PBS
Racial Equality: How Far Have We Come and How Far Do We Have To Go?
Is everyone treated fairly in America? The culminating fifth lesson from a series of five has pupils explore racial inequalities from the 1960s and decide whether or not society has changed over time. The lesson comes with a speech from...
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Work That Matters: The Teacher’s Guide to Project-Based Learning
Whether new to inquiry-based learning or experienced with its protocols, you'll find much to value in High Tech High's comprehensive guide to project-based learning. Designed for educators, the guide has everything instructors need to...
Poetry4kids
How to Write an Apology Poem
Put a silly spin on making amends with an apology poem. Budding poets think of a time they were made to apologize although they didn't mean it. They then turn their experience into a poem that offers details and ends with an explanation...
PBS
Using Symmetry to Create Corporate Logos
Young mathematicians investigate the use of symmetry in graphic design. After first learning about reflection, translational, and rotational symmetry, children use this new knowledge to identify symmetry in letters of the...
PBS
Using Primary Sources: Wide Open Town
A picture speaks a thousand words, no matter how old! Scholars use political cartoons from the era of Prohibition and the Temperance Movement to analyze what, a primary document (in this case, a bootlegger's notebook) is telling them...
C3 Teachers
African American Voices and Reconstruction: What Does It Take To Secure Equality?
High schoolers research the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, as well as other primary source documents, to determine Reconstruction's impact on the North and South. The 34-page inquiry-based lesson includes a staging question and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Mapping Genes to Traits in Dogs Using SNPs
Genetic analysis has gone to the dogs! Learners use real DNA information collected from dog saliva to study the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes. They analyze alleles to determine correlations to coat color, length, and...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Is High in Multiunit Housing
Much has been written recently about the danger of secondhand smoke. Laws have been passed to limit that exposure in offices, transportation centers, and public areas. But what about apartment buildings, condos, public housing, and other...
Read Write Think
Poetry Portfolios: Using Poetry to Teach Reading
Over the course of five periods, scholars create a poetry portfolio. They begin with a reading of the poem, Firefly. With a focus on vocabulary, learners reread the poem then look for sight words and other skills.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Why We Have Freedom of the Press
A newspaper receives documents that reveal not only a devastating secret the public needs to know, but also troop movements that could put American lives at risk: to publish or not to publish? Using background readings, discussion...
Curated OER
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Graphic Organizer Strategy
"What are Henry's options?" "What do you think Henry will do?" To better understand the central conflict for the main character in Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members engage in a compare-and-contrast activity that...
The Alamo
A Teacher’s Guide to Lorenzo De Zavala
Who was Lorenzo de Zavala to the Texas Revolution, and how did he change the Alamo? Find out using an educational resource that asks learners to fill out graphic organizers and respond to short-answer questions to further solidify their...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a great story to share with your class, and this lesson focuses on just that story! The eighth in a fourteen-lesson series on short stories, the plan has learners study some vocabulary, read the...
Novelinks
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: A Letter for Henry
Readers of Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to write a personal letter to Henry, the main character in Robert Cormier's young adult novel, offering Henry advice about whether he should do as Mr. Hairston wants.
Novelinks
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Herber Readiness Activity
What does it mean to be alone and isolated? What would you do if you were all alone in a strange place? Kids ponder these questions as they prepare to read Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
K12 Reader
Making Connections to Text
This short reading comprehension learning exercise encourages readers to make self-to text, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections as a way of remembering what they have read.
C-SPAN
Should States Shift to Mail-In Voting during the Coronavirus Pandemic?
With the coronavirus pausing many norms in American society, officials are trying to decide how to safely hold voting in the 2020 presidential election. Using curated video clips, including speeches from Congress, journalists, and...
Teaching Tolerance
Changing Demographics: What Can We Do to Promote Respect?
America has always been seen as a melting pot to the world. Scholars research the concept of blending cultures in the United States and how it is changing over time. The final lesson of a four-part series analyzes the changing...
CK-12 Foundation
Evaluate Limits Using Graphs and Tables: Evaluate the Limits
Discontinuities in the graph? No worries. Pupils investigate the limit of a function given graphically using an interactive. The graph has removable and jump discontinuities.
Curated OER
Using Google Docs
This is a fantastic resource for teachers to have in their tool belts upon entering into the world of using Google Docs in the classroom! It is a reference sheet with step-by-step instructions and graphics for everything from basic...
Incredible Art
Historical Narrative Using Silhouettes
Connect art and history with a series of activities inspired by the work of contemporary artist, Kara Walker. After watching an Art 21 video about Walker and examining the images in a PowerPoint presentation, class members use...
PBS
Using Primary Sources: The Rogue's Gallery
What would be in your life's scrapbook? Scholars use short video clips, primary and secondary documents, and photos to investigate a 1909 scrapbook. They analyze and uncover what the Rogue Book tells them about the past in Western...
Curated OER
Using Por and Para
Clear up confusion around por and para. These words can be very difficult, especially for learners who are native English speakers. The information section describes when to use each word and provides examples of specific situations....
TED-Ed
From Aaliyah to Jay-Z: Captured Moments in Hip-hop History
To take "the definitive portrait of that person in that moment" is the quest of photographer and hip-hop historian Jonathan Mannion. In this short video, Mannion details his dedication to his art and the process he goes through to catch...