Curated OER
A Tree Grows-Narrative Pantomime
Discover pantomime! Young mimes assume the identity of the seed as they listen to a story about the growth of a seed throughout the seasons. After a discussion of the performance, the class writes about and illustrates their favorite...
Curated OER
Writing Prompt "Living With Fame"
Fourth graders practice their creative writing skills by describing fame. In this writing prompt instructional activity, 4th graders identify fame and how their life would be dramatically different if they were wildly famous. Students...
Curated OER
News Poetry
Third graders select a small item in a newspaper and then dramatize it in a well-constructed poem. They share their poems with the class.
Curated OER
Creating Your Own Story
Students think about a dramatic moment in their lives and imagine how to translate it into a work of art. They write their own personal experience as a story. They describe a visual image of their personal experience and/or story.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Writing Diamante Poems
Third graders discover how to write diamante poems and review the parts of speech contained in them. After writing poems about their teacher, they create ones about themselves. The poems, assessed for creativity and handwriting, are then...
Curated OER
Wacky Weather Stories
Students observe, identify and creatively express their ideas through literature and dramatize an original story that features a type of weather in the plot.
Curated OER
Miming
First graders perform a pantomime for their classmates. After a discussion of the items needed to go on a camping trip, each student selects one of the items to pantomime for the rest of the class. The remaining class members guess...
Curated OER
Israel
The class creates and performs a movement performance of the creation story found in the Jewish tradition. This lesson begins with the research of Israeli culture and culminates in a performance of the narrated creation story....
Curated OER
First Land Plants Found on Earth
In this first land plants worksheet, students read about the major events that allowed plants to evolve on Earth. Students read about the primary and secondary atmospheres, the formation of the ozone layer to protect from UV light and...
Curated OER
Those Fabulous Fables
A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...
Curated OER
Touring the Museum
Second graders create a living sculpture using their peers. Working with a partner, they manipulate their partner's arms and legs to create a living statue. They create a story to go along with their sculpture, explaining what the...
John F. Kennedy Center
Acting Up, A Melodrama: Performing Like Jo March and Her Sisters in Little Women
Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples for drama...
Curated OER
Spanish Culture Lesson - Cinco de Mayo
Young scholars role play the characters and events which led to the holiday of Cinco de Mayo. In this Cinco de Mayo instructional activity, students dance the "La Raspa" dance. Young scholars complete a Cinco de Mayo word search.
Curated OER
Reading Pictures, Seeing Poetry
Students examine the painting, The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan based on a poem by Lord Byron. They compare how Romantic artists and writers made choices about visual elements and language to depict their subjects.
Curated OER
English Literature: An Overview
Relate literary works and authors to the major themes of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the 20th century. Working in groups, high schoolers will evaluate period philosophy, religion, and politics that influenced...
Curated OER
A Light in the Storm
Examine the genre of historical fiction while reading A Light in the Storm. They extract events in chronological order to make a timeline. Then, they use information in the book important to the characters to create a presentation of an...
Exploratorium
Balancing Ball
Demonstrate lift to the class that is studying aerodynamics. In the stream of air produced by a blow dryer, little physicists place a wad of tissue paper and a spherical figure to compare. Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner and beach ball,...
Curated OER
Alexander And The Wind-Up Mouse
Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Comparing Themes
The tale of "Lon Po Po" is a Chinese story, very similar to the European tale of "Little Red Riding Hood." Learners make cross cultural comparisons between the two tales, focusing on themes common to both. They review story elements such...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing -- Commercial Style
Students create persuasive TV commercials for common products. They develop a list of products, write the script for a commercial, and act-out and videotape the commercial to present to the class.
Curated OER
Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
Curated OER
A Second Visit To Old Sturbridge Village-The Story Tour
Learners conduct research on 1830s families and early New England culture. They conduct research on the Old Sturbridge Village website, participate in an online chat with a costumed interpreter, and continue to develop possible plots to...
Exploratorium
Eddy Currents
Make electromagnetic eddy currents evident with this demonstration. You will need to gather a few materials from the local hardware store and a strong neodymium magnet, but the visual value is well worthwhile.
Exploratorium
Momentum Machine
If you have a rotating office chair in your classroom, you can have physics pupils participate in this simple, yet effective demonstration of angular momentum. One partner sits in the chair, arms outstretched, holding heavy weights. The...