Institute for Humane Education
I've Been Branded!
How many pairs of Nikes® or Apple® products are in the average American home? What makes someone buy one particular type of laundry detergent over another? Scholars grapple with these questions as they develop a list of brands they use...
Institute for Humane Education
Where Are the People like Me?
Are some characteristics more desired than others?Scholars examine attributes of characters in books, models in catalogs, and articles in magazines. Discussion leads to identifying characteristics they see more often as well as...
Odell Education
Making Evidence-Based Claims: Grade 9
Sorry, Charlie. Scholars take a close look at Apology by Plato. Activities analyzing the text help pupils understand, make, organize, and write about claims. Learners work in groups, complete claim tools, and evaluate thinking by filling...
Curated OER
Graphing Canada
Learners research a province of Canada choosing a question to investigate. They record their information on a worksheet that is provided and complete a graph. They present their bar graphs to the class.
Sargent Art
Warhol-like Color Study
The lithographs of pop artist Andy Warhol inspire a lesson that asks young artists to try their hand at creating a study that demonstrates the effect color has on design. After drawing a self-portrait, participants paint their image in...
Sargent Art
Pop Art Sculpture: Food
Pop art food sculptures may look good enough to eat, but don't bite into them! Paying close attention to detail, ninth-graders use modeling clay to sculpt then paint a realistic item of food, reflecting the American popular culture of...
Sargent Art
Glass Jar Sand Art: Inspired by Navajo Sand Painting
Sand has been used as an artistic medium for centuries and can be found in cultures across the globe. The class examines sand art created by the Navajo people. They mix tempera paint and sand to create their colors, and then fill jars,...
Sargent Art
Protect Our Marine Life
Encourage water conservation and boost art skills with a hands-on activity that challenges young painters to create a scene highlighting marine life. Using oil pastels, scholars draw an underwater scene and write a tip for viewers to...
Sargent Art
Symmetry: A Design Problem
As part of a study of design, young artists examine an example of a formal (symmetrical) design and then, following step-by-step directions, create their own.
Sargent Art
Facial Proportion Challenge: Freaky Faces
Young artists have fun making freaky faces when they accept the challenge of making proportional portraits. They must find pictures in magazines, cut out two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and then rescale these images into a portrait.
Sargent Art
Color Value Study
I love geometric art because it applies mathematical reasoning to an artistic endeavor. Creative kids use scale values to highlight their complex, repetitive, geometric designs. Symmetry, angles, and congruence are three concepts that...
Curated OER
Insect Investigation
Investigation is a brilliant way to spark scientific inquiry. First graders will identify, research, and report what they have learned about a mysterious bug found on the playground. They will use multimedia resources for research and...
Curated OER
How to Locate and Evaluate Information, Part I - Online Catalog
Using the online catalog, researchers locate and record on a citation template specific sources for their research paper. A library specialist models searching strategies while the teacher introduces the research paper process. Daily...
Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day lesson plan integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson plan...
Arts Ed Washington
Art Lessons in the Classroom: Our Family
Blend art and family into one instructional activity with an activity involving oil pastels and watercolors. After viewing a few famous portraits of families, learners create masterpieces that represent their own families.
Curated OER
En Busqueda de un Artista
Students work in groups to research a Spanish-speaking artist. They access print and online resources and interact within their group in Spanish. Students prepare a slideshow for the class and present the show in the target language.
PLS 3rd Learning
Shopping for a Credit Card
Young people often get themselves into trouble with credit cards because they don't fully understand interest rates, fees, etc. This activity requires teens to research and record information on three different credit cards in order to...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 9-12
Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.
ELA Common Core Lesson Plans
American Romanticism
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" provides the text for an activity that asks readers to select specific passages from the story, identify the aspect of American Romanticism the passage exemplifies, and then provide an...
Orlando Shakes
Arms and the Man: Study Guide
Few aspects of life make better fodder for a comedic play than politics. A study guide introduces George Bernard's Shaw comedy Arms and the Man. Along with summaries of each scene and brief biographies of the main characters, two lesson...
Curated OER
Sondheim: Voice of Cultural Change
High schoolers explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Curated OER
How Communication Technologies Affect People
Third graders complete a worksheet, first with known information, and then with researched information. They create a PowerPoint, video, or radio broadcast to convey the results of their research. They learn to use a graphic organizer to...
Curated OER
For the Birds
Second graders observe, identify, and document birds sighted at the library feeder station. They observe and document birds in order to begin their birder's life list. They apply scientific concepts and principles by using library...
Curated OER
Jeopardy Development Team Project
Students study the criteria for evaluating web sites and use information found in authoritative web sites to create questions for a game of Jeopardy. They evaluate three different web sites, some with minor errors and some with major...