National First Ladies' Library
"Just a Little Bit Different": Inclusive Classrooms, Inclusive Schools
Learners explore visible and invisible differences, those of language, religion, dress, ethnicity, gender, etc. with their classmates. They play Bingo with a created list of classroom differences. Afterward, they write a short paper...
Curated OER
Silly School vs. Super School
Learners explore the importance of classroom jobs. They observe a puppet who is irresponsible and never gets her work completed and then discuss whether or not this puppet should be given a classroom job. As a class, they examine the...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Safe and Healthy Life Choices (Part I)
As high schoolers seek to grow more and more independent, they must constantly make choices. Some options are healthy and some not so much. To begin the discussion, class members are asked to identify five safe and healthy (or...
Curated OER
Kindness Certificate
Students demonstrate that gifts don't need to be bought. In this philanthropy activity, students list types of gifts and create homemade gifts for family and friends from various materials.
Curated OER
Underground Railroad
Fourth graders read about Harriet Tubman and develop vocabulary lists. In this Underground Railroad lesson, 4th graders find similarities and differences in primary and secondary sources, create a timeline and recognize important people...
NYC Department of Records
Citizenship and Elections: The Importance of a Ballot
Approximately 58 prcent of those eligible voted in the 2016 US Presidential election. In an attempt to impress upon learners the importance of voting and voting rights, class members examine primary source documents related to the...
Curated OER
Structure of the Earth
Eighth graders examine the forces that are constantly acting on the Earth. They describe the theory of tectonic plates and demonstrate the two kinds of earthquake waves. They also examine the role of volcanoes in the structure of the...
Curated OER
Mental Health 2: Bedlam
Young scholars are oriented to the kinds of treatment and care the mentally ill received prior to the 19th century-using the example of England's legendary Bedlam, the world's oldest mental health asylum.
Curated OER
Lewis & Clark: A Scientific Journey
Students act as archaeologists. In this Lewis and Clark expedition lesson, students develop a list of questions that archaeologists might use to find the physical remains of the expedition and then use print and Internet sources to...
Curated OER
Reader's Theater
Students act out and interpret the story for their peers. They study the simplest form of an organized reading to a more elaborate activity involving props, costumes, or a reinterpretation of the narrative into another art form.
Curated OER
My Life 24-7 Video
Pupils utilize the short film genre to illustrate ethical themes and identify good character. In this ethics and technology instructional activity, students discuss their favorite viral videos and select an ethically themed topic to...
Curated OER
Teaching Tip -Vocabulary procedure
Participants are introduced to a variety of procedures to teach vocabulary. They gain oral practice with creative adjectives. They offer various vocabulary presentations along with games and acting out the words.
Curated OER
Flowers and a Beautiful World: Earth Day (1st)
First graders discuss Earth Day and making the world more beautiful. In this world beautification lesson plan, 1st graders participate in an interactive read aloud of Barbara Clooney's, Miss Rumphius. They talk about how making the world...
Curated OER
Dramatic Dilemmas
Students read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, and develop skits that deal with projecting possible long-term impacts of decisions, and taking risks.
Curated OER
How Does It Move?
Students listen to the song, The Wheels on the Bus. They attempt to sing the song again, but change it for a tractor. They watch the book, A Visit With Grandma, through a projector, LCD panel, or big screen television and develop their...
Curated OER
Are We There Yet?
Students continue to study rhyming words. They use words and illustrations to help develop their vocabulary.
Curated OER
Fossils
Pupils act as paleontologists to discover who a mystery guest to the classroom was. They do not know the identity of the guest but infer the identity from items left behind in the classroom. They make inferences from dinosaur fossils.
National First Ladies' Library
School Reform, Again!
Learners discuss their perceptions and experiences with changes in schooling. They work in small groups to prepare a PowerPoint presentation to explain the efforts toward reforming schools since 1983. Students speculate on the next...
Curated OER
Summer Health Activity: Visiting the Doctor
Students play with dolls to act out feelings about a common experience. In this early childhood lesson plan, students use social, language, and fine motor skills while developing an understanding of their own bodies and the role of an...
Curated OER
Performing a Play
Students discover logical deduction by participating in a play. In this reasoning lesson, students act as characters from a play who's words must be analyzed to see if they are true or not. Students perform parts of the play and...
Curated OER
Hatching Chickens
Students understand the process of how an egg hatches. In this hatching eggs lesson, students care for eggs and chickens while the eggs are hatching. Students observe the hatching process and relate to other animals and humans.
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Egg Drop
How do different shapes affect the outcome associated with hard impact? All you need is an egg and some recycled materials to find out. Kids experiment to understand how airbags work to lessen the impact of two different types of...
Cornell University
Bridge Building
Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.
American Museum of Natural History
Light Quest
Grab a partner and shed some light on light. A remote learning resource has scholars play a board game to answer trivia questions about light. They also read about how Einstein contributed to the understanding of light as both a wave and...