Center for Instruction, Technology, & Innovation
Did African American Lives Improve After Slavery?
The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...
Curated OER
Evaluating Web Sites for Bias
Students become familiar with checklist they use to evaluate Web content for bias. They use the checklist to evaluate two Web sites from very different sources.
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
Pupils read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojacieckowski. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the Christmas holiday. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies,...
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-OGBO : Sharing Life in an African Village
Students read OGBO: Sharing Life in an African Village by Ifcoma Onyefulu. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of Nigerian culture. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social...
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The Reasons For The Seasons
Students investigate the different seasons that occur and how the weather is characterized according to the regions of The United States. They conduct research using the internet and then conduct classroom discussion while considering...
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Lily's Crossing
Students listen to a story, "Lily's Crossing," about life during a World War. After completing worksheets, they compare and contrast characters in the story. Using math skills, students develop a time line of the war, calculate the...
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OLYMPIC SHADOW BOXES
Students acquaint themselves with little-used library resources/reference materials and create shadow boxes to be displayed in the Media Center based on the research they've done regarding the Winter Olympics.
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Gender Roles
Students explore psychology by answering gender study questions. In this sexuality lesson, students discuss the stereotypes often referred to men and woman and what the truth is about their characteristics and abilities. Students...
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Note-Taking: K.I.S.S. "Keep It Short and Simple"
Note-taking is an essential study skill, and it needs to be taught! In the context of a research project on energy sources, learners find multiple sources, evaluating, paraphrasing, and citing them correctly. Two lists with note-taking...
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Natural Disaster Acrostic Poems
Fourth graders will conduct research to locate facts about natural disasters. Using a cross-curricular approach they will create acrostic poems with technology. The emphasis will be upon establishing skills for using powerpoint media.
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Divorce And Stepfamilies: Breaking Apart, Coming Together
Students view a PBS "In the Mix" video about the challenges teens face when their parents divorce and/or remarry. They participate in a class discussion about the video, role-play related situations and explore media depictions of...
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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...
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A Burning Desire to Move?
Students consider the dangers of living around active volcanoes. They develop media campaigns to encourage different groups of residents around Mount Vesuvius to consider moving.
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Locating Information Quickly in a Variety of Resources
Here is a lesson which may be best suited for a library science teacher, or one that can be done by a regular teacher when in the library. In it, learners explore the best ways to use print and electronic resources to find information...
Media Literacy
Once Upon a Time
Robert Munsch's The Paperbag Princess and Jon Scieszkafrom's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs launch a discussion of the role of stereotypes in stories and movies.
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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...
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A Visit to China
Sixth graders study the history of China. They explore the Chinese people, the Great Wall of China, religions, government and Dynasties. In groups, 6th graders collect information on China. They write a report on their findings and...
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Our Nation's Natural Disasters
Sixth graders classify their regions' natural disaster(s). Within this lesson students enhance their research skills by utilizing different resources, as well as their writing skills by composing short research papers.
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Race To Win Project
Students develop proper work and personal skills that will enable them to become competent and confident adults. Students analyze basic nutritional habits. Students evaluate sport/athletic food patterns.
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Sly Book Channel
Create a commercial for a favorite book and broadcast this pitch on the Sly Book Channel! Learners practice retelling, summarizing, comparing/contrasting, and evaluation skills as they prepare their scripts. The approved scripts are then...
Pulitzer Center
China's Rising Labor Movement
Young historians will explore the complex causes and effects of industrialization in China by perusing the numerous articles included in this webpage. Throughout the resource, there are many writing and discussion prompts to help direct...
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...
Curated OER
Briefly Noted: Practicing Useful Annotation Strategies
Post-It notes, highlighting, underlining. Sam Anderson’s New York Times Magazine article, “What I Really Want Is Someone Rolling Around in the Text,” launches a study of “marginalia,” or writing thoughts in the margins of a text. After...
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Sorting
Students explore indexing by participating in a library book search. In this sorting lesson, students complete a "flood game" on the Internet and discuss the techniques of locating books in a library. Students locate specific titles in...