PBS
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
What rights are guaranteed to students? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...
Curated OER
End of the Year Lesson Plans and Activities
End of the year lesson plans can help you and your students finish the year right.
Space Awareness
History of the Universe
Your pupils may believe that you and their parents are the oldest things in the universe, but surprise! There are elements of the universe that are even older. Elementary scientists create a class timeline to demonstrate the...
Curated OER
Meet Your Neighbor: Action Verbs
Get your kids moving on the first day of school! This action verb activity doesn't have to be used as an ice breaker, but it sure will work as one. Simply place pairs of cards face-side down on the carpet, each with an action verb...
Curated OER
Ten Tips for Building Classroom Community
Start the school year on a strong note with one or more of these ideas for fostering camaraderie in your classroom.
Curated OER
Acts of Gratitude
Pupils celebrate the end of the school year by thanking those who had a positive impact on their lives.
EngageNY
Close Reading of Nasreen's Secret School: How Do People Access Books in Afghanistan?
Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson plan in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible...
EngageNY
Informative Paragraph Pre-Assessment: What Is One Reason You Want the Power of Reading?
This writing pre-assessment has minimal instruction but maximum support and encouragement. It begins with a review of the book, Rain School, through a think-pair-share and small group discussion. The discussion...
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Parts of Speech Pre-Test: The Building Blocks of Grammar
Help your learners get a good grasp on grammar. An insightful pre-test allows teachers to learn about their young writers' knowledge of the building blocks of grammar, so they can begin building a unit of study. It includes a...
EngageNY
Talking with My Peers: Carousel of Reading Superheroes Around the World
In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...
Curated OER
D.O.L.P.H.I.N. Binders
DOLPHIN—Daily Organizational Learning Portfolio and Handbook of Intelligent Note-taking. Here you'll find over 40 pages of templates, reference handouts, and instruction on ways pupils can organize their binders for a productive school...
California Department of Education
Transitioning to High School
How do scholars prepare to take their next big step? The second in a series of six career and college readiness activities focuses on making a smooth transition from middle to high school. Groups research the resources available at their...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...
Curated OER
How To Calm Back-to-School Nerves
Set students up for success with these tips for getting the year off to a smooth start.
Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.
Classroom Setup: Grade 3
There's a lot of thought that goes into setting up safe and supportive classroom environments. From establishing a whole group meeting area and arranging desks, to organizing classroom supplies and creating bulletin board displays,...
Learning to Give
Teaching Playwriting in Schools
The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.
Houston Independent School District
Creating a Successful Project
Guide your learners step by step through the process of designing an original, independent student project. This resource includes a wealth of worksheets and materials, including student project checklists, timelines, primary and...
Student Handouts
Weekly Planners
Whether you'd like a new organization tool or a way to keep kids aware of deadlines and assignments, a blank set of weekly planners is a great addition to your classroom. With every week in the 2015-2016 school year, the planner helps...
Sensory Connection Program
The Tree of Self Esteem Game
Create a respectful classroom community and boost children's self-esteem with this collaborative activity. Working in small groups, children take turns filling in each other's tree of self-esteem with compliments, personal...
Worksheet Place
Back to School Acrostic Poem
Acrostic poems are a great way to get your class in the back to school mode. Each poet will compose a poem using the letters of the words 'back to school' as the beginning of the first lines of each line of the poem. There are many...
Curated OER
Welcome Back to the Computer Lab: Starting a New School Year
Get kids re-oriented to the computer lab for back-to-school. The constructivist approach in this session allows children to exert ownership of their behavior in the computer lab. Read aloud a few books about good and poor manners, as...
Curated OER
Writing a News Article
Join the newspaper business with a series of lessons and exercises focused on elements of journalism. The packet focuses on distinguishing fact from opinion, writing effective headlines, sequencing events, and editing and...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: The Cycle of Addiction
Drug addiction, including prescription drug addiction, begins with a reason that's different for every user. High schoolers learn more about the reasons people begin abusing drugs with a set of videos and worksheets that discuss four...
Curated OER
Beginning The New School Year
Third graders investigate the concept of living in a community of learners. They engage in a variety of activities with the highlight being a story about a meerkat and a lion. Students read a play related to the story and discuss the...