Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Molecules to the Max!—Teacher's Discovery Guide
Molecules to the Max! refers to a movie released in 2009 about the world of atoms and molecules. A helpful discovery guide provides five posters on science topics typically covered at the middle school level. It also explains the...
Great Books Foundation
Discussion Guide for Handmaid's Tale
Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...
Curated OER
A Passage Through Time
Young learners research and present information about a chosen subject to their peers, parents, instructors, and community. This lesson has a strong research and public speaking component, and would be ideal for your higher level students.
Media Smarts
Defining Popular Culture
What part does media play in creating, defining, and perpetuating popular culture? High schoolers chart their encounters with fads, trends, and icons and reflect on the media's influence on popular culture.
Curated OER
Witchcraft & Sorcery
Give learners a chance to understand the practices and beliefs associated with witchcraft through an anthropological lens. Like any other belief system, witchcraft stems from specific sociological needs. This practice is well-defined in...
American Documentary
American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai'i
In this lesson plan, students will examine Hawaii's issues of colonization, authority, authenticity and cultural identity, and understand the distinction between native and non-native Hawaiians. This lesson plan includes links to videos,...
Curated OER
Civic Engagement for Us?
Students identify the different forms of civic engagement. They identify their responsibilities at the different levels of government. They also analyze young leaders running for office.
Smithsonian Institution
Watching Crystals Grow
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Curated OER
Revolutionary Money
Examine paper money from the American revolution! Historians study the paper bills and discuss the history of money. How has money changed over the times? Activities are included.
Curated OER
The Blend Game
Students become stars of their own educational video in this project that allows learning in several different styles.
Curated OER
Media Literacy Vocabulary Lesson
Students participate in an introductory lesson that focuses on communication. The two types of extrapersonal and interpersonal are covered. The lesson uses questions in order to guide the class discussion and writing responses.
Curated OER
Audio Engineers: Sound Weavers
Students explore audio engineering. In this career education and "sound" science lesson, students define related vocabulary and make connections between the music they listen to and the job an audio engineer does after listening to...
Anchorage School District
Writing Effective Summaries
Drafting a strong first sentence for a summary is an important step. Writers can use the formula presented on this handout to get started. The resource lists three steps to put together a strong topic sentence, as well as tips and hints...
Curated OER
The City Symphony- The Original Reality Show
Students discuss the purpose of city symphonies that were used in the past. In groups, they compare and contrast the social systems of a school and city to create their own city symphony video together. They also write what is known as...
Curated OER
Story Mapping Abel's Island
Students are able to prioritize story elements using graphic organizers. They are able to evaluate character, setting and sequence in a non-print source. Students use visual and audio clues to help them evaluate the parts of a story.
Curated OER
Viewing Guide for The Ponder Heart
Students conduct research through library and Internet resources. They research in a multidisciplinary fashion, and make creative leaps in their analysis and interpretation of the novella.
Curated OER
What's Old Is New Again
Students explore cultural trends in the United States in the 20th century and examine the resurgence of some of those trends in today's society.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
Curated OER
Mineral Scavenger Hunt
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
Curated OER
Create a Classroom Exhibit: Rocks and Minerals
Young scholars bring in rocks and minerals from home. They observe them and describe them carefully, completing a worksheet. Finally, a classroom exhibit is created.
Curated OER
Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
Curated OER
Overture to 'William Tell' by Gioacchino Rossini
Students create an awareness of how music creates a setting in a story or legend. They identify the instrumentation, dynamics and tempo used to create various settings for a musical story. They perform rhythmic patterns from listening...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. For this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...