National First Ladies' Library
Designing the Common School: The First Educational Reform
Middle schoolers perform preliminary research to explore education before public (common) education was in place. They design a public educational system of their own. Students construct a report outlining challenges and solutions for...
Curated OER
Why Do Art?
Students examine the purposes of art and view examples of art created by artists, designers, and craftspeople. They write a report describing the various purposes for creating works of art.
Curated OER
Cyber Skills
Students, in groups, design and develop Web sites dedicated to special skills traditionally taught by humans rather than by technology. They write Web site reviews that describe and assess their group's envisioned Internet site.
Curated OER
Woodwind Instruments and Pitch
Students explore musical pitch. In this cross curriculum musical instruments and "sound" physics instructional activity, students identify and describe common traits of woodwind instruments. Students research "pitch" and what causes...
Curated OER
Under Construction
Young readers examine the elements of story structure that are included in all stories. They include these elements in their own written pieces. This phenomenally-designed plan has everything you need to easily implement it in your...
Curated OER
Save an Endangered Species
Have your young learners work in pairs to find and research an endangered species. They use research to develop ideas about saving their animal from extinction. Pairs develop a three-dimensional model of the animal's habitat. Then, they...
Curated OER
Tell a Ton of Tall Tales
Elementary schoolers read many tall tales. They create their own tall tale about a specific event of their choosing. They must act the part of the author. This well-designed lesson takes three class sessions to complete, and is...
iCivics
Yeah, But...
Impress upon your young learners the importance of formulating counter arguments based on facts and not opinions. This resource is meant to strengthen arguments designed in a previous lesson, but could also be used as a stand-alone...
Curated OER
Design a Spinner
Spinners are usually used in board games not for math, right? Develop your class's understanding of ratios and probabilities with a spinner activity sheet that will require them to draw spinners according to specifications.
Beacon Press
A Time to Break Silence
Encourage teenagers to get involved in ending violence among young people. A Common Core-aligned resource and curriculum guide, designed to be used with a reading of A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King,...
Curated OER
The Quilting Connection....a Teaching Unit on Slavery, the Underground Railroad And Quilting
Students research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...
Curated OER
Booting Up For Summer
Young scholars explore personal interests. They examine summer computer camps. Students write proposals to their school to sponsor the programs. Young scholars develop a list of Web sites that support the designed programs.
Curated OER
Researching African Americans Who Made a Difference
Celebrate Black History Month with this lesson, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas, text, and graphics...
Curated OER
Four Corners Debate
Should the student population wear uniforms to school? Pupils express whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with a controversial statement, moving to a designated corner of the room to indicate their stance....
EngageNY
Discovering the Topic: Inferring and Confirming Using Evidence
Allow your class to figure out what they will be studying through an inquiry-based anticipatory set that involves analysis of mystery documents and practice with making inferences. The lesson plan document includes a detailed description...
Blake Education
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
The motto for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry warns that one should never tickle a sleeping dragon, but learners will definitely be tickled by the activities in a packet of materials designed to accompany a reading of the...
Curated OER
Literary Scavenger Hunt
Middle schoolers research literature in a new way by searching the Web in a scavenger hunt for information about books and authors. After the hunt, they publish their answers in an interactive slide show for presentation to the class.
Curated OER
MAP Test Tips
Students visit sites designed to prepare them for the Missouri Assessment Program tests. They visit Web sites containing skills practice for the test.
Curated OER
Learning Chinese the Challenge Way
Students conduct extensive research that integrates reading, writing oral language development and web authoring. They construct a web site to reflect different aspects of their investigational experience. Students work in small groups...
Curated OER
Taking Outer Space to Cyber Space
Use the Internet, write an expository text, and have learners share their knowledge of the planets in our solar system. They compose an expository writing piece and publish it to a web page.
The New York Times
Super Brand
Children can recognize popular brands from an early age, but these images symbolize much more than what they advertise. Take a journey through the design of a logo with a lesson that focuses on the history and ubiquity of the Super Bowl...
Curated OER
Street Art Project
Illuminate your playground with chaulk images. Young aratists use the web to research the work of Keith Haring. Groups then design their own piece of visual art and recreate their images on the school sidewalks of blacktop.
Curated OER
The Giver: Lesson 1
Do “memories need to be shared?" Are “memories…forever?" Would you give up memory to live in a perfect world? Introduce a unit centered on Lois Lowry’s utopian/dystopian novel The Giver with a series of activities that has groups...
National Council of Teachers of English
Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
With the emphasis on incorporating more nonfiction in language arts classes the question arises about how to design activities that motivate kids to engage with informational text. How about an assignment that asks class members to...