Curated OER
Let's Draw!
Young scholars practice their drawing skills using a variety of stories as sources for their inspiration. Crayons and pencils are utilized to model different line widths, textures, and shapes.
Curated OER
Movies Are Us
Young scholars watch a movie, and answer teacher created questions in order to explore the brain.
Curated OER
What's So Bad or Good About Conflict?
Learners investigate how conflict can be positive or negative. They discuss the concept of conflict while making a class web of their ideas. They design a class bulletin board that includes a thought written by each student after the...
Curated OER
Art Appreciation
Students explain that everyone has their own opinion about what they think is good art. They study images, then put a heart behind the one they like the best, the least and the one they think their mom or dad would like.
Curated OER
Sprouting Sprouts!
Students plant sprout seeds and make observations. For this lesson about planting, students make observations, predictions, and record information. Students analyze how the sprout plants grow and determine if any of the four sprout seeds...
Curated OER
The Mystery of History - Original Sources
Students examine and discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources. They brainstorm examples of each, locate examples of primary and secondary sources on the Internet, and identify three primary sources from home.
Curated OER
Let's Forecast the Weather!
Learners study meteorology and weather forecasting. They set up a weather forecaster area in their classroom using a large classroom map, a pointer stick, a microphone connected to an amplifier, a play suit jacket or lab coat, and a...
Curated OER
Make Your own Treasure Hunt!
Students participate in a variety of treasure hunts to promote critical thinking skills. In these problem solving lessons, students go on a photo hunt, scavenger hunt, clue hunt, and map hunt, looking for specific treasures.
Curated OER
Plan of Action
Students examine the process of setting up a service project. They describe this plan to help a family in need in their community. They evaluate the project after its completion.
Curated OER
Revolutionary Idea
Students take a field trip to watch a reenactment of the Revolutionary War. In groups, they participate in the same daily chores as the soldiers and examine the contributions of the colonies. To end the lesson, they eat a typical...
Curated OER
Tell About South II: Poets and Prophets
Learners explore the life of Richard Wright. They create a Power Point presentation to showcase Wright's journey from Mississippi to Memphis, Chicago, New York, and France and how he was an example of an African-American who moved north....
Scholastic
Lesson Five: The Earth, Rocks and Minerals
Apply the principles of geology to a series of collaborative, hands-on class activities. Young earth scientists learn more about igneous, metamorphic, and sedentary rocks before classifying and weathering rocks that they find....
Newspaper Association of America
Press Ahead!
Give class members some great news! A media unit teaches individuals about ethics, parts of a newspaper, business writing, photojournalism, and more topics that have to do with the press. Full of material for a variety of learners,...
Curated OER
Convergence with The Cay: Exploring Geographic Concepts Wrapped in a Story
Here's an awesome unit that uses The Cay as the anchor text. The 16-page packet is loaded with teaching ideas, activities, and suggested adjustments.
Curated OER
Short Vowels With Clifford
Phonetic masters identify and recognize short vowel sounds by reading and listening to a story that highlights select words. They use picture clues to aid comprehension and construct a story by actively choosing and identifying...
Curated OER
Long Vowels With Clifford
Learners recognize long vowel sounds by reading and listening to a story that highlights words with long vowel sounds. They then construct an original story. They use picture clues to aid comprehension, and match words with similar vowel...
Curated OER
Using the Comprehension Strategies
High school learners review the six major reading comprehension strategies. They demonstrate the strategies by putting them into action using more complex reading. They finish by discussing a seventh strategy, monitoring comprehension.
Scholastic
Pre-Reading Vocabulary Activities Using "The Gift of the Magi"
The rich language of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" is only appreciable if you understand the words. A short instructional activity reviews 13 words from the story and prompts class members to apply each word and its definition to...
Scholastic
Identifying Types of Irony Using "The Gift of the Magi"
O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" is the classic example of irony in literature. Teach young writers about the ways irony can engage their readers with an activity in which they write scripts using dramatic irony, situational irony, and...
Curated OER
In Other Words: Using a Thesaurus
Help your young writers stay engaged with their writing through the practical use of a thesaurus. They work to reinforce the use of synonyms as a way of making writing more interesting and to determine word meaning by finding synonyms....
Curated OER
Connotation: Three Lessons for Effective Word Choice
Over the course of three days, middle schoolers explore the concept of connotation. They differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of sports team names, develop their own team names, logos, and text, and revise a news...
Curated OER
Practice Makes It Better
Use the Internet to expand the audience for portfolio writings and motivate young writers to edit their work. Have your class members select a piece of writing from their portfolios to be polished and published on the World Wide Web....
Curated OER
Round Robin Post-It Review
Learners of all ages participate in a unique review activity. They work in a small group setting on individual review questions designed by the teacher. Each individual answers a key review question on a notecard or sticky note and...
Scholastic
Thanksgiving Lessons Grades PreK-2
A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...