Curated OER
Volcanoes: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Young geologists explore volcanoes with a series of engaging geology activities. First, they learn the difference between magma and lava before coloring and labeling the parts of a volcano. During the lab, individuals watch a...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...
Curated OER
With Detective Fiction in the Urban Classroom
This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...
Curated OER
Ice Cream
Students explore the concepts of mean, median, mode, and range as they elicit data about people's favorite flavor of ice cream. A practical application of the data obtained offers an extension to the lesson plan.
Historical Thinking Matters
Social Security: 1 Day Lesson
Should the United States provide relief for those who are unemployed? Trace this question back to the Great Depression with your young historians, who will engage in careful reading of historical documents and classroom discussion...
PEGAMES.org
Memory Zap
Are you faced with rainy day recess or in need of an end-of-the-day activity? This game is easy to explain and will give your youngsters the opportunity to get some activity in by calmly moving around the classroom. It will also help...
Discovery Education
Fuss About Dust
Dust is everywhere around us; it's unavoidable. But what exactly is dust and are certain locations dustier than others? These are the questions students try to answer in an interesting scientific investigation. Working independently or...
American Chemical Society
Investigating the Line
Note that this lesson is best paired with the preceding lesson in the unit. In that lesson, elementary physical scientists observed that the color coating of M&Ms® candies do not mix when dissolved off of the chocolate surface. Now...
Curated OER
Lesson 4: The Judiciary: A Brief Introduction to the Courts System
Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth lesson in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger, students go on...
Curated OER
Poetic Elements Are Fun!
Engage your class in the elements of poetry with a series of lessons and activities. The plans cover simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and imagery. Learners come up their their own metaphors, identify poetic...
Curated OER
ESL Grammar Lessons
Practice makes perfect when it comes to learning grammar with this ESL resource. Offering a great way to teach about relative clauses, this lesson engages students with a series of partner, small group, and whole class speaking and...
Curated OER
Flicking Football Fun
Young mathematicians fold and flick their way to a deeper understanding of statistics with a fun, hands-on math unit. Over the course of four lessons, students use paper footballs to generate data as they learn how to create line...
Scholastic
Awesome Adaptations
Engaged learners discover how an owl beak works and how animals adapt to their environment. This task is part one of a three-part series.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Hand Washing Experiment
An engaging experiment allows scholars to understand why the recommendation is to wash for 20 seconds with soap and water — while making them aware of their own habits!
Maryland Department of Education
Our Children Can Soar
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....
Nemours KidsHealth
Skin Cancer: Grades 6-8
Do we really need sunscreen? What are the risks of tanning? Learners explore these questions through a series of informational texts and engaging, hands-on activities.
Center for Civic Education
Constitution Day Rap
Engage your class while learning about the US Constitution with this fun primary grade social studies lesson. After viewing a picture of the US Constitution, young learners piece together a US flag using stars and...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonics: Letter-Sound Correspondence, Photo Chart
Have fun with student photographs in this phonics activity! Learners sort their classmates' photos by initial sound on a large poster board with the alphabet written vertically down the left side. Also provided are various pictures...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Buttons?
Bring the class into the probability by having everyone count buttons on their shirts. Organize the data into the chart provided and chose different possibilities such as "female with one button" or "all students with more than four...
Mobile Education Store
ConversationBuilder
Some students struggle in social situations or when it comes to conversing with peers. Conversation is key in developing relationships and in building strong social skills. This app can be used to help children with social anxiety, ASD,...
Illustrative Mathematics
Which Number is Greater? Which Number is Less? How do you Know?
When comparing groups of objects, it's easy for children to identify which has more, but it's not so easy for them to explain their reasoning. This simple whole-group activity provides multiple opportunities for learners to compare...
Illustrative Mathematics
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor
What better way to engage children in a math lesson than by talking about ice cream? Using a pocket chart or piece of chart paper, the class works together creating a bar graph of the their favorite ice cream flavors. Learners then work...
Illustrative Mathematics
What’s Missing?
Now you see them, now you don't! This fun peek-a-boo activity engages young mathematicians in developing their ability to compose and decompose numbers. After being presented with a series of counters, children close their eyes while the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Sort and Count
Young mathematicians are on their feet and moving around in this primary grade sorting activity. After giving each child an object or picture card, they then sort themselves into groups, counting to see which has the most or least...