Curated OER
Writing in Different Viewpoints
Young scholars read and analyze the point of view of a selected classic short story. They take notes while reading the story, select a character, and rewrite the story from a different viewpoint.
Teach Engineering
Ranking the Rocks for Desired Properties
Math rocks! Cavern design teams determine the rankings of rock types based upon desirability points. The points are connected to the properties of the rocks and their usefulness in building a cavern.
Channel Islands Film
First Contact: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 5-6
After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the...
Teach Engineering
Energy and the Pogo Stick
Let your class bounce to examine the concept elastic potential energy. Individuals bounce on a pogo stick in order to calculate its elastic potential energy. Groups then compare the elastic potential energy to the gravitational...
Curated OER
Total English Advanced: Our Points of View
In this discourse markers and colloquial expressions worksheet, students identify the writers and artists in the box and match them to the colloquial phrases listed. Students also choose a subject from the provided list to organize a...
Curated OER
Framing and Point of View
Learners identify three types of camera shots. They discover that how a subject is framed affects the meaning of the photo.
Curated OER
Sanders of the River
High schoolers examine the British colonial attitudes towards Africa in the 1930s. They watch and discuss excerpts from the film Sanders of the River, from 1935, and answer discussion questions in small groups. Students then write a...
Curated OER
Understanding the Elements of Fiction
Inform your class on the elements of fiction: themes, settings, characters, plots, dialogue, narration, flashback, clues, climax, resolution. They write the definitions of the terms on the worksheet provided.l Tip: Have them write a...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Changing States of Matter: Water’s Phase Changes
Third graders observe the properties of water and in its different states. In this states of matter lesson, 3rd graders view a video, read The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks and experiment with freezing, melting and boiling...
Curated OER
Faith-Based Initiatives: Separation of Church and State
Middle schoolers examine the role of religion in everyday life. In this religion and ethics lesson, students investigate the use of government funds to support faith-based initiatives. The lesson calls for middle schoolers to conduct...
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Julie Otsuka's haunting novel, When the Emperor Was Devine, is the subject of a 14-page teacher's guide. The guide includes the text of an interview with Otsuka, background information about Japanese immigration to the United States, and...
Teach Engineering
Preconditioning Balloons: Viscoelastic Biomedical Experiments
What does stretching a balloon have to do with equilibrium? Groups explore preconditioning by stretching a balloon to a point of equilibrium. They then measure the amount of force required to stretch the balloon to the same point several...
Curated OER
Designing the Future of Technology
Conduct research focused on improving a current technology by having learners work in groups to investigate improvements that could be made to a particular piece of technology. They list the current problems and attempt to develop...
National WWII Museum
Dr. Seuss and WWII
What famous children's author and illustrator created World War II political cartoons featuring such subjects as fascism, the war effort, discrimination, and the dangers of isolationism? The who in this story is Dr. Seuss, and what...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 4-5
Should the excavation of what is believed to be the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island be allowed to continue? As a practice exercise designed to prepare pupils for a timed writing exam, individuals read two Los Angeles...
Curated OER
The Black Death and HIV/AIDS: Which is the Worse Plague?
Exploring the similarities and differences between the Black Death and HIV/AIDS, students write persuasive essays answering which is the "worse plague." This cross-curricular activity between Language Arts and Social Studies addresses...
Curated OER
Behind Closed Doors
Students explore different types of doors from an artistic point of view. In this creative thinking lesson, students look at different types of architectural doors and doorways and analyze them. They create a project of a door as a...
Teach Engineering
Enough Energy? Play the Renew-a-Bead Game
Pairs simulate the energy usage of different countries by drawing beads from a bag, which contain different beginning ratios of non-renewable and renewable energy resources. The activity concludes with a series of questions to tie...
Japan Society
Akutagawa Ryunosuke and the Taisho Modernists
Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...
Teach Engineering
Bridge Types: Tensile and Compressive Forces
Bridges rely on tension and compression to keep them standing. Pairs test this principle by constructing simple bridges and applying a force to the center. Teams use the provided worksheet to record their observations of the...
Teach Engineering
Nanotechnology Grant Proposal Writing
Please, sir, can I have a few thousand dollars for my research? The last installment in a six-part lesson has the pupils develop a grant proposal. Class members apply their knowledge of skin cancer, ultraviolet radiation, human skin, and...
Curated OER
Press Review
How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...
Curated OER
Writing About Art: Objective vs. Subjective
Students examine the sculpture "Head With Horns" by Paul Gauguin. In this perspectives instructional activity, students discuss what the terms "objective" and "subjective" means. Students are shown the sculpture and write their...
Curated OER
Giving Beyond Measure-The Diary of Anne Frank
Young scholars read and analyze the play "The Diary of Anne Frank" based on the book of the same name. They identify philanthropic concepts and values in the play and discuss the ways in which specific characters actions affect the...