Scholastic
What’s the Good Word? Etymology Project Guidelines
Who named the shapes, or the days of the week? Should words be removed from the dictionary if they're no longer commonly used? Are there too many words in the English language? Language arts students explore these and additional...
Curated OER
Land Use and Lawmaking in California
Learners design a plan for a housing development in their city. In this house development lesson plan, students observe pictures of land use, research lawmaking, and develop a plan for an environmentally friendly housing development in...
Curated OER
Using Context Clues
Middle schoolers receive a handout that lists the five types of context clues. The class divides up into groups of three or four, and each group chooses five unfamiliar words. They write a multiple-choice question for each of their five...
Science Companion
Simple Machines Design Project
Make your work as a teacher a little easier with a physical science project on simple machines. After introducing young scientists to these devices and identifying their different uses around the school, this project engages children in...
Curated OER
The Mighty Elements: Using the Visual Thesaurus to Investigate Chemical Elements
Pupils create trading cards for elements in the Periodic Table. Initially, they are introduced to the Periodic Table of Elements and the concept of elements in the world around us. After dividing into groups, learners use the Visual...
Curated OER
Terrabagga Activity Using a Magnetometer
Clever! Earth science learners construct a model of a planet containing a magnetic core. The planet, Terrabagga, is made out of a paper grocery bag, magnets, a dead D battery, and rubber bands. Pictures of each step of the construction...
Curated OER
Unlikely Diary keepers Using Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Put your class in the shoes of someone - or something - else with this lesson, which encourages writers to keep a diary from the perspective of a living creature or an abstraction. Use Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Worm and the Six Trait...
Curated OER
Basic Search Methods Using Online Resources
Second graders practice using technology to gather information. In this online research lesson, 2nd graders use technology to find information for a research project. Students write a research paper, and give a presentation to the class...
Curated OER
Sewing Unit (Textiles)
Get out that sewing machine it's time for a textile project. The class learns how to use a sewing machine, read a pattern, and create a simple article of clothing. They identify the sewing machine parts, use an iron, and think about...
ReadWriteThink
Alliteration in Headline Poems
Poetry is everywhere you look! Create found poems using headlines from newspapers and magazines. Young poetry focus on creating alliterative phrases with words they find in headlines, tying their poems to a central theme.
Curated OER
Self-Portrait With Literal Reference
Learners create self-portraits using ideas from a particular theme and piece of literature in this high school Art lesson. Emphasis is placed on combining visual and literal material in a cohesive manner.
PBS
Waste Audit
Does everything in the trash can belong there? Conduct a waste audit with your class by collecting a day's worth of garbage, separating it into recyclables, non-recyclables, or food waste, and properly distributing what they find into...
Curated OER
What a Character! Comparing Literary Adaptations
What do Robert Downey Jr., Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Fritz Weaver, Roger Moore, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Daffy Duck have in common? Why, it’s elementary, my dear Watson! They all have portrayed Sherlock Holmes. Literary detectives...
Wordpress
Behind the Music Project
Authors write about what they know, and that does not exclude songwriters. Invite partners to explore the story behind a song. They analyze and discuss the lyrics, conduct research online, create a poster, and put together a two-minute...
Curated OER
Mixed Media Houses
Students select from collage and reference materials related to houses and develop a two dimensional work of art using various imagery and then draw or paint into a composition to achieve a work of art suitable for the gallery or add to...
Curated OER
Nature Calendar
Students practice using reference materials to locate information by making a nature calendar.
Curated OER
Adjunct Materials
Students describe and evaluate adjunct educational materials for their usefulness in social studies classrooms. They identify means of randomly pairing students using social studies content and develop social studies-themed unit plans...
Curated OER
OLYMPIC SHADOW BOXES
High schoolers, in groups, use library reference materials to research an Olympic sport and create a visual display/shadow box to represent it.
Curated OER
Using Plant Pigments as Natural Dyes
Students create friendship bracelets and quilt squares. In this plant lesson student dye their own string and cotton material with plant pigments. Students use the naturally dyed materials to create the friendship bracelets and quilt...
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo History Museum: Curriculum Guide
Learn about the California Gold Rush from an institution that has been in place since the early days of the American West: Wells Fargo History Museum. From domain-specific vocabulary review to group research projects, an expansive packet...
Curated OER
Learning From World War II and Connecting It to the Present
Compare and contrast World War II to the modern Iraq war with this instructional activity. After watching a film, learners use supporting evidence to support their point of view of the conflicts. Using the internet, they create a...
Scholastic
Persuasive Communication (Grades 9–12)
Before your students reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory lesson inspires class members to...
DiscoverE
Build a Plankton Net
Give household materials new life by turning them into a plankton net. Scholars design and build a net to collect and filter plankton from water. They test out their creations by using glitter to represent plankton. The nets need to...
Smithsonian Institution
Mary Henry: Journal/Diary Writing
A great way to connect social studies with language arts, a resource on Mary Henry's historical diary reinforces the concepts of primary and secondary sources. It comes with an easy-to-understand lesson plan, as well as the reference...