Curated OER
An Animal Report
Third graders create reports in the fashion of small books. They write brief descriptions for a variety of topics and answering a variety of questions. They create a picture book for their individual animals. They utilize basic computer...
California Department of Education
Learning the Skills to Pay the Bills
Is CTE the right choice for me? Introduce the class to career and technical education through an exploratory lesson, fourth in a series of six career readiness activities. After an introductory video, scholars determine possible careers...
The New York Times
Collateral Damage? Researching a Connection Between Video Games and Violence
Hook your class into an exploration of and discussion about violence in video games with a cute animal clip and a video game trailer. After a quick discussion about how media can affect mood, class members read a related article and...
Middle Tennessee State University
The Invention of the Telephone
All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his sketch of the...
ReadWriteThink
Heroes Are Made of This: Studying the Character of Heroes
What makes heroes and villains? A six-part unit plan asks young scholars to explore the concept of heroism and the characteristics they consider heroic and unheroic. Groups create character maps that focus on how characters are shaped by...
Curated OER
Computer/Grammar: Dinosaurs
First graders practice computer skills while visiting a dinosaur Website. They write sentences there beginning with assigned letters, circle the beginning capital letter, and underline the ending punctuation.
Curated OER
Catalase: A Bioinformatics Case Study
Students investigate the physical structure of a protein by using a computer simulation tool. They record its primary amino acid structure while viewing it in three dimensions for a better visual recognition. There is also a comparison...
Curated OER
My Daily Routine
Foreign language learners work in pairs to translate the daily routine of celebrities or everyday people, presented in daily planner format, into English. They then illustrate and record their own daily routines in storyboard (film...
We are Teachers
What Goes Up Must Come Down
From understanding stock market performance and return on investment to identifying the costs and benefits of credit and avoiding debt problems, this is an absolute must-have resource for financial planning and literacy.
Visa
Using Credit Wisely
Receiving credit can be both a benefit and a curse. Prepare your learners to make wise credit choices by studying how credit influences credit scores, identifying the different components of credit cards, and exploring major consumer...
Curated OER
The Great Computer Debates
Students research controversial Internet technology issues concerning security, privacy, and intellectual property. They formulate and present various perspectives on these issues in a mock television panel discussion.
Curated OER
Digestible Computers
Students examine the pros and cons of 'embedded computing' in the field of medicine. They invent and describe a computer that would be embedded in an individual to improve their education or school and write essays critiquing their...
Curated OER
Explorers’ Experience
Students investigate the Exploration Age. In this research skills lesson, students discover the impact of exploration as they locate information about selected explorers. Students design and create relief maps that feature exploration...
Curated OER
Technological Grand Conversations
Conduct a written literary discussion and diminish stress about public writing. Class members, already arranged into literature circles, compose and post responses to novels, signing with initials or class number. The process continues...
Curated OER
Guild Hall
Incorporate a research project into your study of Shakespeare and the Renaissance Period. Class members assume the role of an apprentice seeking membership in one of the various guilds that existed during the Renaissance period. After...
Curated OER
Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
Curated OER
Author, Author
First graders engage in this interesting instructional activity on letter writing and writing skills. In it, youngsters listen to the Jan Brett story, The Mitten, as a warm-up. They think of other animals of the world they could ask Jan...
Curated OER
Writing Fables
Students write their own fables. In this writing fables lesson, students use handheld computers to write a fable. The class designs a spreadsheet to organize common elements of fables. Students also edit each others' work.
Curated OER
Global Warming: Writing and Editing a Research Report
Bring environmental issues into your classroom! Practice writing and peer editing research reports on global warming and the greenhouse effect. Middle schoolers can work on their research skills, their writing skills, and how to...
Curated OER
Deep Impact
How can acknowledging opposing viewpoints reinforce one's argument? Use this New York Times lesson to study consumerism and the environmental impact of new products. After reading the article "Whether a Hummer or a Hybrid, the Big...
Curated OER
Critically Surfing the Web
The New York Times article “Online Diary,” launches this study of websites and how to assess them. Richly detailed, the lesson plan includes warm-up activities, procedures, journal prompts, discussion questions, and links to valuable...
Curated OER
Weighing the War
Study opposing viewpoints with this lesson, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or against the reasons to...
Curated OER
Analyzing a Writer's Stance
Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...
Curated OER
Persuasive/Argumentative Essay vs. Opinion writing
Reinforce persuasive and argumentative writing skills with this instructional activity, which utilizes SchoolNet News Network's website/SNN Monthly magazine. Young writers review journalism writing styles that help them explain that...