Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Volcanoes!
Give young geologists an up close and personal look at volcanoes with a series of hands-on earth science lessons. Whether they are investigating the properties of igneous rocks, building their own volcanoes, or making fudge to model the...
Curated OER
Teaching Correct Pronouns
I or me? Are your middle school grammarians struggling with pronoun case? Try this trick. Instruct your learners to look right before or right after the pronoun choice for the words and, or, nor. Have them cover the conjunction and the...
Curated OER
All About Me
This is an awesome resource for any elementary or middle school teacher about to start a new school year! This resource includes an extensive list of activities for introducing the members of your class to each other. Some of the ideas...
Curated OER
Panorama of the European Union
Explore the concept of the European Union interactively. Young travelers go on a European Union scavenger hunt through the "Panorama of the European Union" map publication. The scavenger hunt worksheet provides answers and detailed...
Bright Hub Education
"The Kid in the Red Jacket": Book Activities
Learning stations aren't just for little ones; middle schoolers can have fun while learning about the main character in the book, The Kid in the Red Jacket. Outlined are three different activities that are completed as each small group...
Curated OER
How to Write a Biography
Looking for a great lesson on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography. They follow a...
Transforming Education
Self-Efficacy Strategies
Scholars with high levels of self-efficacy perform better in school. Instructors review a list of strategies for enhancing self-efficacy skills. They discover how to teach learners to appropriately define success, celebrate progress, and...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Educator’s Guide to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader guide includes chapter-by-chapter vocabulary lists and quizzes, discussion questions and writing prompts, and an explanation of Narnia expressions. Great for mainstream classrooms and homeschool situations.
Transforming Education
Growth Mindset Strategies
Help your students develop a growth mindset with a list of sample strategies for prioritizing efforts instead of results.Pupils learn how to embrace mistakes, set high expectations, and focus on process over product.
Curated OER
Learning Inference
Making inferences can be a tricky proposition for middle schoolers. In the lesson presented here, pupils practice the skill of drawing a conclusion and making a judgment - which are what making an inference is all about! There are five...
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Educator’s Guide to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe #2
This chapter-by-chapter guide to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, designed to be used in either a classroom or homeschool setting, contains vocabulary lists, discussion questions, and writing prompts.
Smithsonian Institution
Ceramica de los Ancestros
Scholars join a field expedition team to unearth a plethora of treasures from Central America. Artifacts listed in alphabetical order come with an informational blurb and a picture designed for participants to color. Activity pages...
Anti-Defamation League
Identity-Based Bullying
What is identity? What is bullying? What is identity-based bullying? After discussing these questions as a class, pupils engage in partner discussions before participating in a small group activity to act out bullying scenarios. Then,...
Curated OER
Top Ten List
Students are shown clips of Letterman's Top Ten Lists. They develop their own Top Ten List based on how not to be a friend. They share their lists with the class and brainstorm qualities that they would want to find in a friend.
NWT Literacy Council
Readers Theatre Scripts
Engage and entertain young learners with this collection of readers theatre activities. With over 25 different scripts, a wide range of topics are covered from simple counting and rhyming exercises to adaptions of popular children's...
ReadWriteThink
Writing Free Verse in the "Voice" of Cesar Chavez
Introduce middle schoolers to free verse poetry with a lesson that has young poets read two free verse poems and list the common characteristics of the form. They then read a passage from Cesar Chavez's biography and a free verse poem...
Curated OER
Verb Tenses
While offering a long list of questions involving verb conjugation, this activity would require teacher direction. Some of the instructions aren't clear. The 30 question review of verb usage would be a good review for middle school...
Curated OER
Identifying the Theme in a Story
Students recognize Theme through the use of simple, short stories. Using Pro Quest, students begin by researching the literary element, theme, and how it can be identified. They then identify the themes in Aesop's Fables and other short...
The New York Times
A Worker's Compensation
Middle schoolers read about the history of Labor Day in a newspaper article. They discuss difficulties American employees of the past had to face, learn about labor rallies, and conduct Internet research. Part of the intention of this...
Curated OER
"No News Like Ancient News"
Want to know more about Ancient history? Young historians will read a minimum of two web sites to complete the chart "Residents of Olympus". They choose one Greek god or goddess to research. This could be a small group activity or...
Curated OER
Energy
Scientific terms can be difficult to remember. This resource suggests developing analogies as a way to make energy terms memorable. After listing new terms on the board, groups develop analogies based on restaurant words, and then share...
Curated OER
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Middle schoolers read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and complete it using the...
Bright Hub Education
Introducing "Number the Stars"
Prepare your class to read Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, with these prereading activities. This resource lists three ideas to ready your readers. Learners explore the historical context, connect to the book, and preview the book....