Curated OER
Math for the Frontier
Make history come to life by using the Frontier House series to engage young scholars in the past. Your class will "prepare" for a trip to 1833 Montana. They will learn about homesteading, frontier life, inflation, and cost of living....
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Narrative Essay
To conclude their study of Out of the Dust, the 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, individuals craft a narrative essay based on one of the themes in Karen Hesse's novel.
Curated OER
What's Special About Nonfiction?
Students examine the difference between nonfiction and fictional writing. They identify the characteristics of nonfiction literature and examine how a nonfiction textbook organizes information.
Curated OER
Vanished Occupations: Life on an Iron Plantation
Learners analyze photographs to understand life on a plantation. In this vanished occupations instructional activity, students examine why iron plantations were created and what natural resources were needed to make iron. Learners...
Curated OER
Animal Life Cycle
Students conduct hands-on experiments. In this life cycle activity, students are able to observe a variety of animals as they travel through their life cycle (brine shrimp, mealworms, frog eggs and chicken eggs). Students respond to...
Curated OER
Digital Storytelling
Scholars of all ages can use the various tools of technology to construct and illustrate a story. Utilizing this resource, learners work with a partner to brainstorm and draft a story based on personal experience. They use computer...
Critical Thinking Cooperative
Doing Our Share
Whether at home or in the classroom, each member of a community has certain responsibilities they must tend to. With the help of the children's story Piggybook by Anthony Browne, kids learn how to assign jobs in a fair and safe manner...
Curated OER
Literacy Through Photography
Students practice using words to describe photographs they have taken. In this descriptive writing lesson, students utilize a disposable or digital camera to take 5 pictures of their life after school. Students create slides from their...
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
Students construct and maintain a school garden. In this gardening activity, students plan the construction of the garden by writing letters to local businesses asking for supplies and materials; students build the garden using their...
Azar Grammar
Song Lessons: You Gotta Be
Des'ree's song "You Gotta Be" is used to model for language learners the forms that can be used to express necessity (must, have to, have got to). After examining the grammar in the song, the attention switches to a discussion of the...
Curated OER
Butterfly Lesson 2 - Monarch Caterpillar
Students study the Monarch Butterfly life cycle. In this Monarch Butterfly lesson, students examine what happens prior to a caterpillar hatching, how often it sheds its skin, and what the caterpillar goes through when it is preparing to...
Media Smarts
Thinking About Television and Movies
As part of their study of the influence of TV and films, class members consider how music, lighting, costumes, camera angles, etc. are used to influence the response of viewers.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
The Writer’s Toolbox: What You Need to Master the Craft
Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...
Curated OER
Equadorian Rainforest: The Tropical Supermarket
Young scholars study the concept of sustainable agricultural practices through cocoa farming and the lives of the people who are the producers. Students watch a slide show and read a story which helps them understand the origins of...
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Landmarks of the Underground Railroad
Students explore Civil Rights by reading several books in class. In this Underground Railroad instructional activity, students discuss The Story of Henry Box Brown and identify the location and functionality of the Underground Railroad....
Curated OER
Letter Writing -Traditional and Modern
Third graders study the parts of a friendly letter and how to address an envelope. They write pen pal letters using traditional and modern mailing practices.
Curated OER
Dewey Decimal Game
Engage all the upper elementary classes in your school in a game to learn Dewey Decimal Classification. On 5 or 6 consecutive visits to the library, teams from each class learn how the system works, locate books in each category, and...
Curated OER
Power Totem
Young scholars investigate the important symbols to Native cultures by writing a poem. In this animal totem lesson, students discuss animal spirits and their relation to the Native American lifestyle. Young scholars write a cinquain...
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Poverty and Natural Disasters: Exploring the Connections
Students explore the connections between natural disasters and poverty. In this economic lesson plan students examine worksheets and activities for each level.
Curated OER
Amazon Rainforest Conservation, Brazil
Students explore rain forests. In this rain forest instructional activity, students participate in a "BioBlitz" of their schoolyard, observing and recording every living thing in a designated area. Students visit websites about rain...
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Eureka! I’ve Got an Idea!
Students explore many inventions and inventors. In this science lesson, students collaborate as they research inventors and their times in order to compile information to build an informative Web site.
Curated OER
Colorado Animals Newsletter and Directed Web Page
Students select a Colorado animal, develop a Directed Web page, and research their animal. Each member of the group combine their research and develop a Newsletter.
Curated OER
What would you do if faced with this problem?
Students determine how and why an individual from each of four disciplines - Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Legalism - might respond to the same problem.