US Institute of Peace
Perspectives on Peace
Is peace simply the absence of war, or is there more to the story? Young social scientists define peace in the second installment of a 15-part series. Groups work together to explore cultural concepts of peace and the peacemaking process...
Curated OER
Credible Sources on the Internet: What to Trust, What to Dismiss and When to Cite a Source
Wait, you mean researchers don't all use Wikipedia? Teach your class about intelligent research with a lesson about evaluating digital sources. The lesson starts with a quickwrite and includes vocabulary exercises and several...
Smekens Education Solutions, Inc.
Introducing the 6 Traits to Students
Put together an English language arts unit on the six traits of writing with this helpful collection of resources. From fun songs to differentiated writing exercises reinforcing each of the traits, great ideas are provided for...
Virginia Department of Education
Circles in the Coordinate Plane
Make the connection between the distance formula and the equation of a circle. The teacher presents a lesson on how to use the distance formula to derive the equation of the circle. Pupils transform circles on the coordinate plane and...
Skills USA
Personal Growth and the Personal Leadership Inventory
What are employers looking for in prospective employees? Career-minded high schoolers examine their strongest technical skills as well as important 21st century skills, including leadership, empathy, clear communication, working well...
National Endowment for the Humanities
George Washington: The Precedent President
Everyone knows that George Washington was the first president, but do your scholars know why that was so important? The lesson plan, the third in a sequence of three, allows learners to understand how George Washington set a precedent...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Students explore language arts by reading a children's story in class. In this three tier vocabulary lesson, students read the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and identify the specific use for several vocabulary words. Students...
ReadWriteThink
Comics in the Classroom as an Introduction to Narrative Structure
A picture is worth a thousand words, but a comic strip combines both images and words for the ultimate narrative effect. After reading The Three Little Pigs and deciphering the plot elements, elementary readers work through four...
Curated OER
Assessing the Traits: What is Good Writing?
Students examine samples of writing and discuss the score it received. They brainstorm what qualities make a good writer and stories.
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Dinosaurs Before Dark
Young readers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs in this literature unit based on the story Dinosaurs Before Dark. Intended for use with upper-elementary special education students, this resource provides reading...
Edgate
Why Map a Map?
After brainstorming reasons why Native Americans mapped their lands, your young critical thinkers will work together to review their ideas and determine the definition of a map. With today's extensive use of mapping technology and GPS...
Curated OER
Learning About Homonyms
I don't know why but I love teaching homonym lessons. This one encourages learners to look up and write a definition for a set of 10 different homonyms. Tip: Put new knowledge to the test and have the class fix a story that contains...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: A Taste of Honey (Wallace)
A Taste of Honey offers learners a chance to practice with unknown words and context clues. Choose several vocabulary words to focus on as you read the picture book, or use the ones provided here. Pre-teach the words and have...
Curated OER
Looking and Learning in the Art Museum
Have you just visited an art museum? Or can you create a gallery in your classroom to visit? Pupils create an original drawing that reinforces what was learned in a visit to the art museum. They will view original art work and verbally...
San Bernardino Co. Supt. of Schools
Was Julius Caesar a Good Leader for Rome?
Learners consider the various perspectives that different groups in Roman society may have had for Julius Caesar, such as Roman soldiers, senators, the working class, and slaves. The primary activity involves a reading of Caesar's...
Safe Drinking Water Foundation
Water Pollution
An introductory lesson to a unit on water pollution, young environmentalists are asked to brainstorm examples of pollutants in water. This lesson will help develop a sense of what water pollution is and where the pollutants come from.
Curated OER
The Argument
After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...
Curated OER
Sentence Fragments
As middle and high schoolers experiment with their writing styles, it's easy to slip in a few accidental sentence fragments. After reading a full-page of information regarding how to identify and avoid sentence fragments, learners...
Curated OER
Skill Building: Alphabet Poem
Amateur poets explore alphabetical poetry. They choose a topic and brainstorm vocabulary that relates to the topic using each letter of the alphabet. The class then generates ideas for a group alphabet poem. After creating one as a whole...
Curated OER
Jeffrey and Sloth
Young scholars listen to the story Jeffrey and Sloth and explore the six traits of writing. In this six traits of writing lesson plan, students practice doodling as a method of brainstorming ideas. Young scholars then discover the...
Curated OER
Building a Human Rights Document
Students identify the issue of basic human rights, examine the importance of the UDHR, and compare it to United States Bill of Rights. They create a definition of human rights as a class. Students are divided into groups of four and...
Curated OER
Genetic Testing: Road Map or Crystal Ball?
After looking at the many aspects of the issues behind genetic testing, students are exposed to the pros and cons and must take a stand by writing a position paper. They will view the "Who Gets to Know?" video and/or reading case studies...
Mt. San Antonio Collage
Test 1: Functions and Their Graphs
Save the time creating an assessment because these function problems should do the trick. With 10 multi-part questions, they each focus on a different topic including radical, polynomial, linear and piecewise functions. The majority of...
Santa Barbara City College
Structure of a General Expository Essay
A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...