American Battlefield Trust
Creating Civil War Multimedia
What was it like to live through the Civil War? Learners investigate the question by creating multimedia presentations. With a scaffolded approach that includes research, creating a biopic poem, storyboard, and then polished multimedia...
Center for History Education
Transforming the West: Did the Reality Match the Expectations for Kansas Homesteaders?
They expected good soil and hearty crops ... but they found buffalo chips and grasshopper plagues. Using an advertisement encouraging famers to go west, budding historians examine primary sources including letters, photographs, and...
Curated OER
Maus: A KWHL Approach
After reading the introduction to Maus I, class members use A KWHL approach to determine what they know, what they want to know, and where they can find information about World War II, the Holocaust, and other topics associated with Art...
EngageNY
Completing the Square (part 1)
Avoid the trap of memorizing steps when completing the square with a resources that provides a conceptual approach to completing the square. Learners that are able to recognize a perfect square trinomial are ready to complete the square.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for Scaffolding Complex Texts
Enhance a class read-aloud of the children's story Hi! Fly Guy with this reading comprehension lesson plan. Children first listen as the teacher reads the story, stopping along the way to discuss any unfamiliar vocabulary. The book is...
Curated OER
Scaffolding
Our job as teachers is to facilitate learning by providing a comfortable & efficient environment for learning to take place. To enable this we provide 'scaffolding' to support the learner. Without this the building, the learning...
Curated OER
Find 1
Extend your class's ability to represent unit fractions on a number line with this challenging worksheet. Given two number lines, one labeled with zero and 1/4, the other with zero and 5/3, students must accurately locate the number one...
Center for History Education
Slavery and Civil Disobedience: Christiana Riot of 1851
When is it a moral obligation to disobey the law or to fight back? Using primary sources that document the "Christiana Riot" of 1851, learners consider these questions. The firsthand accounts tell the story of the riot, which happened...
Academy of American Poets
Thanksgiving with Richard Blanco's "América"
Traditions, like the times, are a-changin'. Middle schoolers conduct a close reading of Richard Blanco's poem "América" and consider how Blanco's family approached his suggestions for adopting a new approach to their Thanksgiving meal.
Curated OER
Sign of the Beaver: Book Club Discussion
Good question are the heart of great discussions. To prepare for a book club discussion, introduce young readers to the characteristics of good conversation-starting questions. Practice crafting questions for a text the class has...
Laying the Foundation
Box-and-Whisker Plots
Statistics is made approachable, and dare we say fun, in this activity on using box-and-whisker plots to analyze and compare data sets. Specific emphasis is placed on interpretations and explanations while graphing, and in using the...
National Park Service
Civil War to Civil Rights: From Pea Ridge to Central High
Explore how the Civil War impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Class members complete a series of projects for a unit that uses a layered curriculum approach to learning.
Literacy Design Collaborative
Betrayal in Literature—Barreiro
What do Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" and the Book of Genesis have in common? Both are complex texts that model how authors can approach the same concept—betrayal—in very different ways.
K20 LEARN
A Write At The Museum: Ekphrastic Poetry
Which came first—the painting or the poem? In this case, it is the painting. Scholars closely examine a work of art and then craft an ekphrastic poem in response. A carefully scaffolded nine-page plan leads young poets through the process.
Curated OER
Natural Disasters and the Five Themes of Geography
Have your class do research on natural disasters and create a presentation using this resource. In completing this activity, learners apply the five geography themes to their research. They write a paper describing their results. It's a...
Curated OER
Tangent Lines and the Radius of a Circle
Your Geometry learners will collaboratively prove that the tangent line of a circle is perpendicular to the radius of the circle. A deliberately sparse introduction allows for a variety of approaches to find a solution.
EngageNY
Properties of Logarithms
Log the resource on logarithms for future use. Learners review and explore properties of logarithms and solve base 10 exponential equations in the 12th installment of a 35-part module. An emphasis on theoretical definitions and...
EngageNY
The Long Division Algorithm
Two methods are always better than one! The eighth installment in this series asks pupils to convert decimals to fractions using two approaches. Individuals first use the more traditional approach of long division and then use reverse...
Curated OER
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
"The Gettysburg Address" is the basis of a series of activities that not only model for learners how to conduct a close reading of a text, but also how a close reading can help them comprehend a difficult text. The detailed, step-by-step...
Take 10
Author’s Perspective
Gradually build understanding of author's point of view through a scaffolded set of exercises. Moving from direct instruction, to collaborative work, and eventually to independent practice, these steps will assist your class in grasping...
Project Maths
Introduction to Angles
Approach the lesson from the right angle. A discussion-based lesson leads helps learners understand angles in terms of rotation. Individuals use manipulatives to explore the properties of angles and learn how to name them. The lesson is...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Florist Shop
A real-world approach to common multiples asks learners to find different groups of flowers based on their multiples. Useable as a class activity or independent exercise, they will have to organize their thoughts to explain the totals of...
Curated OER
Take a Chance on Probability
Connect ratios, probability, and combination outcomes with a challenging activity idea. It guides your learners through probability of an event as fractions or ratios, on a number line, and with correct vocabulary. The class will be...
Illustrative Mathematics
What’s Missing?
Now you see them, now you don't! This fun peek-a-boo activity engages young mathematicians in developing their ability to compose and decompose numbers. After being presented with a series of counters, children close their eyes while the...