Teaching Tolerance
Persuasive Letters
Sharpen persuasive writing skills while trying to solve a community problem. Learners choose a burning topic and then write letters to persuade others to come around to their views. The provided procedures walk through how to guide the...
Open Society Institute - Baltimore
Restorative Practices Lesson Plan Guide
Looking for resources that use restorative practices to build a positive school community? Then check out this 92-page lesson plan guide that provides background information on restorative practices, suggestions for how to implement a...
Advocates for Human Rights
Voices of Iraqi Refugees
The stated goal of this resource is to provide learners with basic facts about and build empathy for Iraqi refugees. To do so elementary classes develop a plan for how to welcome refugees to their classroom. Middle schoolers read...
American Art Clay Co., Inc.
Ceramic Tile Wall Murals
Science, social studies, language arts, and art classes work together with administrators to produce a permanent, ceramic tile wall mural to install at their school.
Curated OER
Teaching Justice: Schooling and the Four Waves of U.S. Immigration
U.S. immigration is the focus of a unit on social justice. Over the course of a school year, young historians read a variety of texts to learn about four waves of immigration that have occurred over time in the U.S. An emphasis on...
Curated OER
Special Places in Our Community
Students compare and contrast cities whether they are large or small, rural or urban. They use digital photography to take pictures of the different types of cities.
Curated OER
It Matters to Me: Iowa quarter reverse
What matters to your pupils? What values do they hold dear and how does that shape your classroom community? These are some the questions you'll get your class thinking about when they engage in this lesson from the US Mint. They will...
Curated OER
Celebrating Caring and Kindness
Students create a poster that represents how to care and give kindness. In this caring and kindness lesson plan, students demonstrate character development by creating a poster in groups on how they can care and be kind at home, school,...
Facing History and Ourselves
Choosing to Participate Posters
"A poster exhibit to encourage dialogue, engagement, respect, and participation in our communities..." This is a set of attractive posters that reference influential historical figures, such as George Washington and Albert Einstein, and...
Teaching Tolerance
Identity Portraits
When you look at me, what do you see? Young learners answer this question by creating a portrait that reflects the identity of one of their peers. First, class members create interview questions. Then, they interview classmates to...
Thoughtful Learning
Using Positive Self-Talk
Boost positive self-talk with a chart that turns negative feelings into happy ones. Scholars write down their negative emotions then rewrite them with a positive flair to aid in changing their outlook.
Thoughtful Learning
Doing Random Acts of Kindness
Encourage scholars to perform random acts of kindness. A lesson challenges participants to choose a peer they wish to be kind to without them knowing. Learners list five good deeds and choose one to fulfill. Pupils reflect on the process...
Thoughtful Learning
Seeing Emotions in Body Language
Scholars test their skills of reading body language with a collaborative learning experience that focuses on showing and identifying emotions. Pairs take turns acting out an emotion, one uses body language while the other guesses what...
Thoughtful Learning
Using 5-5-5 Breathing to Calm Down
Scholars calm their minds and bodies with a 5-5-5 breathing exercise. Learners breathe in for five seconds, out for five seconds, then wait five seconds to start again. The exercise takes one minute to complete.
Thoughtful Learning
Checking the Emotion Thermometer
A hand-drawn thermometer provides a strong visual for how much of an emotion a child is feeling. Scholars color the thermometer's mercury to showcase whether what they are feeling is high or low at a certain moment. Questions allow...
Diane Venzera
Kwanzaa Celebration: Celebrating Family, Community, and Culture
Kwanzaa is the focus of a three-part lesson that celebrates the history and traditions of the holiday. Before lighting the Kinara, scholars listen to a read-aloud of Seven Candles of Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Learners express...
Broward County Schools
ABC’s of Bullying Prevention
What is the problem? Why should I care? What can I do about it? These three questions are at the heart of a program designed to lead young people to understand that the way to prevent bullying is for their Attitude and Behavior to Change...
Curated OER
What Makes My Community Special
Students create a symbol to represent their classroom community. In this community lesson plan, students discuss what their classroom community is like and create symbols in groups to present to the rest of the class.
Curated OER
A Bird's Eye View Of Your Community
Learners locate and identify their community by using a satellite image from the Internet. Students locate and identify common land structures within their community. You may want to include structures such as roads/streets, houses and...
Curated OER
Where Do You Live?
Students explore the make-up of the immediate community. They construct a small model of their community with buildings, lights, street signs, flowers, etc. Students share their community model with the class.
Curated OER
Roles, Rights, and Responsibilities of Community Members
Students identify the roles, rights and responsibilities of a specific community. They conduct research, brainstorm ideas and prepare an illustrated booklet to present the gathered information.
Curated OER
A Sense of Community
Students brainstorm characteristics they associate with a community. In groups, they discover the role of a town square and create their own model. They also identify the various roles in keeping the community going and role play their...
Curated OER
Community of caring Service Projects
Students identify needs within the community. In this community service instructional activity, students look around their community for areas that are in need of service/assistance. Students contact the appropriate people...
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Notable Nebraskan: J. Sterling Morton
What are the characteristics of an outstanding citizen? Nebraskan J. Sterling Morton contributed to the formation of societal and family values in his state. Learners gather information on Morton's life accomplishments from primary...