MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Quotation Station: Using Quotes in the Classroom
An informative list compiled with quotes, authors, and discussion questions, along with 20 out-of-the-box application ideas, make up the collection of lessons geared to spark dialogue and creative thinking about quotations.
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Internet Investigations: Unsolved Mysteries
Students conduct Internet research to investigate the facts and fiction of various unsolved mysteries. They examine the facts and opinions of the mysteries, and create a Powerpoint slide show to present the theories and the group's...
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Working Together to Improve Our Community
Students from the fourth grade research a solution to a community problem and converse with eighth graders via email. Eighth graders study the political process and work with the fourth graders to present information to the public to...
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Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the DonnerParty
Students explore westward movement through eyes of doll belonging to Patty Reed, member of Donner Party. They write journal entries from points of view of characters in book, Patty Reed's Doll, participate in Pack the Wagon game, and...
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
Students construct and maintain a school garden. In this gardening lesson, students plan the construction of the garden by writing letters to local businesses asking for supplies and materials; students build the garden using their math...
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Latin and Greek Roots Lesson Plan: Creating a Board Game
Students explore Latin and Greek roots. In this vocabulary lesson plan, students create a board game featuring Greek and Latin roots.
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Using Words to Work Things Out
Students explore classroom community building. In this character development and community building lesson, students listen to Hands Are Not for Hitting and generate a class list of positive ways to handle classroom conflicts. Students...
Channel Islands Film
Telling Your Own Story
After watching and discussing a video on the Voyage of Cabrillo, individuals craft their own origin story and design and build an artifact they feel best represents their history.
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A Holiday Card in KidPix
Students create a holiday card using computer software. For this computer card making lesson, students design an original holiday card using a variety of tools. Students navigate the software utilizing various tools.
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Disaters!
Students read a fiction and nonfiction accounts about different types of disasters. The class uses iChat AV and iSight camera to interview students in a different part of the country about natural or manmade disasters in their area....
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Homes of Yesterday and Today
Students explore homes as shelters while they built writing and technology skills. In this homes of yesterday and today lesson, students produce books using digital photography. Students develop vocabulary while researching how homes are...
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There's a Monster in My Classroom
Students work in groups making drawing of monsters and then given written instructions to students in another class about how to draw the same monster. After the drawings are complete, they share with other students using an iSight...
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Seasoning the School Year
Students observe the changes a class tree goes through as the seasons change and record observations in journals. They investigate changes in the weather, changes in the length of the day, and how that affects people. They create...
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Cooperative Classroom Text Features Activities
Fifth graders examine text features and create a PowerPoint presentation. In this text features lesson, 5th graders go over Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures and text features before they choose one to include in a book and...
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Letters from the Heart: Designing for the Other 90% of the World's Population
Students explore varied aspects of the design process and learn that most products are designed to reach the worlds wealthiest 10%. In this activity, students work in groups to learn ways in which designers are attempting to rectify this...
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A Differentiated Way through Think Dots
Students examine reasons that led people to explore, identify "West" as defined following Revolutionary War, explain importance of finding natural resources, develop time line of dates and events leading up to Lewis and Clark Expedition,...
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THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain
Students read in class the novel The Adventures of Tom Sayer by Mark Twain. They can choose to find song lyrics from any artist that they feel define one of the characters in the book, illustrate a scene from the book or create their own...
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Transforming Negatives to Positives
Young scholars write diamonte poems that correspond to the double-exposed photograph they created. In this poetry and multimedia artwork lesson, students use the photographic process to create a double-exposed photo then create a...
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21st Century Social Skills
Explore communication techniques by using the latest video technology. In this special education lesson, students create a video discussing their own social goals for the future. Students utilize Flip Video cameras to document their...
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Action, Please!
Students create an advertising campaign. In this environmental education lesson, students research aluminum and aluminum can recycling. Students wrap the lesson up by writing newspaper articles, creating public service announcements, and...
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Sim's Cities
Young scholars investigate city management and government by creating a fictional city in groups. In this civics lesson, students create rules and a mascot for their fictitious city which they create from poster board cubes. Young...
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Presidents
Fifth graders explore the encyclopedia and take notes from it in a formatted way. They analyze and compare the encyclopedia to an almanac and begin to take information on their chosen president.
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When I Was Young in Brooklyn
Students identify various techniques used in memoirs. They reflect on similarities and differences betwee two authors. Students define the term memior. They write about various techiques they noticed the authors used. Students write...
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Clay Story Adventure
Students build three-dimensional rough draft for a story by creating objects, people, places, animals, etc., with clay, and write story in a journal, poem, or other written form.