Curated OER
McONE Hundredth Day
Students explore the components of a calendar and counting through the preparation and celebration of the "One Hundredth Day" of school. Badges are worn and McDonald fries are enjoyed in the celebration.
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast for Grades 6–8
It's time for the feast! Young historians complete their study of the First Thanksgiving by completing an online activity, watching a slideshow, and examining a First Thanksgiving timeline. After answering text-dependent questions to...
Curated OER
Fall vs. Spring
Students learn about fall and spring by engaging in hands-on activities in order to fulfill science and language arts standards. In this lesson on seasons, students first listen to a story about fall, discuss the characteristics of the...
Curated OER
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Imagine what it was like to be a slave in the United States in 1845. Eighth graders are given an opportunity to experience life from the point of view of Frederick Douglass as they read and discuss an annotated passage from Narrative of...
Curated OER
Basil Heatter, "The Long Night of the Little Boats"
“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...
Curated OER
Aboriginal Quilting Activity
Students explore Aboriginal culture by participating in an art activity. In this First Nation history instructional activity, students utilize the Internet to research images and designs from Native American culture. Students create...
Scholastic
Defining Conflict Using "The Interlopers"
Feeling conflicted? Work out those issues with a language arts lesson on internal and external conflict. Using "The Interlopers" by Saki, class members identify the conflicts between the characters before writing their own short stories...
Curated OER
Creative Writing: Haiku
Haikus by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki are used as models for a brief lecture on the importance of poetry in Japan's history and the structure of this poetic form. Students then go on a nature walk, record impressions, and return to the...
Curated OER
Quilts and Math
Young scholars create a pattern. In this patterns lesson plan, students review the meaning of symmetry and explore using pattern blocks. Young scholars look for patterns in real quilts, photographs and pictures. Students work...
Curated OER
Once Upon A Bear
Students study different types of bears, their characteristics, and habitats. They discuss what they know and what they want to learn before visiting a website to look at images and information about bears. They listen to teacher read...
Center for History Education
Should the Colonists Have Revolted Against Great Britain?
Should the Americans have taken the plunge and revolted against Great Britain? Using documents, including the famed Common Sense and a Loyalist response, pupils conduct a lengthy investigation of the question. The interesting resource...
Scholastic
Pilgrim and Wampanoag Daily Life for Grades 6–8
Two slide shows, viewed side-by-side, permit middle schoolers to compare and contrast the lives of the Pilgrims of the Plimoth colony and the Wampanoags. Four videos take learners on virtual field trips to the Plymouth plantation. And an...
Curated OER
Setting Solutions
Students piece together a quilt from leftover blocks. They problem-solve ways to incorporate random block designs into a visually pleasing quilt design. They used sashed sets, coping stripes and triangles to work out the design.
Curated OER
Scratch Some Fireworks
Students create sheets of "fireworks" using art paper, crayons, black paint, and wooden skewers in this lesson plan that can be adapted to celebrate any time of the year. The lesson plan also includes a short introductory discussion on...
Curated OER
A Is For America
Students listen to the story A Is For America and make predictions before reading and recall details after reading. In this America lesson, students listen to this story and learn important facts about America.
Perkins School for the Blind
Hat Game
Sometimes the simplest ideas foster a lot of different skills. To boost social skills, group participation, identifying others by name, and dressing skills, learners play the hat game. They take turns wearing a hat while singing a song...
Curated OER
FACS: Recreation Therapy
An attractive and informative nine-slide PowerPoint introduces the class to the world of recreational therapy. Attached handouts provide team-building and ice-breaker activities. The activities are engaging. They serve as examples of...
Curated OER
Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
Curated OER
"Julie of the Wolves"
Fifth graders research life in Alaska and compare life there to their lives in this instructional activity. They read "Julie of the Wolves." They research through the novel and other reference books facts about the Alaskan climate and...
Curated OER
What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?
Students explore the concept of nutrition. In this nutrition lesson, students identify the benefit of eggs as a nutritional meal or snack. Students also discover how to prepare easy meals or snacks using eggs.