Teach Engineering
Energy in Our Lives Carousel
Don't waste any more energy trying to find a great resource on energy. The third installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit focuses on energy use in pupils' lives. They consider how their daily routines consume energy and...
Shakespeare Globe Trust
The Taming of the Shrew
What does it take to build a stage production from the ground up? Scholars read a weekly blog detailing the behind-the-scenes action of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. They also listen to interviews with the cast, meet the...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Tracing Character Development in Miss Awful
Scholars take a close look at Roger in Miss Awful. As the plot develops, readers track Roger's perceptions of his substitute teacher. Learners then discuss how Roger's actions toward the substitute changes as the story progresses before...
Missouri Department of Elementary
My Problem…Your Problem…Our Problem
Encourage sixth graders to take responsibility for their actions and become a problem solver. Pupils discuss new problems faced in sixth grade then identify ones that involve other people. A worksheet guides their practice in conflict...
EngageNY
World Café about Pygmalion
Round and round you go. Scholars participate in a World Cafe to discuss Pygmalion. As they circulate around to different groups, they talk about three main questions that pertain to the actions of Eliza and Higgins. After circulating,...
EngageNY
Interpreting and Connecting Information: Creating a Cascading Consequence Chart Using Frightful’s Mountain
Decisions, decisions. Scholars take a close look at making decisions by discussing the character Sam in chapters one through eight of Frightful’s Mountain. Partners discuss whether Sam should interact with Frightful and then...
EngageNY
Paraphrasing Quotes and Analyzing Visual Elements, Part 3: Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom Super Scientist
Come again? Scholars repeat actions taken in the last two lessons using section 3 of Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom Super Scientist. They first read the section to determine the gist and then carry out a second read...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
"I have here in my hand . . ." The war against Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s place in it are the focus of a series of lessons examining postwar America from 1945-1954. Joseph McCarthy takes center stage in this, the final lesson...
PBS
An Attack on Syria- What Would You Do?
Has United States military intervention in the conflicts of other countries always been warranted? After reviewing a brief background on contemporary US conflicts and reading articles describing the civil war in Syria, your learners...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are You Bigfoot?
Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Electrical Activity of Neurons
How do neurons that don't touch each other share information? Observe electrical activity traveling from neurons and learn what it takes to trigger action potential. A video discusses recent research manipulating neurons, how responses...
Great Books Foundation
The Fox and the Stork
Young readers take part in a meaningful discussion following a reading of Aesop's fable "The Fox and the Stork." Five questions focus on the characters' actions and offering apologies.
Reed Novel Studies
The Hobbit: Novel Study
All it takes is a little adventure to interrupt a quiet, simple life. A study guide for The Hobbit explores the adventures that disrupt Bilbo Baggins' quiet life. Questions discuss key events found within J.R.R....
Facing History and Ourselves
Protesting Discrimination in Bristol
Using the Bristol Bus Boycott as a case study, class members examine the strategies and levels of power protesters used to effect change. The two-day activity concludes with individuals reflecting on the actions they might take in face...
Just Health Action
What Makes a Community Healthy?
Young people have an opportunity to make it a beautiful day in their neighborhoods with an activity that asks them to identify what is healthy and unhealthy in their community and develop some ideas about what they can do to fix the...
Newseum
Introduction to the First Amendment: What’s a Violation?
Young historians take an in-depth look at the five freedoms granted by the First Amendment. Groups apply their knowledge of the freedoms to a series of scenarios to decide if the depicted actions represent a violation of the amendment.
Lions Clubs International Foundation
Mindful Self-Management Exercise: Responding Using S.T.O.P.
Respond rather than react! A self-management exercise teaches pupils a Mindful S.T.O.P. activity. Participants Stop their thoughts or actions, Take deep breaths, Observe how they are feeling, then Proceed with a response that will help...
Lions Clubs International Foundation
Mindful Self-Management Exercise: Impulse Control
A coping skill helps to manage emotions. Young scholars pretend they are a remote control. When they feel strongly about something, they pause their actions, take a deep breath, reflect, and press play to get back to what they were doing.
Overcoming Obstacles
Being Responsible
Responsible-decision making is the focus of the social-emotional learning lessons. After reading, The Ant and the Grasshopper: An Aesop Fable, scholars come up with six steps to take responsibility for their actions and then practice the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Developing a Positive Attitude
Be positive! That's the take-away from a lesson about how a positive attitude influences actions and increases one's ability to succeed. To conclude the lesson, participants create a plan for how to respond positively to obstacles.
Overcoming Obstacles
Being Accountable
Taking responsibility for our actions is the topic of a lesson plan about being accountable. Middle schoolers engage in a series of games and activities that ask them to demonstrate accountability as they create solutions to dilemmas.
Anti-Defamation League
Dealing with the Social Pressures that Promote Online Cruelty
Why do people engage in cyberbullying? What can be done about it? These are the questions middle schoolers consider in a very timely lesson. Participants view PSA announcements, read a case study, and participate in scenarios designed to...
Anti-Defamation League
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act
You, too, can prevent hate crimes! Middle and high schoolers read short biographies of Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, the two men for whom the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) is named. After learning...
Curated OER
How an Idea Becomes a Law
Students explore how a bill becomes a law and the actions the President may take. They create a poster illustrating the steps.