The New York Times
Fiction or Nonfiction? Considering the Common Core's Emphasis on Informational Text
Nothing aids in comprehension more than an explanation and understanding of why things are done. Address why the Common Core requires the reading percentages that it established and analyze how this affects your readers. Learners read...
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Unlocking New Words: Partner Presentations
Following extensive modeling about how to apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to learn new words, partner teams create brief word presentations to teach new vocabulary to the class. Preselect words from upcoming social studies,...
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Plant Parts We Eat
I bet the kids in your class will love to eat their vegetables after an engaging instructional activity about edible plants. They read information about vegetables and edible plants, sort vocabulary words, identify plant parts, measure...
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Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
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Who Was That Man?
Develop historical analysis and interpretation with your older young scholars. They will study and analyze three given interpretations of Christopher Columbus' life, which includes significant events, his character, and the impact he...
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Biomes Newsletter Report
If your class will be studying biomes and you also want to address some technology standards, check this out! Each class member becomes an expert on 1 biome through online research, and writes a 4-page report that covers climate,...
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Tracing The Origins of Autism: A Spectrum of New Studies
Has the occurrence of autism increased over the years, or do the changes in diagnostic criteria account for the difference? High schoolers read an article about autism spectrum disorders and the related epidemiological studies that have...
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Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
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A Walk on the West Side
High schoolers comprehend what makes up the physical community. Read and construct scale drawings and models. Explore the history of infrastructures and how the contributions of science, math and industry have led to the development of...
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Student News And Weather Channel
Fabulous! Your 5th graders should love this project. As an ongoing lesson throughout the year students use temperature probes to record outside temperature and then document their data using spreadsheets. They use their weather data and...
Growing Minds
Growing Minds: Cabbage Exploration
It's all about cabbage in this scientific observation resource! After reading a related story, learners explore three varieties of cabbage. They observe the leaves using a leaf diagram, predicting what the middle might look like. They...
Growing Minds
Growing Minds: Cucumber Exploration
After reading a picture book about planting and harvesting cucumbers, learners get a chance to examine some cucumbers of their own. First, they see photographs of a cucumber on a vine, and learn that it is part of the gourd family. They...
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Farm Animals
Why are farm animals important to the community? Expand young farmers' knowledge of furry and feathered friends through stories and a video. There are several books recommended; however, you could use any book about farm animals. A video...
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Preparing and Planting the Garden
Students prepare to build and plant a garden. In this service learning lesson, students take all the necessary steps to prepare a community garden for planting and reflect on the experience.
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How To Teach How - To Writing
Students practice their writing skills by creating "How To" articles. In this journalism lesson, students grab tasks from a hat and are asked to explain orally how to complete these activities. Students complete flow charts with their...
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Microbiology Design Challenge
High schoolers discover dangers to human health by researching what's in our drinking water. In this water purification instructional activity, students discuss the conditions of water in undeveloped countries and why it is unsafe to...
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Designing A Mythical Creature
Students study mythology and why human cultures require them. In this investigating myths lesson students design a creature that fits an explanation of a natural phenomena then demonstrate the concept of "myth" and "legend".
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Valuing the World Around You
Students explore the concept of environmental stewardship. In this character education instructional activity, students examine a quote from John Muir regarding the value of nature.
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Ohio Animal Activity
Second graders explore the various animals of Ohio. They compare the activities of the different animals during the different seasons throughout the year. Students publish their findings in a report and share it with the class.
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Treasure Hunters
Students design an on campus treasure hunt to find various architectural vocabulary words which they then create definitions for on the blog page on the Environmental Design website.
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Compare and Contrast Night to Life is Beautiful
After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...
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Coast-to-Coast Book Design-Part 1: What is a book?
In this first of four lessons on book design, learners are introduced to the vocabulary of book design through the use of bookwalks and a non-linear PowerPoint presentation in game-show (Jeopardy!) format.
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Classification of Cerealites
Students create a dichotomous key. In this categorizing lesson, students create a dichotomous key for different types of cereal. Students classify the cereal into groups such as flakes and cereal with holes. Students discuss their...
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Seasoning the School Year
Students observe the changes a class tree goes through as the seasons change and record observations in journals. They investigate changes in the weather, changes in the length of the day, and how that affects people. They create...