Curated OER
Physical Activity and Energy
Does smiling take as much energy as running a lap around the track? Everything the body does requires energy. The more vigorous the activity, the more energy the body requires to perform the activity. Compare different low-energy...
Curated OER
Natural Features of Our Community
Second graders read about and discuss natural features of communities. They listen to a guest speaker, such as a park ranger to expand their knowledge of natural features. They go on a field trip, if possible, to a local zoo or...
Curated OER
Our Community
Young scholars explore their community. For this communities lesson, 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 each...
Curated OER
My Community
Students identify how their school has changed. In this local community lesson, students listen to a brief history of their town and school and interview someone that graduated from their school. Students then create a map of their...
Curated OER
Where Do You Live?
Second graders study and compare rural, suburban, and urban communities. They play a board game, read books about communities, and complete several other activities regarding the different types of communities. Several extension and...
Curated OER
Distinguish Communities by Their Architecture
Students distinguish between a rural community and a city community by observing the architecture in each one. They observe and discuss pictures of buildings. Students write a paragraph explaining the purpose of a particular building....
Curated OER
Plant and Animal Communities
Second graders discuss the six main classes of animals: insects, birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. They complete a variety of activities about animals. They solve animal riddles, categorize toy animals, create an animal...
Curated OER
A Tale of Two Towns
Students compare and contrast their own community to other communities. They fill out a questionnaire and e-mail it to e-pals in other communities, take digital pictures of important places in their town, and compare them to pictures...
Curated OER
Strong to the Hoop
Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Strong to the Hoop. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions,...
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Communities Around the World
Students investigate the idea of community by taking a field trip. In this civics lesson, students participate in a supervised walk around their neighborhood while identifying characteristics and objects that make their home town...
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Welcome to My World
Elementary schoolers discuss what a community is, and what their community has to offer them. They create posters, or flyers for the different businesses or places in their community to place around their school. After the students have...
Curated OER
All About Groups & Community
Second graders examine the various kinds of groups in our communities and lives. They make charts and drawings of different groups and complete a worksheet imbedded in this plan. The groups are a true cooperative format, with each...
Smithsonian Institution
Autobiography through Objects
Show youngsters how objects can tell a story! Here your class will learn about Cuban salsa dancer Celia Cruz by analyzing pictures of her dress, her shoes, and her marriage certificate. After describing Cruz's items and imagining what...
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Maker Media
Makerspace Playbook
Make the most of project-based learning with Makerspace. A playbook shows instructors and other interested parties how to set up a Makerspace and Maker community to foster STEM projects. It gives ideas for startup activities and for...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr. and Nonviolence
Students explore a local seat of government to examine ways to make changes in their communities. In this local government instructional activity, students read about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his nonviolent protests. Students read...
Curated OER
A Postage Stamp... A Drawing Activity
Students develop a list of individuals in school who help students. In this stamp making activity, students create a stamp to honor a person who is helpful at school. Students share their stamps and explain why they chose the person on it.
Curated OER
Links in a Food Chain
Little ones make costumes and act out a rhyme in which there are daisies, bugs, wrens, snakes, and foxes that all interact in a food web. This would be a memorable activity for primary life scientists to participate in as a wrap-up to a...
Curated OER
Marine Critters and Communities
Students touch, see, smell, and hear marine animals that live in a marina. In this marine animals lesson plan, students take field trip to a marine environment after studying the animals.
Curated OER
Wise Spenders and Savvy Savers
Second graders investigate the business community in their own town. They design interview questions before interviewing business people. They look at what type of good and services are offered in their area. They design a multimedia...
Curated OER
Look What We Did Together!
Students reflect on and record what they do together as a class each week. They record it on a strip of butcher paper and draw a picture and write what they did.
Curated OER
Our Changing Community
Students investigate how communities grow and change. In this communities lesson, students discuss how their community has changed and construct a model of a community.
Curated OER
Roxaboxen
Students create a model of a community building that contributes to a class neighborhood layout. They explain the purpose of his or her individual role and community building, and how it fits into the class model of a neighborhood.
Curated OER
Once Upon a Castle
Young scholars complete a variety of activities surrounding castle communities and fairy tales. They write a letter to a fairy tale character, write a fairy tale, create a model of a castle, and draw a map of a castle community.