Curated OER
Heartfelt/Handmade Activities: Genre Painting
Students examine genre painting. They explore the Illinois State Museum website, identify how genre paintings were composed, analyze the activities of an Illinois farm in the 1850s, and create a genre painting of current everyday...
Curated OER
The Greedy Triangle - Group Activity
Students explore different shapes and identify them. They make a community map using triangles, rectangles, circles, ovals, squares, pentagons, and hexagons.
Curated OER
Making Parallel Lines
Students differentiate between parallel and perpendicular lines. In this geometry activity, students make conjectures and apply it to solve real life situations. They collect data and make predictions based on the data.
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension Activity
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read 3 different stories, then complete multiple choice questions about each.
Curated OER
A Shapely Activity
Fifth graders explore polygons in various shape activities. In this polygons lesson plan, 5th graders discuss and identify polygons by their number of sides. Students sort ceramic tiles by the number of sides on each piece. Students...
Novelinks
Man's Search for Meaning: Problematic Situation
What are the three most important items for survival? Readers of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, ponder this question individually and share their list with a group, that must then reach consensus on the three most...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Acting Out Respect
Bert and Ernie, Lucy and Ethel ... what makes a great friend? Pupils first learn about the STAR method of problem solving: Stop, Think, Act, Review. Small groups then role play various scenarios to demonstrate respect and compromise in...
Workforce Solutions
On the Job
Four lessons spotlight a variety of professions while boosting listening and observational skills and making inferences. Lesson one challenges pupils to group cards based on a commonality then justify the relationship they see....
Curated OER
Does Rick Warren Represent Diversity?
The topic of this lesson focuses on whether or not Obama was able to convincingly defend his choice of choosing Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. This is considered a controversial or hot topic because it...
Curated OER
Moebius Strips
Students make Moebius strips and use them to demonstrate the interconnectedness of an environment. They explore the natural cycles (water, oxygen/carbon dioxide, carbon, nitrogen) within the environment. They describe how the cycles are...
Curated OER
Collecting Data to Learn About the People Around You
Human graphs, anyone? Did you eat fruit today? What is your favorite costume? Have your K – 6 learners graph the responses. Early elementary grades may count and compare while upper grades compare responses of different groups or make...
Missouri Department of Elementary
So Much to Do, So Little Time: How Do I Tie All of the Loose Ends Together?
How do people manage to get everything done when there are so few hours in a day? Scholars explore the question as they participate in small group discussions about time management. They construct a daily schedule and complete a...
University of Texas
Scarcity
How can having too little of something impact your life? Scholars investigate the concept of scarcity in their own lives and in the overall picture of the economy. Brainstorming activities as well as student-parent work bring to light...
Missouri Department of Elementary
How I Act Is Who I Am
A lesson centers itself around the topic of family roles. A whole-class discussion uses puppets and posters to go in-depth into the following character traits; caring, responsibility, respect, and cooperation. The discussion closes with...
Missouri Department of Elementary
What Color is Your Apple?
Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Assessing Self-Concept
A "My Self-Concept Report Card" worksheet launches a lesson about the importance of positive self-talk. After completing the worksheet, individuals make a list of the things they would do to improve or maintain a positive self-concept.
Overcoming Obstacles
Handling Peer Pressure
The second lesson in the "Looking to the Future " module provides participants with strategies for handling peer pressure, especially when peers urge behaviors that go against one's values, beliefs, and family rules.
Curated OER
Current Connections
Many of us read our history books and take each word as truth. Show learners that history can easily be altered depending on who writes it. Your class will watch a series of videos, read a first person testimony, and discuss the...
Curated OER
Map It Out
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
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...
Visa
Smooth Sailing: Exploring Insurance and Estate Planning
While purchasing insurance and estate planning may seem like a rather irrelevant topic for high school high schoolers, introducing this concept now can help your learners develop a solid foundation of financial literacy that...
Federal Reserve Bank
Purchasing a Vehicle
Start your engines! Prevent negative car buying experiences by arming pupils with information. Prepare your young drivers to make informed decisions when they are ready to purchase a car. All aspects are considered from the type of car...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Happy, Sad, Scared and Mad: All Belong To Me
"What are feelings?" and "Why are feelings important to understand?" are the essential questions of a lesson that boosts self-awareness. Scholars discuss the four basic emotions—happy, sad, scared, and mad—in preparation...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Getting Caught in the Web
When it comes to teamwork, it's best not to drop the ball. Pupils stand in a circle, tossing around a ball of yarn to one another to create a web. Next, they use teamwork skills to keep a soccer ball from falling off the web before...