October Newsletter

Primary Lesson Plan: Who Works at Our School?

Help promote some first-rate research skills among your budding reporters and foster a sense of school community along the way as students work in small groups to interview school personnel. Students review online interviews as an inspiration to develop thoughtful questions, conduct and write up the interviews and then create a display of the gathered data complete with photo gallery.

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/02/lp249-01.shtml

Secondary Lesson Plan: Critics of Cuisine

If your students have returned to school a little rusty on the whole 'following directions' thing you might try a lesson that gets them thinking how important a thorough understanding of directions can be. After a class discussion on nutrition students select a simple recipe and prepare it at home. Students then review the recipe for clarity and draft a written composition reflecting on the experience of cooking and the quality of the finished product. Classroom chow-down optional.

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/02/lp275-02.shtml

Primary Lesson Plan: H2O to Go!

We've said goodbye to summer, but if you're lucky enough to get a cold weather reprieve head outside to enjoy a last bit of sunshine. Students participate in a team sponge relay race as they rush soaking sponges from one bucket to another. When you've cooled off a bit go ahead and measure the collected H2O. Depending on your class you can then segue into fractions, equivalencies, conversions and more.

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/02/lp266-01.shtml

Secondary Lesson Plan: The Order of Things on a Coordinate Grid

Is it possible to have fun with a Cartesian grid? I say 'yes'! Students use video and discussion to explore the basics of using a coordinate grid and then create original designs. Students produce a list of ordered pairs that reflect their design and switch with a partner. Only the partner's finished design will tell how well the Cartesian system has been grasped. Happy plotting!

http://www.scetv.org/ntti/lessons/2002_lessons/orderthings.cfm

Primary Lesson Plan: Sunrise, Sunset: Quickly Go the Days

Fall has arrived with a sleepy sunrise, but most students are hard-pressed to explain the mechanics of shorter days and longer nights. In this lesson, students consider how distance from the equator affects total daylight hours across the globe and use online tools to calculate daylight in a variety of cities. Gathered data is organized into tables and maps which students analyze to make and discuss generalizations.

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/03/lp300-02.shtml

Secondary Lesson Plan: Weather or Not It Might Make Us Sick

It's sunny with a chance of scientific investigation over a month-long project of weather forecasting. Students monitor local weather reporting and assess the accuracy of the predictions. Students also evaluate whether local weather illustrates the effects of global warming and record their observations in a written summary.

http://www.ecohealth101.org/classroom/weather.html

Primary Lesson Plan: What Should a House Do?

Wigwam, log cabin, teepee, lean-to Though the design of houses changes over time and place most of our students have never investigated why. Students explore websites, build models and view photographs to compare and contrast European and Native American methods and designs of building homes at the time of European settlement. This investigation sparks consideration about the purpose of homes and why they end up looking like they do.

http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=341

Secondary Lesson Plan: A Walk Through the Past Mourning Art

It's that time of year when the neighbors retire their pink, plastic flamingoes and wading pools in favor of twisted white sheets and cobweb-draped headstones. Keeping in theme, students examine many forms of mourning art from the 18th and 19th centuries including gravestones and embroidery. They review primary sources, read excerpts from Edgar Allen Poe and create an original sample of mourning art.

http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/classroom/curriculum_8th/lesson3/index.html

Primary Lesson Plan: The 13 Days of Halloween

On the first day of Halloween my website reviewed for me a really nifty Halloween lesson! Students create a class counting webpage that details the melodious gift-giving of a very generous goblin. They then present the website to a variety of audiences and read their contribution page in a presentation.

http://www.myt4l.com/index.php?lesson=169

Secondary Lesson Plan: Soulfully Remembered - Creating Collages Inspired by Day of the Dead Rituals

Dead men tell no tales, but the holidays and festivals that remember them do. In this New York Times lesson students explore Mexico's festival 'The Day of the Dead' to gain insight about another culture's attitude towards death. They create collages that reflect the interests and pastimes of a famous person, family member or pet that has died.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20041029friday.html

Highlighted Theme: Apples - That Quintessential Fruit of Fruits!

Autumn is sharpened pencils, creased new school clothes, blotches of color on a leafy horizon and apples. Every year a new crop is harvested in yellows, greens, pinks and reds and they are all waiting to make a crisp and juicy debut in your classroom. Come check out an array of apple-themed lessons running the gamut from Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree and Johnny Appleseed lore to explorations of apple life cycles and nutrition. Go on and sink your teeth into fall!

http://www.lessonplanet.com/search/search?media=lesson&keywords=apples&grade=k-12&rating=4