Digital Commons
Convince Me! A Persuasive Writing Unit for 2nd Grade
Elementary learners are not often shy about expressing what they want, but they could use a little help organizing their arguments. Help young writers work through a series of persuasive writing exercises that emphasize the importance of...
Look! We're Learning!
Ella Fitzgerald Biography Mini-Unit
Before there was Beyonce, before there was Madonna, before there was Cher, there was Ella. Introduce Ella Fitzgerald, The First Lady of Jazz, with a reading comprehension exercise that presents a brief biography of her life and then asks...
Council for Economic Education
What's the Big Deal about Spices?
Today's gourmands don't consider spices to be the equivalent of silver and gold. During the middle ages, however, these commodities were precious. People back then used spices in religious ceremonies, to cure rotten food, and as a show...
Council for Economic Education
Fall of Rome
What led to the fall of Rome? Scholars have debated the question since the end of the great empire. Young historians consider the same question through an economic lens using an engaging lesson that involves a hands-on evaluation of the...
Council for Economic Education
The Silk Road
The Silk Road connected the European, Middle Eastern, and Asian worlds. It also helped create the modern trade world. An analysis activity makes the importance of this Chinese innovation clear by asking participants to evaluate trades...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Claim 4
A math model is a good model. A slide show presents 10 sample items on modeling and data analysis. Items from Smarter Balanced illustrate different ways that Claim 4 may be assessed on the 8th grade math assessment. The presentation is...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Claim 3
Communication is the key. A dozen sample items require scholars to communicate their reasoning involved in arriving at a solution. The PowerPoint from the Gr. 8 Claim 2 - 4 Item Slide Shows series uses a variety of content to illicit...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Claim 2
Math can be a problem in eighth grade. Sample items show how problem solving exists within the eighth grade standards. Part of the Gr. 8 Claim 2 - 4 Item Slide Shows series, the presentation contains eight items to illustrate the...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target J
Look at patterns in bivariate data. Eight sample items illustrate the eighth grade statistics and probability standards. The Smarter Balanced Sample multiple-choice items focus on numerical and categorical bivariate data. The slide show...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target I
A slideshow covering the Smarter Balanced Target I on solving problems involving volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres contains five sample items. Items range from finding the volume of a figure to finding the altitude of a cone given...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target H
Pythagoras is all about being right. A presentation provides sample items for how the Pythagorean Theorem standards may show up in Smarter Balanced assessments. Seven items use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the sides of a right...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target G
Transform the thinking of transformations with six sample items that illustrate the first four standards in the eighth grade geometry domain. Items use the coordinate plane to transform figures and analyze the relationship of the figures...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target F
Functions model relationships between quantities. The Smarter Balanced sample items demonstrate the assessment strategies for eighth grade function modeling standards. Items range from constructing linear functions from a table and a...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target E
One of several presentations of eighth grade sample items looks at the basics of functions. Smarter Balanced sample items for Target E highlights the way function content shows up on the assessments. The presentation contains eight items...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target D
Can learners determine solutions associated with lines? A slide presentation contains sample items for the Smarter Balanced 8th grade math Target D covering solving linear equations and systems of linear equations. Items illustrate the...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target B
Develop a radical approach to covering the Smarter Balanced targets for 8th grade math with a presentation that helps further develop math skills. Seven sample items demonstrate the expectation for working with integer exponents,...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 8th Grade Math – Target A
Take an irrational approach to numbers with a Smarter Balanced assessment that covers the introduction of irrational numbers. The nine items cover identifying irrational numbers, approximating them with rational numbers, and converting...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Using DNA to Explore Lizard Phylogeny
On the Caribbean islands, lizards expanded into different niches instead of competing for resources. Scholars discuss and learn from experts in a video how scientists prove the theory. They build phylogenetic trees based on appearances...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Finding the Crater
A mass extinction event caused by an impact usually leaves a crater. Scholars use data from 10 different sites around the world trying to determine where to look for the crater. They use data, listing the amount of various minerals to...
PBS
Concept Map
Make the thought process visible with a handy concept map organizer. As learners develop their main ideas in research, writing, or creative development, they can add details and like ideas to the worksheet as needed.
Reading Through History
Reading with a Purpose: Haunted Houses
Boo! Whether you're easily scared or enjoy a good fright, a reading passage on haunted house attractions is a great addition to a Halloween-themed unit. Learners read a short informational passage before answering multiple choice,...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Nazi Party Platform
Not all party platforms stay democratic. A resource covers many political issues in Germany during the time of World War II, and teaches pupils about the Nazi party platform and what went wrong. Individuals participate in a warm-up...
Council for Economic Education
Why Didn't China Discover the New World?
Who was Zheng He and why haven't we heard of him? Scholars consider the question as they compare his vast expeditionary force to that of Christopher Columbus. Young historians then ponder the intersection of science, economics, and...
Council for Economic Education
Athens and Sparta-Imagine the Possibilities
Both Athens and Sparta made choices to survive in ancient Greece. Those choices were, in essence, economic ones about how to direct resources. A Venn diagram activity and reading ask class members to examine the connection between...