Curated OER
A Brand New Day
Students locate Maine on a classroom map and discuss if Maine is where the nation's first light is found, where would the nation's last light be seen. They explore the idea of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
Curated OER
Sharing The Land
Students investigate different geographical terms and concepts. This is done with practicing with maps of the United States to find major coasts, lakes, and rivers. They also put together a floor map of the United States. Students create...
Curated OER
Liberty Ships
Pupils complete a variety of activities that go along with the study of and possible fieldtrips to see various Victory Ships along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S.
Curated OER
National Marine Sanctuaries Fish
Information is provided on Gray's Reef, Florida Keys, and Flower Garden Banks marine sanctuaries. Young marine biologists then visit the FishBase and REEF databases to collect fish species information for each location. They then...
Curated OER
Implementing Reader's Workshop in the Primary Classroom
Basic guidelines and lesson ideas for introducing this reading strategy.
Curated OER
Study Guide for Where the Red Fern Grows
One of the best fourth grade books of all time is Where the Red Fern Grows. Provide your class with interesting background on the book and the author as well as worksheets for every five chapters of the novel. The first part of the guide...
National Endowment for the Humanities
David Walker vs. John Day: Two Nineteenth-Century Free Black Men
What was the most beneficial policy for nineteenth-century African Americans: to stay in the United States and work for freedom, or to immigrate to a new place and build a society elsewhere? Your young historians will construct an...
National Wildlife Federation
I’ve Got the POWER Wind Energy Potential at Your School
The 20th lesson in a 21-part series connects the wind data and expectations of a turbine to whether such devices should be built in your area. Scholars begin with estimating the wind potential at school by using long-term climate data...
Curated OER
National Marine Sanctuaries Shipwrecks
Junior oceanographers access the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Shipwreck Database and plot the locations of several shipwrecks. Shipwrecks are always an enthralling subject and this activity allows your learners to act as...
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
NOAA
Your Own El Nino
Scholars make a model to discover how the force of trade winds over the Pacific Ocean creates an El Niño. Super scientists observe how the severe weather affects life in water and on land.
Common Core Sheets
Placing Events on a Timeline
Put important events in chronological order with a lesson about timelines. With a variety of topics stemming from world history, the packet of worksheets provides analytical activity for learners to decide where certain events fall...
California Academy of Science
A Day inthe Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Although the lesson is specifically about the San Francisco Bay area, it's good enough to be adapted to any local region. Children research what the landscape in San Francisco was like prior to settlement, they consider the types of...
NOAA
Climographs
In the second lesson of a five-part series, young climatologists use provided temperature and precipitation data to create climographs of three different cities. They then analyze these climographs to develop a general understanding of...
California Polytechnic State University
Australian Geography Unit
At the heart of this resource is a beautifully detailed PowerPoint presentation (provided in PDF form) on the overall physical geography of Australia, basic facts about the country, Aboriginal history, and Australia culture and lifestyle.
Scholastic
Dear Miss Breed
This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will partake in...
NOAA
Ocean Exploration
Sea explorers and scientists have found that because of temperatures being two to three degrees Celsius at the bottom of the ocean, most animals are lethargic in order to conserve energy. In this web quest, pairs of learners read about...
Curated OER
The MPA “GamePlan”
Eighth graders explore the purpose of having Marine Protected Areas. In this environmental science lesson plan, 8th graders simulate the planning process by playing a board game. They explain the positive and negative effects of trade offs.
Curated OER
The Age of Early European Explorations & Conquests
Your students' world will literally take shape in this presentation, which chronicles the growing edges of the (flat) earth during European Exploration of New Worlds. Dias, da Gama, Magellean, and Columbus are key players in this game of...
K12 Reader
World Climates
Why is weather different around the world? Learn about world climates with a reading comprehension passage. Kids read a short passage before answering five comprehension questions based on context clues.
Curated OER
Volcanoes: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Introduce young geologists to types of volcanoes during the pre-lab. First graders explore how different liquids flow with an experiment on viscosity to simulate how different types of lava flow. Next, they learn about the parts of a...
Curated OER
Earthquakes: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
First graders explore how earthquakes release energy in a set of hands-on activities. During the pre-lab, they discover how energy from an earthquake releases waves through the earth using a water-filled cup and pebbles. Youngsters...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
A set of first grade geology lessons focuses on plate tectonics and movement of plate boundaries. During the pre-lab, learners experience three types of plate movement through a kinesthetic demonstration. The lab demonstrates stresses...
Curated OER
Hazards: First Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine the environmental hazards associated with volcanoes with a three-part science lesson. In the pre-lab, first graders learn that gas, landslides, ash, and lava are all hazards that come from volcanoes. They then explore hazardous...