Missouri Department of Elementary
How Does a Friend Act?
Two puppets showcase social skills while scholars decide whether their actions are positive or negative. Learners take turns with the puppets, acting out scenarios with a peer while the rest of the class decide if they're being a good...
Missouri Department of Elementary
How Families Change
Changes in the family such as a new baby, divorce, a new job, or death are the focus of a lesson that examines how every family is different. Scholars draw a picture of their family then share the changes that have occurred within it....
Missouri Department of Elementary
Family Traditions
Honor family traditions with a lesson that examines the variety of winter celebrations. Class members discuss their family's traditions then complete a cut-and-paste practice page in which they match a picture to the name of a holiday....
Missouri Department of Elementary
Be a Problem Solving Star
Encourage scholars to problem solve everyday frustrations using the STAR method. Using the acronym, learners remember to stop, think, act, and review. Participants begin with a math analogy in which they problem-solve to find the correct...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Fatal Accident
While there may not be any ghostbusters in the neighborhood, there are plenty of emergency response agencies ready to give support if something is amiss. To that end, instructors invite a member of an emergency response agency to address...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Safe and Healthy Life Choices (Part I)
As high schoolers seek to grow more and more independent, they must constantly make choices. Some options are healthy and some not so much. To begin the discussion, class members are asked to identify five safe and healthy (or...
Missouri Department of Elementary
My Problem…Your Problem…Our Problem
Encourage sixth graders to take responsibility for their actions and become a problem solver. Pupils discuss new problems faced in sixth grade then identify ones that involve other people. A worksheet guides their practice in conflict...
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Learning area 5: Job Done!
Four activities conclude a unit through discussion and activities inspired by reflection. Scholars revisit their storybook from the first unit. Self-portraits showcase thought bubbles with written statements. Groups write and perform a...
Smithsonian Institution
Solomon G. Brown: Letter Writing
Personal correspondence in the form of letters is not as common as it once was. This resource presents an opportunity for you to introduce your class to letter writing and cover topics in social studies. Learners read a letter written in...
Curated OER
The Physics of Sports: An 8th Grade Physical Science Project
Explore the relationship between sports and physics in a cross-curricular lesson. Middle and high schoolers prepare a multimedia presentation based on a chosen sport. They answer five physics vocabulary questions about how the laws of...
Curated OER
Recipe for Sensational Sentences
'Cook-up' sensational sentences with your class. They expand sentences by adding more descriptive words. Then discuss the importance of using appropriate grade level language in daily speaking and writing.
Curated OER
It's About Supply and Demand
Watch an Instructional Television (ITV) video and participate in a simulation to explore supply and demand and how those two forces affect price.
Curated OER
My Mind is Blank
Investigate prewriting activities in this brainstorming lesson. Middle schoolers are divided into groups and are assigned a topic. They decide which prewriting technique to choose from, including free write, looping, brainstorming,...
Curated OER
Venn Diagram for Compare/Contrast
Use this instructional activity to focus on a compare and contrast writing structure in your middle school language arts class. Here, young writers compare and contrast two texts using graphic organizers. They use a double bubble format...
Curated OER
Progressing Towards Graduation
Eleventh graders write a paragraph about what they are going to do after graduating from high school. As a class, they share how they are going to meet their goals and discuss other options other than going to college. To end the lesson,...
Curated OER
A Storytelling Festival
Students explore the native cultures of the Americas, to learn some aspects of oral storytelling, and to share their knowledge with others. They, in groups, write a story that should say something important about the culture from which...
Curated OER
The Learning Book
Students make a "Learning Book" with the skills needed to be a successful learning in school. They review basic learning skills by making a book and singing "The Learning Song". They demonstrate skills needed to be a successful learner.
Curated OER
If the Career Fits, Explore It! (Part 2)
Seventh graders brainstorm and discuss various careers and then complete a career interest inventory and two activity sheets called, "Who I Am..." and "Researching a Career." They engage in a comparison of career paths and different...
Curated OER
A Simple Task Made Complex: Types of Sentences
Looking for a lesson about differing sentence types? Use this lesson on compound and complex sentences in your grammar unit. After composing simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences individually and as part of a group,...
Curated OER
Nataraj Shiva as Lord of the Dance
Young scholars considers the piece of artwork entitled, The Nataraj, Lord Shiva and Lord of the Dance to visualize several of the most important ideas of Hinduism.
Curated OER
Simon Says - Taking Small Steps Toward My Goal
Fourth graders explore ways to plan their studying towards fulfilling their educational goals. They become aware, and hopefully, learn from one another, the value of persistence and self-discipline. Students listen and respond to the...
Curated OER
Varied Beginnings: Research Process / Narrative Writing Techniques
What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...
Curated OER
Sentence Combining
Students combine simple sentences into compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. In this combining sentences instructional activity, students are given short, choppy sentences and combine them into more mature...
Smarter Balanced
The Internet
The Internet and how it has changed our lives is the focus of a series of activities that prepares learners for the performance task assessment on the influence of the Internet. Groups also brainstorm devices such as phone and cars that...