Curated OER
And the Winner Is...
Young scholars read the sports section of the daily newspaper to find daily totals of what countries have won medals and find articles to keep in their journal (notebook) on the different events and athletes. They then create a...
Curated OER
Bird Interdisciplinary Possibilities
Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...
Pimsleur
The Weather
What's it like out today, and what do you plan to wear? These are the two main topics for this Italian lesson plan. By the end of the plan, pupils should have a grasp of basic weather and clothing terms as well as a general understanding...
Curated OER
The Art of Science: Gravity
Through a series of experiments and demonstrations, fifth graders will learn about gravity. They will make predictions, drop various objects, write down their observations, and try to understand gravity through balance. This lesson seems...
Curated OER
Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe: What is Beautiful?
Students consider the notion of beauty and what impact the media and popular culture have on it. In this cross curricular activity, students examine print ads, write down and share their thoughts on them. Then students form literary...
Curated OER
Civil War Diaries
Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...
Curated OER
Forensic Colloquium Experience: Debating the Issues
Pupils prepare for an participate in a debate. They watch instructional videos on how debates proceed. Pupils work in teams to research various topics, present their opinions on the issue, and respond to opposing viewpoints during a...
Curated OER
Exploring the Controversial Plan to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Students examine the Bush Administration's plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from varying points of view. They work in small groups in order to perform their research, but they compose individual journal writes...
Curated OER
Overland Trails To The West
Consider the political, physical, and geographical factors that led to and marked the Westward Expansion. Learners will track the various routes developed during the 1800's. They create a first person journal describing what they see,...
Curated OER
Investigating World Cultures
Middle schoolers, in groups, write research reports and create visuals about countries, put on a culture fair, and use PowerPoint to present their information.
Curated OER
Math Series
Even though this activity is just a simple review of estimation, it is a fast and easy way to explore this topic. Young mathematicians estimate the number of items contained in two jars and discuss their answers. Afterwards, they can use...
Poets.org
Ghosts and Spirits
Connect poetry to a naturally kid-friendly topic: ghosts! Draw on your class's prior knowledge of the paranormal to help them access the classic poem "Haunted House" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After a fun warm-up activity describing...
Curated OER
Radio Program #3: Company Towns
Students analyze the characteristics of company towns. They locate former company towns on a map. Students classify the perspectives of residents of company towns. Creative writing unfolds within this lesson.
Curated OER
Explaining Factors Causing Conflict and Cooperation
Young scholars discuss what causes conflicts amongst groups especially pertaining to Native American tribes. In this conflicts lesson plan, students have discussion questions that they verbally answer and write in a journal.
Curated OER
Exploring Volcanoes
Fifth graders use the ERIC database to find information on volcanoes. At the end of their research they present their findings, draw a volcano, and write bout what they found interesting about it. They also classify and categorize the...
Curated OER
Creating a Consumer-Awareness Information Campaign
Students work across grade levels to research and design a community awareness campaign on the benefits of purchasing fair trade chocolate. They develop print advertisements, conduct research, write letters, make posters and prepare oral...
Curated OER
Civil War Letter
Students put themselves in the shoes of American Civil War soldiers. For this Civil War lesson, students compose letters to their families from the the perspective of soldiers in the war.
Curated OER
Interative History Notebook Mini-lesson
Students respond to Holocaust literature. In this interactive history lesson, students select quotes from chapter 1 of Elie Wiesel's Night and reflect on their meaning as they record their thoughts on poetic, prose, comic. or picture form.
Curated OER
Brainstorming Time
Students brainstorm a list of possible topics for their essay. As a class, they review the characteristics of anecdotal writing and the form they take in newspapers or autobiographies. To end the lesson, they decide on their topic for...
Curated OER
Our Community
Young scholars explore their community. In this communities lesson plan, students write an interesting fact about the community on lined paper and add illustrations to their writing. Young scholars construct a class book by combining...
Curated OER
I Am a Book
Third graders discuss books that have been banned and the things that they have in common. They explore the concept of freedom of speech and write poems based on their discussion.
Teach Engineering
The Challenge Question
A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory activity in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is needed...
Teach Engineering
The Grand Challenge
Magnetic resonance imaging, just how safe is it? The introduction to unit study of magnetic resonance imaging technology presents the grand challenge questions of how an MRI machine works, the risks involved, the physics involved, and...
Curated OER
Environmentally Friendly
What can your pupils do to promote better conditions for wildlife? After researching issues around wildlife management, class members use the Internet to locate three different organizations devoted to protecting wildlife. They then...