Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing a Mystery Story

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students examine the elements of mystery stories and read Rage in Harlem. In reciprocal teaching groups, they discuss the author's development of the story, and complete dialectical journals.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

MOSAICS

For Teachers All
This instructional activity will teach the students about how Mosaics are made and how they have been used in the past history and in modern times. Students will construct their own paper mosaics.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sowing Seeds of Service

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders use metric measuring for model and actual plan in designing a roof garden. They photograph the process, record results in a journal, and plant seedlings in small containers. Finally, 3rd graders complete an acid rain...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

the Not Forgotten - Sharing History & Archaeology

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students create a catalog of gravestones in a cemetery that includes a burial ground from the Revolutionary War. They photograph and document the grave sites, research the Battle of Bunker hill and work with community members to create...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

For Teachers Higher Ed
Pupils identify and analyze the motivation behind the African-American students in organizing the sit-in if Greensboro and the formation of the SNCC. Pupils identify how the generational differences between members of SNCC and other...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Tour Down the Hudson River

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss how the Hudson River is an ecosystem made up of both biotic and abiotic factors. They view the PowerPoint the Journal Down the Hudson River. Students become aware of where the Hudson River begins and ends, the plant and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zebra Mussel Population Simulation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are taught how to format and enter data into an Excel spreadsheet. They make a graph, and interpret graphed data. Students discuss the possible impacts of zebra mussels on the Hudson river. They graph zebra mussel data.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson on 'The Chimney Boy's Story' by Wes Magee

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Wes Magee's poem "The Chimney Boy's Story" about chimney sweeps/climbing boys is used as an introduction to a lesson that asks groups to research child labor in Victorian Britain. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trying to Make Sense of the World

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students view video clips of September 11 and the assassination of John Kennedy. They discuss why these events hold such an importance to the United States. They also examine the role of coincidence and conspiracy in these types of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Community Forest

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders plant a tree. In this sustainable forestry instructional activity, 4th graders define community forest and brainstorm a location to plant a new tree on the school grounds. Students learn how to plant a tree and discuss...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Narrative Tenses

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders review narrative tenses. In this narrative tenses lesson, 8th graders read a story, answer comprehension questions, and complete a worksheet. This lesson is designed for students who are learning English as a second...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pulleys and Gears

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze an engineering problem. They contrast paper and pencil mastery of concepts with hands-on mastery. They present their design and rationale behind it, whether it works or not.
Lesson Plan
University of California

Marble Rollercoasters

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Don't let your classes coast through school! Engage them in their learning as they build their own roller coasters to study potential and kinetic energy. Young scholars complete several challenges that require them to consider the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Environmental Awareness and Children's Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Use an alternative setting for pregnant teens and young mothers, as well as special education children to examine environmental topics through literature. Included in this unit is a visit to neighborhood libraries to select children's...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be a Building Detective!

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners participate in an in-depth study of a historic building in their community. They conduct a visual survey of the building, complete a worksheet, take a rubbing of the building, and research the history of the building.
Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

The Gift of Gatsby

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
A reading of “Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers,” a New York Times article by Sara Rimer, triggers a discussion of the American Dream and what it means to strive for something. Following the discussion, class members...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The People and Places Around Us

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students investigate the different kinds of habitats for humans, animals, and things. They illustrate the interior and exterior views of their homes. Finally they create a map key and a block map of their school neighborhood.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lifestyles of the Rich and/or Famous

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students explore and analyze the detailed, yet complicated profiles that society placed on the lives of the prosperous as well as those with economic disadvantages in 19th century New York. In addition, by seeing the Merchant House...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing - Fiction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
After listening to the opening description in Of Mice and Men, high schoolers try their hand at writing a short story that includes a mugging. The story should include all five senses. Each of the pupils reads their opening paragraph to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bringing Justice Home ~First Steps toward Community Action

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore activities that might some day bring "justice for all" to their communities. They assess how justice is a day-to-day, life or death matter that faces their communities. Interviews are conducted to explain how justice is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing for a Purpose in Senior College English

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders are introduced to the proper way to write a paper. As a class, they examine and review the four stage process for writing about any topic. Using the topic they choose, they begin to identify the relationship between...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World War I

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the condition of the world from 1880 until the start of World War I. After watching a PowerPoint presentation, they discuss the causes and effects of the war and complete a study guide with a partner. To end the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Old Kids From The Bloc

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study about wide scale construction and development in Moscow and its impact on cultural and historic preservation. They research the political, social, economic, and cultural changes in the former Eastern Bloc and create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Literature - The American Dream: Past, Present, and Future

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River...