Friends of Fort McHenry
Was the War of 1812 Our Second War of Independence?
Though it occurred almost 40 years later, could the United States have been fighting for their independence again in the War of 1812? Using appropriate primary source material from each of the two wars, compare and contrast the situation...
Common Sense Media
Super Digital Citizen
Teach your charges how to become responsible digital citizens with superheroes! Start out with a brief class discussion about what acting safely, responsibly, and respectfully looks like. Next, have each pupil create their own digital...
EngageNY
End of Unit 1 Assessment: Inferring and Synthesizing (From Two Texts) About Life in Colonial America
Close your colonial America unit with a performance-based assessment. Class members will show their proficiency in several skills including using details to back up inferences, determining the meaning of words in context,...
World Wildlife Fund
WWF Together
Animal lovers will enjoy this award-winning picturesque app which educates children and adults about the threats of endangered species.
Read Works
Signal Words in Expository Text
Signal words are one way that authors make the relationships between their ideas clear. Allow your learners the chance to investigate cause and effect in texts by identifying signal words. They locate and analyze cause-and-effect...
Center for History Education
This Land is Whose Land?
Whose land is it, anyway? Young scholars debate the question using primary sources from a case where Maryland indigenous people petitioned for land rights after they lost their original tribal lands. An included chart helps organize...
Scholastic
The Rise of Railroads: Illinois
Railways not only cross the US, but they are also intertwined with the history of America. Using a timeline format, individuals explore the connections between major events in American history—such as the Civil War—and the rise of the...
Scholastic
The Rise of Railroads: California
Railways are an integral part of the history of California. Using a timeline format, class members connect major historical events to the rise of the railroads and their impact on the state. Activities include a mix of independent and...
K5 Learning
A Ship in a Storm
Give reading comprehension a boost with a two-page worksheet featuring an informational text about ships at sea during stormy weather. After reading, scholars show what they know through four short-answer questions.
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Take young geologists on an exploration of the collection of rocks and minerals that we call Earth with an upper-elementary science lesson. Through a series of class discussion and hands-on investigations, students learn about the...
Curated OER
Bee Pollen Popular
The world would be a much different place without the help of pollinators. Read about the important role bats, hummingbirds, and various insects play in plant reproduction, exploring the interdependence of living things in an ecosystem....
Read Works
Biography
Familiarize your class with the genre of biography. After some direct instruction about biography, work together to discuss historical facts and significant events from A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David A. Adler. In order...
Read Works
Changing An Author's Purpose
Some write to inform, and others to persuade. Show your class the difference between these two purposes with the instructional activity and sample essays provided here. First, model how you might change a few words in order to present a...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Passages
Combine two skills with the activities included here. Pupils not only practice determining the main idea of short passages, they also use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the main ideas of the different passages. Start out...
Read Works
Compare and Contrast Editorials
Does your class know what an editorial is? Introduce the genre to them with this plan. First, the teacher models how to read an editorial and compare and contrast. Next, the class has a chance to analyze editorials written by their own...
Curated OER
Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns
What does it mean to grow? To germinate? For the plan detailed here, class members investigate the growth process of an oak tree while focusing on the beginning stages of planting and germination. They plant seeds and record observations...
Curated OER
Garden Grid
Basically, your class reads about different garden plants from an included handout and seed packets that you provide, and then uses a grid to plan out where to place the plants. They can practice counting with the seeds, grouping,...
Curated OER
Mr. Goldman's Good Idea
Shopping carts are a modern convenience that many people take for granted. Make sure your pupils do not fall into that category by completing the activities in this plan. There are ideas included for language arts, social studies, math,...
Curated OER
The Peanut Wizard
Peanuts inspire this lesson about George Washington Carver, called The Peanut Wizard in the included informational text. Class members read about peanuts and George Washington Carver and create a timeline of his life. In addition, pupils...
Curated OER
Bread in a Bag
This lesson focuses on making bread, but also spends some time on the origins of wheat. In order to make the bread, each class member receives a kit full of the materials they will need. Included here is a detailed list of instructions...
Curated OER
Ag In The Outfield
Young scholars explore baseball. This is a cross-curricular plan that includes math, history, and agriculture. Pupils use their five senses to observe the materials a baseball is made from and identify the agricultural products used. In...
Curated OER
Mighty Earth Movers
Note that although the publisher lists almost all of the Common Core standards for both math and language arts, you will most likely want to take the general topic and choose which area to focus on. Regarding math, pupils measure worms...
Curated OER
Piece by Piece
What do your pupils know about quilting? Read and discuss the information included here before sending class members off to create their own quilt blocks using construction paper. When they have completed their blocks, provide some time...
University of South Florida
Fcat Express: Selective Underlining
Site provides extensive assistance in preparing 4th grade students for Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. This section focuses on identifying main ideas and significant details by selectively underlining them in a text.