Advocates for Human Rights
Creating a Welcoming School and Community
The final activity in a unit study of immigration and human rights asks class members to design a project for their school that builds support for immigrant classmates. To prepare for this project, individuals use what they have learned...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Thick Is a Soda Can II?
Science, technology, and math come together in this one combination exercise. Analyzing the common soda can from both a purely mathematical perspective and a scientific angle allows for a surprisingly sophisticated comparison of...
Curated OER
Studio Art Lessons Based on Latin American Arts
Study three of the basic principles of design: l) designs should create a rhythmic pattern made up of related shapes, 2) colors should be repeated so as to not force the eye to remain with a single part of the composition, and 3) a...
Curated OER
Modals and Their Meaning in Context
By focusing on an oil-related theme, learners answer questions using context clues. They assign meaning to each highlighted modal in an example sentence from a word bank of choices. (Examples of meaning choices include impossibility...
Dawgeared.com
Book Review
Reflect on your reading with a book review form. After finishing a novel or short story, kids choose the correct genre and discuss their favorite part. They also decide which part they would change, and whether or not they would...
Curated OER
Philanthropic Behavior
Youngsters create class rules by determining the environment they would like to have in their classroom. They come to a consensus about how to have a safe, fair, fun learning environment by discussing the rules in the Karla Kustin poem,...
Curated OER
The School Holiday Calendar
Various Muslim holidays and their meanings are researched and your students will predict whether or not they should be recognized on the New York City school calendar. An extension could be to write a letter to the Mayor about...
Curated OER
The Personal Letter: The Outsiders
After completing S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, eighth graders compose a personal letter to their teacher detailing what they liked about the novel and the activities assigned during the course of the unit. A clever way to get feedback,...
Curated OER
Thanksgiving
First graders summarize similarities and differences of life in England and America for the Pilgrims by reading a mini-book. Then, they write a journal entry in first person on what it is like to be a pilgrim in England and in America....
Curated OER
Imagining China through Words
When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...
Curated OER
What is the Federal System Created by the Constitution?
Explore the unique structure of the federal system of government in the United States. Class members will learn about how most nations were organized before the establishment of the Constitution, how power is currently divided...
Curated OER
Before, During, and After Strategies For The Catcher in the Rye Chapters 21-23
Create a personal website for Phoebe. Play a song dealing with non-conformity. Have class members write an advice letter to Holden. Here's a teacher resource meant to accompany The Catcher in the Rye that is chock-full of strategies. It...
Curated OER
Thesis Statements
At 32 slides, one would think this presentation on thesis statements is a bit too long, but it is the most important component of a well-written essay! Help your developing writers craft concise, interesting theses with this PowerPoint....
ProCon
Gold Standard
If all the mined gold in the world was melted across a football field, it would rise 5.4 feet. That's just one interesting fact pupils learn when using the debate topics website to determine if the United States should return to a gold...
Illustrative Mathematics
Pick Two
Learning to break apart numbers into smaller pairs is a critical step young mathematicians take as they develop their number sense. To practice this skill, children are provided with sets of three numbers and are asked to pick the two...
Bowland
Fares Not Fair
What would be a fair fare for a taxi? to answer the questions requires young mathematicians to analyze data on fuel prices and taxi cab fares. They determine and justify a fair fare price.
Bowland
The Z Factor
Young mathematicians determine the number of hours it would take judges of the "Z Factor" television talent show to watch every act. Participants make estimates and assumptions to solve the problem.
Curated OER
You Be the Editor
Young editors work in teams to find all the errors in a text. They identify grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Use this activity to reinforce correct usage of prominent punctuation symbols, such as apostrophes and ellipses. You...
Curated OER
Investigating What Makes Fruit Go Brown
Is there anything that can be done to slow the browning of fruit once it has been cut? High schoolers determine the answer through five different investigations involving apples, potatoes, and chemical reactions. After each experiment,...
Federal Reserve Bank
The Output Gap: A‘Potentially’ Unreliable Measure of Economic Health?
How can we accurately estimate what the economy should produce now and in the future? Have your pupils tackle this question as they learn about real versus potential GDP and as they review data regarding the output gap in...
Columbus City Schools
Heredity: Traits, Genes, Alleles
If you knew people would pay extra for a bald dragon, could you pick which parents you should breed in order to get the highest number? The unit examines heredity and genetics through breeding dragons, mice, dogs, and tries to figure...
Illustrative Mathematics
Video Game Scores
Eric and Leila's video game scores are the inspiration for writing equations with parenthesis. The numbers are purposefully large to deter the class from calculating them: rather this activity meets the standard that asks 5th graders to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Ants Versus Humans
You would think that humans make up more mass than ants do on this planet, but think again, and this time by performing calculations. Middle schoolers use scientific notation to compute and compare the estimated total mass of all humans...
Illustrative Mathematics
US Garbage, Version 1
An interesting example of a discrete function and how it is applies to the real world. This could easily make a good collaborative instructional activity with an environmental science class. Practice reading a table and drawing a scatter...