Carnegie Mellon University
Bathtub Model
Using a colorful infographic handout and a guide sheet, hold a class discussion about how a bathtub can serve as a model for the greenhouse effect created by Earth's atmosphere. Participants will understand that as energy or matter is...
Michigan State University
Interviewing
Do you have pests at your school? Find out through a series of interviews with school personnel. Scholars visit a variety of knowledgable individuals to ask them questions, record their answers, and present their findings to their...
Curated OER
Iggy the Penguin
Take your young word detectives on a hunt for the /i/ sound. Use the tongue twister about Iggy the penguin to help learners identify the target sound. Then learners are given several words, and they have to use their detective skills to...
Curated OER
I'm a Creature, You're a Creature, Wouldn't You Like to Be a Creature, Too?
Third graders demonstrate an understanding of the lifestyles and habits of the underwater life presented in the previous unit. They classify the various sea creatures according to the ecosystem and then use drama skills to present...
Curated OER
What is Good Use of Time?
Students analyze the best uses of time in other cultures. In this time use lesson, students read the poem 'Soccer Into Dusk' and 'The Meaning of Time' as analysis of time usage in other culttures. Students complete a discussion, journal...
Curated OER
House of the Spirits: Fun Trivia Quiz
This quiz about Isabel Allende's magic-realist novel, on the syllabus for many 10th graders, comes with well supported answers that could foster discussion, incite rereading, and enhance comprehension. If you have computer access in your...
Curated OER
The Gerund Phrase
Do your young grammarians need extra practice identifying gerund phrases? After reading a short definition and studying examples, learners underline the gerund phrases in 20 sentences. This worksheet could be used as the basis of a...
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Media Literacy with Focus of Strategies for Collaboration
Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.
DePaul University
Breaking the Food Chain
Throughout history, the growth of big cities has resulted in the destruction of ecosystems. In the case of Chicago, IL, a grassland that was once home to bison, deer, wolves, and foxes quickly became a booming city of over three million...
Curated OER
Trivia Tag
Learners, as chasers, on teachers signal, move throughout a space trying to tag others with their free hand. When a tag is made, both players stop; chaser reads question from card to student who was tagged. If answer is correct, person...
Curated OER
Continents and Oceans
Students identify oceans and continents and their locations on a map. They color-code and label their own map of the world's continents and oceans. They play the game Continents and Oceans to identify specific areas.
Curated OER
Descriptions
Students describe things using sensory words. In this adjective lesson, students practice conversations describing items they touch. Students use words to describe properties of items such as size and texture.
Curated OER
How To Argue Without Cheating
For this debate worksheet, students read and learn about the fine points of debate and persuasion. The vocabulary presented and the ideas are quite advanced; premise, conclusion, syllogism, ad homineum, and other difficult terms.
Curated OER
The Human Geonome Project Structured Controversy
Students debate government funding of the Human Genome Project. For this ethics lesson, students use the stuctured controversy framework to research the opposing viewpoints regarding project funding.
Curated OER
School News
Students create a video of school news to improve writing skills, speaking skills, questioning skills, and to help build self esteem.
Curated OER
Ask Personal Questions: Worksheet 1
In this conversational English worksheet, learners practice interviewing skills as they role play using the 20 personal questions provided.
Curated OER
The Lost Property Office
Students participate in a role-play activity to practice literacy skills. They work in pairs to describe an item they have lost, and the partner asks description questions to help locate the lost item.
Curated OER
Media Literacy Skills
Third graders watch a news story from three different networks in order to determine how the same story can be presented in three different ways. Next, working in small groups they create a newscast of a current event to share with the...
Curated OER
TEXT MESSAGING
Students examine the differences between standard and non-standard English and use text-speak to rewrite a plot summary and a news story. They identify a type of non-standard English and determine the characteristics that make it...
Curated OER
Using Words to Work Things Out
Students explore classroom community building. In this character development and community building instructional activity, students listen to Hands Are Not for Hitting and generate a class list of positive ways to handle classroom...
Curated OER
Create a City: An Urban Planning Exercise
Students explore the effects of population growth in Arizona. In this history instructional activity, students work in small groups to create a "perfect" city. Activities include examining the Arizona census results then discussing...
Curated OER
Investigating Our Place in the World
Students study the concept of geography in a year long unit. In this geography unit, students participate in different activities that explain the spatial sense of the world, the physical landmasses and bodies of water, geographic...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Guess What Benjamin Franklin Did!
Learners research Ben Franklin's inventions. In this invention lesson, students see the relationship between a need and an invention. Learners will engage in a class discussion, read a handout, and play a match the invention to its...
Curated OER
Nelson Mandela's Birthday
Students complete a variety of vocabulary-related activities with a focus on a news article about Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday. They read the article, define key vocabulary terms, identify the famous people mentioned in the text,...