Curated OER
iPod Audio Tours
Students cooperate in small groups to create an audio tour of a zoo exhibit during a field trip. They record personal reactions, zoo sounds and information learned about the exhibit. They then edit the audio recording and add music to...
Curated OER
The Final Analysis: Cause and Effect, Fact and Opinion
Middle schoolers read and review informational texts, analyze cause and effect, and distinguish fact from opinion. They assess a "one-minute mystery" you read aloud for cause and effect relationships. Resource includes complete set of...
Curated OER
Basic Mapping Skills
Establish and study the parts of a map with your class and, then they will work in small groups to create their own detailed map, including a legend. There are specific instructions to follow on what needs to be included.
School City of Hobart
Too Many Types Of Titles
Direct instruction on punctuation rules for titles is followed by collaborative practice in class. Two worksheets with aesthetically engaging graphic design provide practice. For 12 examples, small groups either underline, italicize, or...
California Academy of Science
Snakes and Lizards Length and Movement
Snakes and lizards can be very tiny or very long. Your class will get out their rulers to see just how big snakes and lizards can be. They discuss several different reptiles by reading the included animal fact cards, then each small...
K5 Learning
The Blind Men and the Elephant
Sometimes it's necessary to view the whole picture before making a judgment about a small part. Read a short story about five blind men who try to identify an elephant by feeling different parts and coming to their own conclusions....
Curated OER
The Roving Robotic Chemist
Junior oceanographers and underwater geologists describe the four major steps of mass spectrometry. They compete in small groups to simulate the tracking of a deepwater methane plume using imaginary autonomous underwater vehicles. Give...
Curated OER
Environment: Endangered Mammal Project
Students research different mammals and create illustrations and narratives about them. Working individually or in small groups, students compose their rough drafts prior to creating their posters or dioramas. Students present short...
Curated OER
Vitamin D and Me
Students create a graphic organizer showing the importance of Vitamin D intake. In this Vitamin D instructional activity, Students list problems with Vitamin D deficiency and create poster boards in small groups. Individually, students...
Curated OER
Using Prepositional Phrases
The class reads the book Heckedy Peg. Stopping to point out the prepositional phrases, the teacher models and guides the young scholars to deeper comprehension. Small groups collaborate to read A Sweet Smell of Roses. They thenfind the...
Curated OER
Night Compare Contrast
Using a constructivist approach and a graphic organizer, small groups work together to begin a paper, comparing and contrasting the novella Night and the movie Life is Beautiful. Assuming that your learners have studied both of these...
Media Smarts
Tobacco Labels
Adolescents compare and assess the efficacy of tobacco product health warning labels from around the world. In groups, they invent warnings and create labels that would be effective for teens and children. Discussion covers advertising...
EngageNY
Getting to Know Esperanza (Chapter 2: “Las Uvas/Grapes”)
Delve into Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan with close reading and evidence-based, text-dependent questions. Part of a unit series, this well-sequenced, Common Core designed instructional activity draws on material from the previous...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
What’s My Vocabulary Word?
The elements of dance can be used to communicate thoughts and, in this case, words. In small groups, the class first creates a set of movements to show a single word. Then, they extend their movements to show a three-word phrase....
ARKive
Marvellous Mini-beasts – Design a Species
Here is a creative activity that teaches kids how species evolve different characteristics for survival. The lesson begins as the class discusses and examines the adaptive traits of mini-beasts or insects. Then, in small groups, they...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 15: Theme
Build understanding of theme with an activity designed for The Cay and the Common Core. Small groups or pairs use graphic organizers to determine themes, find and record related details from the text, and formulate theme statements. In...
American Chemical Society
Crushing Test
Solidify understanding of the properties of crystals by crushing them to compare hardness. After some class discussion, a procedure is planned, and then small groups go about making observations as they crush five different crystal...
Virginia Department of Education
Properties of Quadrilaterals
What type of quadrilateral is that? Discover the difference between the types of quadrilaterals. Small groups investigate types of quadrilaterals using geometry software to find their properties. To keep track of the different...
Stanford University
Edward Curtis Photographs
A picture is worth a thousand words. The photos of Edward Curtis capture the life and culture of Native American Tribes during the early part of the twentieth century. A presentation first gives background information on Edward Curtis...
Missouri Department of Elementary
I’m A Star!
A lesson encourages scholars to be star community members. Pupils take part in a class discussion that challenges them to brainstorm at least two ways to show responsibility within one's community. Small groups play a game in which...
EngageNY
Revising Draft Letters to a Publisher about an Athlete’s Legacy: Using Critique and Feedback, Part II
Let's get opinionated. Scholars participate in a peer critique and revision process using a fun activity called a Four Corners strategy. After incorporating classmates' feedback, individuals share their final drafts of their opinion...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Competing Views Regarding Mining on Inuit Lands
Scholars build background knowledge about mining on Inuit lands. Working in small groups, they sort information about the Inuit onto a point of view chart to determine if mining is beneficial to Inuit communities.
Curated OER
Predict and Clarify with The Old Woman & Her Pig
Primary readers predict and check for understanding by using comprehension strategies. Prepare readers the first day by frontloading vocabulary and using pictures to visualize the words. On the second day, read the story The Old Woman...
Curated OER
Multiplication and Division Word Problems Made Easy
Marbles to learn math? What fun! Discuss the rules of multiplication and division when applied to whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Small groups use6 marbles to design different types of multiplication and division problems, and...