Province of Manitoba
Team-Building and Communication Skills
Scholars learn effective communication and problem-solving skills with a fun team-building exercise. Next, they work together to build a structure using candy and uncooked spaghetti. Finally, they discuss what they learned about how a...
EngageNY
Adding to Cascading Consequences and Stakeholders: Industrial Food Chain
Young researchers create a class Cascading Consequences chart to see how the industrial food chain affects people, animals, and the environment. They also work in teams to complete a Stakeholders chart for the industrial food chain model...
EngageNY
Creating a Visual Component for the Speech: End of Unit Assessment Preparation and Practice
Eye contact, volume, pronunciation. Working with partners, scholars practice presenting their speeches about the best food chain. Additionally, they choose a visual component to support their end-of-unit speech.
Health Smart Virginia
Class Rules
Scholars complete a worksheet describing their hopes and dreams then work with a partner to discuss the importance of class rules. Learners brainstorm a list of rules to be compiled and displayed for all pupils to reference.
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Jigsaw to Build and Share Expertise about the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, Part 1
Using the Jigsaw protocol, scholars study chunks of text from a speech given by former US presidents following a devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. As they read the speech in small groups, they build background knowledge and share...
EngageNY
Researching about the Red Cross, Continued: Who Is the Red Cross and What Does This Multinational Organization Do?
Code red! Learners read an informational article about the Red Cross, discussing the gist of the text in small groups. On a three-column note catcher, pupils take notes to show how the Red Cross functions as a multinational aid...
Overcoming Obstacles
Coping Skills
A lesson challenges scholars to identify life stressors and list ways to cope. Learners create a "Coping with Emotions" book detailing the importance of responsibly working through our feelings.
Curated OER
Abolitionists and Their Impact on Sectionalism
Eleventh graders examine the impact of Abolitionist leaders on sectionalism. In small groups, they conduct research on a famous abolitionist, and develop and write a newspaper cover page based on their assigned abolitionist.
Curated OER
Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
Students examine the contributions of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to American Independence. In small groups, they conduct Internet research, read and discuss primary source documents, and complete a chart.
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Students read and discuss the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and design a structure that will withstand a clay bear's force sitting on it. They develop a list of activities that the three bears do that real bears can't do, and in...
Curated OER
Cell Analogies!
Liken a cell and its organelles to a tiny person and its organs. After gathering information on cell structures and their functions, small groups collaborate to come up with an analogy of their own. They produce a collage describing the...
Curated OER
Opportunity Knocks, But It Costs, Too!
Sixth graders write a reflection piece, outlining each of the decision-making steps they have used and what decision they have decided upon, which includes possible solutions, as well as possible outcomes for each solution. They also...
Curated OER
Organizing by Writing
Middle schoolers analyze how to use writing for generating and organizing their thoughts before communicating them. They use the questions on the first handout to organize a three-minute introduction of themselves to their small group....
For the Teachers
Story Strips Sequencing
What happens next? Work on story sequence with a lesson that prompts kids to put a story back in order. Additionally, they discuss what would happen if one event was missing from the sequence.
Curated OER
Black Tiger Academy Martial Arts Fitness Unit – Lesson 5
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Black Tiger Academy’s martial arts lesson five of 20 has a great team building activity in which a small group is...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment and Discussing Themes in Esperanza Rising: (Chapter 9: "Las Ciruelas/PLums")
Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...
EngageNY
Characters Changing Over Time (Chapter 10: "Las Papas/Potatos")
Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and participate...
EngageNY
Gathering Evidence and Drafting a Two-Voice Poem (Chapter 13: "Los Duraznos/Peaches")
Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing, Part II
Come up with a list of requirements for this expository essay on Esperanza's character in Esperanza Rising as a class and use the list to guide class writing. Here, learners will complete the first paragraph, discuss their notes for the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Painting a Room
This real-life math problem concentrates on developing the understanding of dividing a unit fraction by a whole number. It allows students to draw out a solution to aid their thinking. The well-written answer sheet describes common...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Waiting for the Biblioburro: Comparing and Contrasting the Children in Colombia, Appalachia, Chad, and Afghanistan
Focus on similarities and differences with a jigsaw activity that requires pupils to compare Waiting for the Biblioburro to other texts they have read. To prepare, class members first respond to text-dependent questions, moving on to...
National Wildlife Federation
Massive Migrations
Turn your young scholars into flocks of migratory birds for this fun instructional activity on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space,...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Failure: Seeds of Innovation
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...
Film English
Make It Count
Where would you go if you were to take a trip around the world in 10 days? After a discussion about famous inspirational quotes, pupils view a short film that shows a trip around the world in 10 days paired with these quotes. Class...