Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 15: Theme
Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...
Teach Engineering
Skin and the Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation
Though UV radiation can damage skin, it isn't all bad. The third installment in a six-part series allows the class to study the structure and function of skin. They learn about the different types of skin cancer and the SPF rating...
Florida Alliance for Arts Education
Theatre Arts
What skills do storytellers employ to bring to life the characters and events in their tales? After listening to a recording of a Haitian folk tale, class members consider how tone of voice, pace, and gestures can be used to enliven a...
The New York Times
Trouble in the Hive: Researching the Decimation of Honeybee Colonies
Teach your class about colony collapse disorder and foster discussion about causes and solutions for the honeybee problem. Class members read and discuss an article and participate in one of two detailed activities about pollination and...
Journey Through the Universe
Going through a Phase
Ignore the full moon, it's just a phase. Young scholars observe and record the moon during a full cycle before learning to predict future phases. Then the instructor leads a discussion on the other solar system objects that...
K5 Learning
What Police and Detectives Do
What do police and detectives do to keep their community safe? Six short-answer questions make up a worksheet designed to reinforce reading comprehensions skills while providing information about police officers and detectives.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Impacts of Climate Change
Scholars become experts on the eight major impacts of climate change through a jigsaw and grand conversation. They then research and present what they learned about effects specific to their region.
Learning to Live
Attributes of a Civil Society
What makes a society civil? High school freshmen search for examples of justice, kindness, peace, and tolerance in news media and brainstorm how they can promote these attributes in their schools, communities, and world. The well-rounded...
Film English
Music
Some emotions are indescribable, but sometimes you have to try! After brainstorming adjectives that describe emotions, pupils watch a quick film, at first with no sound. Partners share their adjectives and come up with descriptions for...
Macmillan Education
Sine and Cosine Graphs
Learners compare and contrast sine and cosine graphs in order to describe their characteristics in a collaborative activity. As they explain their reasoning, learners strengthen their writing and vocabulary skills associated with...
Ready Houston
Make a Plan. Build a Kit. Stay Informed.
Help prepare your youngsters for an emergency or natural disaster by discussing important topics as where to meet, how to remain in contact, and what belongs in an emergency kit.
Brigham Young University
Out of the Dust: Guided Imagery
A guided imagery exercise is a great way to get readers thinking about writing. As part of their study of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, class members listen to a reading of one of the poems...
Civil War
Civil War Medicine: Fact or Fiction
Young historians compare the presentation of medical care during the Civil War in passages from fictional and nonfictional texts. They examine passages from Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Soldier's...
Colorado State University
How Far Away Is Space?
Outer space may be a lot closer than you think! Science scholars model the layers of the atmosphere using transparencies to gain insight into the scale of space. The resource includes ideas to tailor the activity to the skill level of...
PBS
Season Seeking
It's a time of change. A hands-on activity engages young scientists in a lesson highlighting the change of seasons. They brainstorm indicators of season changes in nature and then look for them. Next, they record observations in a field...
Curated OER
Understanding Stereotypes
Pupils confront age-related stereotypes, explore how stereotyping impacts their lives, and discuss how they can make changes to reduce over-generalizations, unfair assumptions, and critical judgments about people groups. They use a...
World Intellectual Property Organization
Learn from the Past, Create the Future: Inventions and Patents
3D printers, selfie sticks, smart watches. GPS, self-driving cars, YouTube. Imagine life without inventions. Believe it or not, these items were all invented in the last 10 years. Inventions, and the inventors responsible for them,...
D-Day Normandy 1944
D-Day Normandy 1944
No study of World War II would be complete without an in-depth examination of the events of June 6, 1944. Pascal Vuong's D-Day Normandy:1944, is the perfect vehicle to convey the sheer magnitude of the events that have been called...
Workforce Solutions
Workforce Solutions Pre-K Lessons
Four lessons, each following the same routine, explore the careers of a teacher, nurse, electrician, geologist, plumber, and police officer. After listening to a read-aloud and thoughtful discussion, young scholars construct puppets...
University of Minnesota
Sheep Brain Dissection
Bored with frog and earthworm dissections? Had your fill of fetal pigs? Anatomy students will be intrigued by the sheep's brain, and you will be prepared with guiding questions, extension activities, and pictures as they dissect one —...
US National Archives
WWII: The Pacific 1939-45 – Japan and the Atom Bomb
Though the scientists who developed the atom bomb did not believe it should be used to end World War II, American President Harry S. Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were of like mind in their decision to drop the bomb...
E Reading Worksheets
Tone Worksheet 2
The beauty of a poem is lost without an understanding of its tone. Middle schoolers connect author's purpose and word choice to four poems in a literary analysis activity, which prompts them to note each poem's tone and meaning.
Science Matters
Earthquake Preparedness
Forty-five states and territories in the USA are at moderate to very high risk of earthquakes. The discussion-based lesson covers what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. The 14th lesson in the series includes how to...
Prestwick House
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Take a moment in your language or social studies class to review key terms and details from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. A quick crossword puzzle allows learners to check understanding before a larger unit, test, or...