TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Overcoming Obstacles
When faced with a bump in the road, sometimes we forget we have a choice: overcome the obstacle or let it overcome you. Steven Claunch, who was born without fingers on his right hand and with one leg shorter than the other and has...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: You Can Do It!
A activity intended to motivate and inspire students. Students view a brief motivational video linked in the lesson plan and discuss ways students can overcome obstacles in order to reach their goals. [3:44]
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Donkey Hodie: Collection
Donkey Hodie online resources provide many opportunities for educators to introduce or reinforce social emotional curriculum. In every episode of this puppet series for 3-5-year-olds, Donkey Hodie and her pals, Purple Panda, Duck Duck...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Themes: Resilience & Success: How Does a Person Overcome Adversity?
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question, "How does a person overcome adversity?" Select a grade level and a collection of on grade-level reading passages on the topic comes up. [Free account...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "At the Head of Her Class, and Homeless" by Npr Staff
In June 2014, NPR published this story about Rashema Melson. At the time, Melson was a homeless high school senior at Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C. She is now a student at Georgetown University. As you read, identify what...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Reflect: The Growth Mindset
In this reflection, do your best to think about the challenges and obstacles you face in your own life. Use these reflection questions to piece together a plan for overcoming them using strategies shared in previous activities.
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Some Obstacles to Vocabulary Development
A strong vocabulary, both written and spoken, requires more than a dictionary. In fact, it requires an educational commitment to overcoming four obstacles: the size of the task (the number of words students need to learn is exceedingly...
Other
Stage of Life: How Teens Feel About Real World Issues
Hundreds of students share a personal story in which they faced an obstacle, challenge, issue or problem during the school year and share how they dealt with it when they answered a writing contest prompt.
Library of Congress
Loc: Education, Economic and Social Progress
Text, photos, song lyrics and other primary source materials document the struggle to overcome obstacles to equal rights. Click on each image to see a larger image.
PBS
Pbs Kids: Electric Company: Games: Prankster Planet
Overcome obstacles to reach big red buttons and turn off the Wordsuckeruppernator, a dastardly device that has been sucking up words from planet Earth.
Other
Wiwhc: Suffrage When, Where, and Obstacles to Overcome
This online lesson compares aspects of women's suffrage from diverse cultures. Includes political cartoons from around the world.
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
This article provides information regarding the types of negotiations, principles for effective negotiation, obstacles to successful negotiation, and methods of overcoming these obstacles.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Reading Instruction: Promoting Vocabulary Development
This site provides a free download of the Promoting Vocabulary Development publication. The booklet is divided into three parts: Obstacles that make vocabulary development difficult, Components of effective vocabulary instruction and how...
Other
What I Have Learned: 8 Ways to Increase Student Motivation Through Goal Setting
As educators, we realize the value of goal setting and are constantly encouraging our students to dream big and set goals. What we often forget is that unless we help them find their motivation, set up a plan, and identify supports they...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Sesame Street: Family Caregiving
When a loved one needs extra support, it can mean big adjustments for everyone in the family. For military and veteran families, these transitions can mean a unique set of challenges. But no matter the caregiving situation, embracing a...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Lee Duckworth
A learning module that begins with "The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Lee Duckworth accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: New Hope?, Making of African American Identity: V. 3
An article that critiques the early civil rights efforts of the Kennedy administration. It explores the obstacles the civil rights movement had to overcome and the movement's effect on the lives of African Americans.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: From Negro to Black, Making of African American Identity: V. 3
A painting that expresses the darkening hopes of the civil rights movement. It explores the obstacles the civil rights movement had to overcome and the movement's effect on the lives of African Americans.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Soul, Making of African American Identity: V. 3
An article that expresses the late 1960s disillusionment of the civil rights movement. It explores the obstacles the civil rights movement had to overcome and the movement's affect on the lives of African Americans.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making It, Making of African American Identity: V. 3
Excerpts from a novel and an interview that illustrate where the success of the civil rights movement left some middle class African Americans. They explore the obstacles the civil rights movement had to overcome and the movement's...
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: New Orleans Colleges Reopen
NewsHour documents the reopening of many of the colleges and universities of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina and many of the obstacles that they have, and will have to, overcome. Audio, video, and a transcript of the report is from...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Crash Scene
Fifth graders are introduced to the (hypothetical) scenario in which they are a team of EnviroTech engineers returning to the U.S. from a conference in Brasilia, Brazil. When their plane crashes deep in the Amazon forest, they work in...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Separate Is Not Equal: The Quest for Education
Part of a larger piece on Segregated America, this section focus is on the commitment and perseverance of African Americans in the post-Civil War South to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of an education. Offers teachers and...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: American Graduate Collection
This collection features highlights from public media's interactive classroom resources and content to support teachers, parents, caregivers, and mentors who are helping at-risk students overcome key learning obstacles on the path from...