Curated OER
Debating Ethics with Literature
Use group discussions, analysis, and ethical dilemmas to build critical thinking and an empathetic perspective.
Scholastic
Connecting with Ruby Bridges
When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...
Guidance Group
101 Ways to Teach Children Social Skills
Increasing pressure to improve student achievement has made it easy to overlook the social skills they also need to develop. With this collection of worksheets and activities, you'll be able to improve children's communication, teamwork,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Inside the Wire: Internment of Prisoners of War in Alabama during World War II
Create an open environment of discussion and collaboration with several exercises in a thought-provoking resource. Pupils conduct a gallery walk and lead a discussion before filling out a question sheet and chart during the learning...
Community High School of Vermont
Habits of Mind
Here is a comprehensive unit on the 16 Habits of Mind that includes a wide variety of activities, worksheets, differentiation strategies, and instructor notes. The unit consists of 18 lessons and offers an organized progression of...
Curated OER
Using Words to Work Things Out
Students explore appropriate ways to communicate feelings. In this character development lesson, students listen to Hands are not for Hitting and several other books about expressing emotions appropriately. Students observe puppet...
US Institute of Peace
Becoming a Peacebuilder
"Be the change you wish to see in the world!" The 15th and final lesson in a peacebuilding series uses this quote from Gandhi to prepare pupils for their own action projects. Individuals research a global issue, then brainstorm a method...
Spreading Gratitude Rocks
Generation of Respect
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Learners find out what it means to them. Scholars write sentences, do a word sort, and list what makes them grateful. Additionally, pupils learn how to be more respectful by completing worksheets that would make Aretha...
Curated OER
Physical Differences
Students recognize that everyone is different. In this physical differences lesson, students participate in three activities highlighting differences among people. In activity one, students discover differently "abled" dolls and...
Facing History and Ourselves
Speaking Up and Speaking Out
The final lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit offers class members a way they can stand up and speak out by crafting spoken word poetry, or Slam poetry. After analyzing several examples, individuals reflect on one positive...
Facing History and Ourselves
Protesting Discrimination in Bristol
Using the Bristol Bus Boycott as a case study, class members examine the strategies and levels of power protesters used to effect change. The two-day instructional activity concludes with individuals reflecting on the actions they might...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Juggling New Opportunities
Life is like trying to juggle three tennis balls! That's the big idea in a lesson that asks freshmen to consider that sometimes juggling the areas of their lives (social/emotion, academic, and career) runs smoothly and sometimes not so...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Service Learning Projects
Service learning projects provide pupils an opportunity to put the theories they are learning about civics into practice. Scholars investigate the needs of their community and then adopt a project for them to become involved in.
Amani Project
Write a CoronaKindness Song
And the beat goes on! Finding a way to connect during the isolation imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic can be challenging. This activity from the Amani Project offers a way to stay close during a time of physical distancing....
Facing History and Ourselves
Emoji Emotions
The BC (Before COVID) and AC (After COVID) classrooms differ. Instructors must reestablish protocols and opening and closing routines with learners who are no longer used to in-person learning. The second routine in the series designed...
Smithsonian Institution
Who's in Camp?
Pupils complete readings, a group activity using cards, and a writing activity to better understand people's lives during the American Revolution. The resource emphasizes people such as the militiamen, women, officers, and children,...
Curated OER
Learning Empathy Through Art
Students observe the painting, From That Day On, by Ben Shahn, and reflect on the story of the Lucky Dragon. They research and discuss the physical and emotional side effects on the Japanese people after the atomic bomb was dropped.
Curated OER
Experience the Challenge of Being Pete Gray
Students view films, photographs and engage in an empathy-building exercise to become familiar with Pete Gray, the first one-armed major league player. They read an interview and write an essay about Gray's career.
Curated OER
Disaster Relief - Power, Generosity and Leadership
Middle schoolers explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students discover philanthropy's role in 4 economic sectors. Middle schoolers examine how organizations responded to the Hurricane Katrina devastation...
Curated OER
Is That Fair: What is Fairness?
Students discover the meaning of fairness. In this character education activity, students create their own meanings of fairness and compare them to their classmates' definitions. The students discuss fairness in different situations.
Curated OER
The Mitten
Explore the Ukraine through a reading of The Mitten. Readers will determine the sequence of events, cause and effect, make predictions, and find the main idea of the story. They also use math skills to make charts and graphs. Finally,...
Curated OER
Anti-Bullying Efforts in the Elementary Classroom
Help prevent bullying from ever beginning with these simple strategies for implementing class meetings.
Curated OER
Candles in the Dark
Students read about and research the Holocaust using the Internet. They write poetry about an image of their choice and create a digital movie of their poetry readings.
Curated OER
Lesson: Text Messages
Can a neon sign be considered art? Kids consider two different works that use neon text as the basis for conveying artistic social messages. They then analyze a truism from Jenny Holzer's web site that holds meaning to them personally....