Road to Grammar
100 Ice-Breaker Questions
What if you could ease your English language learners into class with engaging questions? You can do just that with these questions. The questions, designed to prepare learners for working with English, are grouped by topics, such as...
National Constitution Center
Creating Your Own Town Hall Poster
Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a lesson in which they choose, research, and learn more about a...
Teaching Tolerance
Talking About Race and Racism
Set the stage for discussion in a thought-provoking instructional activity on racism. An informative resource prepares scholars to discuss the history of race and racism with a quiz, vocabulary, and guidelines. Academics discuss topics...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Off to Adventure!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 1)
Give language skills a boost with a series of ESL lessons in an Off to Adventure! themed unit. Using a speak, listen, move, and look routine, scholars enhance proficiency through grand conversation and skills practice. Discussion topics...
ProCon
Daylight Savings Time
An entomologist named Geroge Vernon Hudson is credited with proposing Daylight Saving Time (DST) so he could better study his insects. Using the informative website, scholars read a brief introduction to the topic and then explore the...
ProCon
Standardized Tests
Does the use of standardized testing improve American education? Scholars dive into the issue as they prepare to discuss the debate topic with their classmates. After reviewing the pros and cons, they watch videos to help them arrive at...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Debate Over Gun Laws in the United States – An Introduction
Gun control is one of the most hotly debated topics in the United States. Learners use a structured conversation to engage around this controversy. Using a scaffolded conversation that relies on a reading and analysis of arguments for...
ProCon
Drone Strikes Overseas
Should the United States continue the practice of using drone strikes abroad? Readers explore the top pro and con arguments in preparation for a debate or discussion about the topic. They read about the history of drone strikes, view a...
ProCon
Olympics
Are the Olympic Games a benefit for their host countries and cities? Scholars decide for themselves in preparation for a class debate or discussion. After reading a brief background and overview of the topic, pupils read the top three...
ProCon
Student Loan Debt
Should college loan debt be easier to discharge in bankruptcy? Scholars sort through the top three pros and cons to decide for themselves in preparation for a class debate or discussion. Learners may also participate in an online poll to...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Is Democracy in Decline?
Has democracy outlived its usefulness? Pundits debate the topic, and now pupils weigh in, too. A reading on how democracy may be on the decline around the world, along with a structured conversation guideline, help guide scholars through...
EngageNY
Relationships Between Two Numerical Variables
Working in small groups and in pairs, classmates build an understanding of what types of relationships can be used to model individual scatter plots. The nonlinear scatter plots in this lesson on relationships between two numerical...
Curated OER
ADULT ESOL LESSON PLAN--Communicate Effectively on Health and Nutrition Topics
Students, while reviewing an extensive vocabulary list on the board, identify basic food groups with the help of picture cards. As a group, they create a collage of healthy and unhealthy foods using pictures from magazines and newspapers.
Curated OER
Writing a Topic Sentence
Here is an inventive, and easy-to-implement lesson on the writing of topic sentences. Learners review what a topic sentence is, practice identifying topic sentences in an informational article, then play a really cool game. All of the...
Curated OER
Lesson Learned: Creating a Life Reports Project
Tap into the wisdom and knowledge of older members of the community with this New York Times plan. To warm up, learners write about and discuss advice they have been given. After reading "The Life Report," an op-ed column that asks older...
Curated OER
Worksheet for Choosing a Research Paper Topic & Developing a Thesis Statement
How do you choose a research topic? This helpful graphic organizer is provided to aid middle and high schoolers in organizing their initial thoughts and choosing a topic. They have to narrow their topic by culture, time frame, event,...
Curated OER
Introduction to E-Discussion
Here's an interesting way to incorporate technology into your classroom. Have your young readers conduct an e-discussion of a story they are currently reading. Learners can post and/or respond to the comments of others reading the same...
Curated OER
Reading Group-Beginning Sounds
Kindergarteners study beginning letter sounds in this interactive plan. They will match picture cards to the letter sound that each image begins with. After working together as a whole group, pupils participate in a game in which they...
Museum of Tolerance
Just What Kind of American Are You?
Your parents were both in different countries. You were born in the US. Documents and application forms ask you to identify your racial or ethnic classification. Which box do you check? Class members collect documents and application...
Curriculum Corner
Meeting Notes Templates
Forms for recording notes from group, committee, and PLC meetings are included in this packet of templates that can be used to document discussions and record key ideas.
ProCon
Penny
Twenty-nine percent of Americans want to abolish the one-cent coin, which begs the question: Is a penny saved really a penny earned? Scholars read fascinating facts about the history of the penny in preparation for a class debate or...
Curated OER
Taking Age into Account
Have your class consider the issue of minors' accountability for their crimes. They discuss specific cases and the general issue of juvenile crime in round table discussions. Use this lesson to emphasize the rules and individual roles...
Student Handouts
Learning Cubes
Add a game-like aspect to class discussion or writing with a die that has something other than numbers on it. You or your learners can roll the die to decide if it's time analyze, compare and contrast, describe, explain and illustrate,...
EngageNY
Estimating Centers and Interpreting the Mean as a Balance Point
How do you balance a set of data? Using a ruler and some coins, learners determine whether the balance point is always in the middle. Through class and small group discussions, they find that the mean is the the best estimate of the...