live on the farm. The spring time story introduces special-needs or autistic children to the types of plants and animals found on farms, each animal is identified...
Fuel the Brain
Pumpkin Concentration- Doubles Addition
This activity is print-out ready for when your learners need to practice doubles addition. A template provides the cards, which can be laminated and used throughout the year. Partners flip over cards to try and match the equation (1+1,...
Curated OER
Everyone's a Critic: Analyzing Sitcoms as Cultural Texts
Start by defining the word sitcom with the goal of launching a discussion. What exactly is a sitcom? How is a sitcom different from sketch comedy, drama, and reality television? Class members give examples, remember storylines...
Illustrative Mathematics
Ice Cream Van
In an open-ended problem, learners calculate costs involved in driving an ice cream van. Is it better to park in one place or drive through different neighborhoods? Learners look at these and other factors and must make reasonable...
Curated OER
Lizard Lab
In this detailed and comprehensive multi-day activity, budding evolutionary biologists use real data from lizard populations in the Canary Islands to examine evolution and natural selection.
Teacher's Corner
Haiku
The haiku, one of the most popular fixed forms, is the subject of this writing activity, the seventh in a series of ten poetry exercises.
Curated OER
We Approach the Lenten Journey
After reading the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus as depicted in the Bible, young learners design bracelets of beads representing their lenten journeys in an engaging and ongoing hands-on learning activity.
C-SPAN
Debates
How do the presidential debates of 2016 compare to the debates from the 1980's? What about the 1960's? Evaluate a chosen candidate or issue from the 20th and 21st centuries with a lesson plan focused on political debates. Middle and...
Virginia Department of Education
A Salt Marsh Ecosystem
What a web we weave. Pupils use yarn as the primary resource to create a web depicting the intricacies of a salt marsh ecosystem. They participate in a question and answer session, which leads to an in-depth facilitated discussion...