Curated OER
Mary and the Red River Raft
Upper elementary and middle schoolers examine how the clearing of rivers such as the Red River helped to boost the Arkansas economy of the mid-1800's. They listen to a story called, "Mary and the Red River Raft," then conduct research on...
Curated OER
To Whom It May Concern! Writing for a Variety of Audiences
Elementary learners write friendly letters with the same subject to two contrasting readers or audiences. They choose words and phrases that will be the most effective for the audience they are trying to reach. They read both letters and...
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Fall Collage
Students create fall collages using digital images, clip art or downloaded images, and the software program Adobe Photoshop in this Art instructional activity for the elementary classroom. The instructional activity involves the use of...
Curated OER
All Aboard
Explore the U.S.S. Nevada. Researchers use primary sources, secondary sources, children's books and websites to study the naval ship. Their study commences with a class alphabet book on the ship. Intended to be part of a instructional...
Curated OER
Road To Roota
Did you know that there are comic books that can help learners discover economic concepts like supply and demand. The format of this lesson is highly engaging and enables them to discover how economics can be an exciting field of study....
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Valentines Roses
Pupils create bouquets of roses using tissue paper, pipe cleaners, masking tape, paint, and construction paper in this early elementary art lesson. A possible extension includes making Vlentine's Day cards to go along with the flowers.
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Differences Between Fiction And Non-Fiction in the Library
Young scholars examine the differences between fiction and non-fiction books in the library by discussing kangaroos. They distinguish between facts about kangaroos, and using their imaginations and imagining what they would do with pet...
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson plan, individuals study both historic and present-day maps of their...
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Dewey Decimal Game
Engage all the upper elementary classes in your school in a game to learn Dewey Decimal Classification. On 5 or 6 consecutive visits to the library, teams from each class learn how the system works, locate books in each category, and...
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In Case of Emergency
A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness lesson. Youngsters...
S2tem Centers SC
Seasons
Winter, spring, summer, and fall—take the learning of the seasons beyond the elementary level to the middle school classroom. Curious learners begin by watching videos about the seasons and the rotation of planet Earth. Then, they...
Curated OER
A Primary Source Picture Book
Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...
Curated OER
Monster Descriptions
Monsters take center stage! Elementary schoolers are assigned to write a descriptive paragraph by a toy company to help in designing a new monster for their toy line. One student composes the paragraph, another uses that to create a...
Curated OER
Antonyms, synonyms and homophones
Shed light on what antonyms, synonyms, and homophones are. For this lesson, upper elementary schoolers create pairs using an antonym, a homophone, and/or a synonym. Then they play an antonym matching game.
Curated OER
Geo-Class Mapping My Neighborhood
Students create a map of the school and surrounding neighborhood. In this mapping lesson, students discover their school's location and learn about its past. Students use math skills and the steps in the design process to complete the...
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Plagiarism
Don't get caught plagiarizing! Before starting your research unit, use this lesson to help your young writers identify plagiarism. The truth is, many kids don't even realize when they're doing it! They practice citing sources when...
Curated OER
Chinese Folktales: An Illustrating Activity
In need of a really good lesson that incorporates literature, art, and cultural themes? After hearing a traditional Chinese folktale and discussing cultural themes and symbolism, learners create original illustrations for the story. This...
Curated OER
Dewey Decimal System
Students examine the Dewey Decimal System. In this Dewey Decimal System instructional activity, students participate in a Dewey Decimal System competition in order to learn how books are categorized in the library.
Curated OER
My Money
Learners identify and interpret the relationships between various components of currency, discusses the uses of money, and provides advanced lessons on making change. They also identify the various ways that money is used and how to use...
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All About Computers
Students discover facts about computers. In this technology lesson, students find out how to locate information on the Internet. Students choose a topic to research and search several sites for information.
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Friendship
Learners investigate the concept of friendship as part of a four lessons unit which integrates literature with language arts, family life, social studies, or religious studies. Peace, cooperation, social justice, and multicultural...
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Micro Economics - Personal Budgeting
Students explore the real world as it relates to money and how people use it. In this money management lesson, students jump into the real world as they role play with money through spending, saving, being married, single, having...
Curated OER
"I Hear America Singing": Controversy and Music in the Mexican War
Eighth graders examine the Mexican War and its outcome through music. In this primary source analysis instructional activity, 8th graders analyze the lyrics of selected songs to consider the 2 perspectives regarding U.S. involvement in...
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Sensory Details
Students observe their environment and write detailed, sensory-specific sentences about that environment. This activity can be extended to include the creation of a personalized story or movie of the experience (student examples are...