Curated OER
The Founders’ Library: Thinking as a Founding Father
Students analyze the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In this U.S. government lesson, students examine books, movies, and music that influence them today and then investigate writings that influenced the framers of the...
Curated OER
Monet's Magical Garden
Students study classic paintings by masters like Monet. In this art history lesson plan, students listen to the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and sing flower songs with the rest of their class. Students examine the painting The...
Curated OER
The Math in the Design and Building of Bridges
Research various types of bridge designs. Your class will be asked to consider what it would be like without bridges while learning about how they work. They will construct a model bridge based on given parameters. They then calculate...
Learning to Give
Five Thousand Dollars!
How does consumerism affect global poverty? Upper graders find out about cost benefit, wants and needs, and making good consumer choices as they explore this global topic. They role-play an impulse spending experience and work through...
Curated OER
Bud, Not Buddy: Guided Imagery Exercise
Develop readers’ awareness of the visual power of language with a guided imagery exercise. Set the stage and create the mood with dim lights, soft music and potpourri. Then read the provided section of Bud, Not Buddy. Next, invite...
Curated OER
Moby Dick Puppetry
Such an ambitious lesson! Third graders with special needs listen to an audio recording of the novel, Moby Dick. They stop often to discuss each of the main characters and analyze their actions in the story. They then make puppets of one...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: My Robot and Me
Robots and their interactions with their human counterparts are the catalyst for a fun writing lesson. First, the class brainstorms what they'd like to have their personal robot do or be capable of. Then, they each write a humorous story...
Sea World
Penguins
Everyone loves penguins! Learn about the flightless birds of the Antarctic with a series of lessons and activities. From the differences between the 17 species of penguins to the best way to remove oil from a penguin's features, kids...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Leaves on a Tree?
This is great go-to activity for those spring or fall days when the weather beckons your geometry class outside. Learners start with a small tree, devising strategies to accurately estimate the leaf count. They must then tackle the...
Lisa Staab Shadburn
Play Therapy Activities to Enhance Self‐Esteem
Discover activities to help learners increase self-awareness, build peer and family relations, and develop positive self-esteem. Here you'll find six suggestions for instilling a sense of confidence and self awareness in youngsters. Each...
EngageNY
Dividing the King’s Foot into 12 Equal Pieces
Apply, apply, apply! A measurement lesson applies a number of concepts to help learn a new construction. Scholars learn to divide a segment into n equal parts using a method that uses the Side Splitter Theorem and a method that applies...
EngageNY
How Far Away Is the Moon?
Does the space shuttle have an odometer? Maybe, but all that is needed to determine the distance to the moon is a little geometry! The lesson asks scholars to sketch the relationship of the Earth and moon using shadows of an eclipse....
Kids Yoga Stories
Valentine's Day - LOVE
Open your heart with a refreshing yoga session designed for Valentine's Day. With visual cues of hearts and other festive decorations, participants begin a series of yoga poses designed to open their heart chakras and to reflect on the...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 3: Brainstorm Possible Solutions
Our young scientists have now specifically identified a problem, and this step helps them think of possible solutions. An outline, including guidelines, for brainstorming helps scholars stay on the right path. The resource includes...
EngageNY
Modeling with Inverse Trigonometric Functions 2
Use inverse trigonometric functions to work with ramps, rabbits, and Talladega. The class models real-world situations with trigonometric functions and solves them using inverses in the 15th installment of a 16-part series. Pupils solve...
EngageNY
Modeling Using Similarity
How do you find the lengths of items that cannot be directly measured? The 13th installment in a series of 16 has pupils use the similarity content learned in an earlier resource to solve real-world problems. Class members determine...
EngageNY
Modeling with Inverse Trigonometric Functions 1
Where should I stand to get the best view? Pupils use inverse trigonometric functions to determine the horizontal distance from an object to get the best view. They round out the lesson by interpreting their answers within context.
EngageNY
Determining the Equation of a Line Fit to Data
What makes a good best-fit line? In the 10th part of a 16-part module, scholars learn how to analyze trend lines to choose the best fit, and to write equations for best-fit lines to make predictions.
EngageNY
Average Rate of Change
Learners consider the rate of filling a cone in the 23rd installment of this lesson series. They analyze the volume of the cone at various heights and discover the rate of filling is not constant. The lesson ends with a discussion of...
Space Awareness
Make a Star Lantern
Go star-gazing with young learners! They study the history, origins, and patterns of constellations in an activity that explores the starry night sky.
EngageNY
Mixture Problems
What percent of the mixture is juice? Pairs use their knowledge of proportions to determine what percent a mixture is juice given the percent of juice in the components. Pupils use the procedure learned with the juice mixture problem to...
EngageNY
Percent and Rates per 100
What percentage of your class understands percents? Pupils learn the meaning of percents based upon rates per 100 in the 24th lesson in a series of 29. They represent percents as fractions, decimals, ratios, and models. The scholars...
EngageNY
The Structure of Ratio Tables—Additive and Multiplicative
Build tables by understanding their structure. Scholars take a closer look at the structure of ratio tables in the 10th segment in a 29-part series. Individuals realize that the tables can be built using an additive or multiplicative...
Scholastic
Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers
Encourage scholars to retell their favorite short story or folktale, adding personal details to make it their own. After reading their book of choice several times, story tellers retell a tale verbally to their classmates.