Curated OER
If I Had the Power
Have your young learners practice using higher-order thinking skills by engaging in this problem-solving activity. They work in cooperative groups to solve problems, and list ways to address a variety of challenges. They explain their...
Curated OER
Reaching English Language Learners Through Cooperative Learning
Students in ESL, ELL take part in small groups according to their language proficiency skills and to determine how to problem solve with a language barrier.
Curated OER
Journey to Understanding Vocabulary
Young scholars examine word parts. For this word study lesson, students practice breaking words into parts and using their knowledge of Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes determine the words' meanings.
Curated OER
What's The Story?
Teams of learners integrate reading, writing, math, social studies, and science in this simple, yet effective lesson. They work in groups in order to solve a ten-step problem which requires internet research, the use of a calculator, and...
Curated OER
Little House on the Prairie
Hop into a covered wagon and follow Laura Ingalls Wilder through the Midwest. A series of lessons based on Little House on the Prairie encourages young pioneers to see the world through Laura's eyes as they map her journey, discuss the...
Curated OER
Time, Talent, Treasure and Economics
Students work cooperatively to create a quilt. They choose a pattern and determine the specific skills and steps needed to produce that quilt. Labor is divided equally between group members and a quilt is created assembly line style....
Curated OER
Michelle Kwan: Heart of a Champion
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...
Curated OER
How Can We Organize Study of a Given Place?
Seventh graders embark in discovery of basic facts about an assigned continent and are asked to organize their information into categories. The Five Themes model is taught and students reshuffle their information appropriately.
Curated OER
Comprehension-Note Taking Skills to Supprt Opinions and Panel Discussion
Fifth graders examine note taking skills in order to support opinions. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders read several newpaper articles and discuss a current issue. Students explore how to paraphrase so as not to commit plagiarism.
Curated OER
American Frontiers
Students study the settlement of the American frontier through literature. In this literature lesson, students read and discuss works by James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland. Students compare...
Curated OER
What is Framing?
Students practice framing issues. In this writing skills lesson, students participate in a classroom activity that requires them to look at specific topical issues by framing them. Students then create collages on current issues and...
Curated OER
South Carolina Voices: Lessons From the Holocaust
Young scholars explore World History by researching the Holocaust. In this Nazi Germany lesson, students identify the ghettos and death camps that many Jewish civilians were sent to in order to be controlled and later killed. Young...
Curated OER
Historical Figure: A Monologue
Fourth graders develop their speaking skills. In this monologue lesson, 4th graders watch their instructors model a monologue regarding Abraham Lincoln. Students apply these skills as they research a historical figure from their state...
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
Juliana Dogbadzi: Slavery/Trafficking
Progress your learners' comprehension of universal human rights by exploring the violation of human trafficking through the experiences of Juliana Dogbadzi. This activity analyzes and discusses very sensistive and graphic issues but is...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Performing Arts
The classical arts have made a lasting impact on our society and your advanced learners get to find out why. The activity starts as the children create a list of the arts found in society, they discuss how these art forms impact their...
Curated OER
THE LITTLE RED HEN - A TALE OF COOPERATION
Young scholars explore how much pleasure reading can bring, explain the concept of "story sequence", "re-tell" a story through art, and read other folktales.
EngageNY
Reading and Talking with Peers: A Carousel of Photos and Texts about Frogs
Frogs are the theme of a lesson plan that challenges scholars to examine photographs, read informational texts, then ask and answer questions. Scholars work collaboratelively as they rotate through stations, discuss their observations,...
Curated OER
School Advisory Council
Young scholars discuss issues facing teenage students at their school.
Orange County Department of Education
Black Cowboy, Wild Horses
Fifth graders read the selection Black Cowboy, Wild Horses and identify characteristics of self-discipline shown by story's main character, Bob Lemmons. Students then identify some of their own traits of self-discipline and reflect upon...
Curated OER
Revolutionary News Network
Seventh graders study events leading to, during and resulting from the American Revolution. They review elements of a political cartoon. They create and dramatize a scene from a Revolutionary War novel.
Curated OER
Understanding "The Stans"
Students explore and locate "The Stans" in Central Asia to create, write and illustrate maps, graphs and charts to organize geographic information. They analyze the historical and physical characteristics of Central Asia via graphic...
Curated OER
Wildflower Beautification Project
Learners, in cooperative groups, design and create a wildflower garden for the community. They write letters to property owners requesting use of their land and then write invitations to their parents and to local, state, and federal...
Curated OER
Sharing is Caring
By engaging in an arts-based activity, 2nd graders explore peace in the classroom. They listen to the story The Rainbow Fish, then create their own fish to hang in the classroom. They write three things that make them happy on their...
Shakespeare in American Life
Tom Hanks and Caliban: Survivor Superstars
Here’s a clever way to combine language arts and social studies. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda in 1609. The class views a brief scene from Castaway in which Tom...