Curated OER
Skill Building: Alphabet Poem
Amateur poets explore alphabetical poetry. They choose a topic and brainstorm vocabulary that relates to the topic using each letter of the alphabet. The class then generates ideas for a group alphabet poem. After creating one as a whole...
Curated OER
Paper Production
Young scholars compare paper making by hand and by assembly line. In this manufacturing lesson, students compare and contrast the two main ways to make paper, by hand or by machine. Young scholars research paper making and have a...
Curated OER
Your Energy Balance Goal!
This is the culminating activity for a unit on energy balance for 3rd-5th graders created by Together Counts. Young learners make a plan to balance their energy in and their energy out for one month. They use the SMART steps in creating...
Media Smarts
Advertising All Around Us
Here is a set of advertising lessons, explore language, techniques, representation, and target audiences. Discuss the impact ads have on our daily lives. What do we see and how do they make us feel? Observe ads from around the...
Curated OER
Day to Day Life in a Small African Village
Students analyze what it is like to live in an African village. They locate Tanzania on a map and compare life there to life here in the United States. They write about the health issues in East Africa.
Curated OER
The Clay Pot that YOU Built!
After listening to a story called The Pot that Juan Built about Mexican clay pot maker Juan Quezda, learners discuss this artistic process. Then, they discuss the special techniques used to make clay pots. And, finally, they make their...
Curated OER
Money: Bucks, Banks, and Business
Put economics and currency exchange rates into a real-world application kids can understand. They'll compare bus fares from various cities around the world. Each child selects three international cities to research. They determine the...
Scholastic
Ruby Bridges: A Simple Act of Courage, Grades K-2
A civil rights movement instructional activity designed specifically with the Common Core State Standards in mind, young learners are introduced to the story of Ruby Bridges as the first African American child to attend an all-white...
Curated OER
Yellow Bird and Me
Upper elementary artists create works which demonstrate an understanding of the many elements of theater and the visual arts. This four-day plan combines many wonderful aspects of visual, musical, and theatrical arts into one very...
Curated OER
Making Models of the Solar System
Students make several models of the solar system to learn the positions of the planets in the solar system as well as relative distances and sizes. Creation of these models will help them identify the planets by size, shape, color,...
Curated OER
Great Expectations: Group Writing
Examine the differences between totalitarianism and democracy in this writing instructional activity. Using the same format and theme from Great Expectations, young writers work in pairs to compose their own short stories. They follow...
Curated OER
News Journalism Across the Media: Introduction
Although students are aware of news as information that influences their perceptions of the world, they are often unaware of the various ways to present that information. Encourage them to investigate, discuss, analyze and make valuable...
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Recycled Paper Making
Second graders investigate the life of a recycled newspaper by experimenting in class. In this recycling lesson, 2nd graders create their own recycled paper pulp by mixing an old newspaper into a bucket and adding water....
Curated OER
War in the News
Students consider the portrayal of war in the news. In this lesson on Journalistic perspectives, students will work in groups to critically examine news articles written during war times throughout history.
Curated OER
Map It With Pixie
Fourth graders use the computer program 'Pixie' to create a topographic, detailed map for the state they live in. In this mapping skills lesson, 4th graders use Pixie to make a map of their state that includes topographic features, state...
Curated OER
Hot Stuff
Students investigate if heat can change the form of matter. In this physics lesson, students use heat sources to observe the changes in an ice cube. Students graph which heat source changed the matter the fastest.
Curated OER
The Dirt on the Workplace
Students examine health and safety issues in the workplace. They, in groups, discuss how health and safety issues effect their lives.
Curated OER
Tools of the Trade: The Use of Geographic Tools
High schoolers examine the tools of demographic analysis and apply them to real-world situations. They analyze maps, define terminology, and write an information paper for the appropriate government agency to recommend an action or...
Curated OER
What on Earth is in the Earth?
Students explore the physical properties of sand, soil, and rocks and sort, classify, compare, and contrast the materials found in the soil. The differences between the living and non-living parts of the soil is discussed.
Curated OER
Second Sun
Explore the elements of newspaper from the view of the front page. Young analysts create a front page of a newspaper geared toward teen readers. They use their inference skills to determine why some front pages are more eye-catching than...
Curated OER
Sounding Off About Impeachment
Help your middle and high schoolers reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as a vehicle for 'everyday citizens' to voice their opinions. Then, using an article about the first day of the Senate impeachment trial of President...
Curated OER
Nutrition Matters
Investigate nutrition and the food pyramid. Fifth graders will use computer software to write a paragraph about nutrition. They will then diagram the food pyramid and gather and organize a collection of healthy recipes.
Curated OER
Don't Lose Your Way in the News
Students explore language arts by participating in a newspaper analysis activity. In this journalism instructional activity, students identify how newspapers present stories, who is writing them and how they can obtain...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Building
A fabulous language arts instructional activity has readers focus on the vocabulary in the key words, expand and build new vocabulary, and practice three grammar concepts. They recognize key words as they relate to communicating at work....