Curated OER
Total War
Students view a video about the result of using atomic weapons during World War II. They examine how human rights are violated during wartime. They listen as family members come and speak to the class about their experiences during the...
Curated OER
Freedom to Worship
Students investigate reasons why people sought freedom to worship in the United States and some of the difficulties and issues facing them in their immigration. As immigrants, they write letters to family members in the old country.
Curated OER
If Your Mom Has Big Feet, Will You Have Them Too?
Young scholars describe and apply the Mendellian principles of genetics, focusing predominantly on dominant and recessive genes. They demonstrate how two parents contribute genes and how those genes appear in their offspring. They...
Curated OER
History and culture through food
Students select a favorite family recipe and research the recipe and its ingredients using a variety of sources on the Internet. Each student then creates a recipe flyer for a class cookbook that includes their recipe and the historical...
Reading Is Fundamental
Summer Fun...
Extend learning through summer with these activity ideas! Individuals can choose one or all nine of the activities, which range from a summer reading goal to an examination of local insects (with accompanying story prompt). See the...
Smithsonian Institution
Dia de los Muertos: Celebrating and Remembering
Help scholars understand the history, geography, traditions, and art of Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Find background information for your reference as well as a detailed cross-curricular lesson plan. Learners compare...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Spotlight Cards
Not all heroes wear capes—or cleats. Class members identify unsung heroes in their schools or towns for interviews, then create trading cards. A celebration including presentations or trading of cards completes their investigation of...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “This I Believe” Venn Diagrams After Reading Strategy
Difficulties with brain injuries still continue today. After reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, class members read a series of modern personal essays about brain injuries and choose an essay to compare...
Novelinks
The Good Earth: Concept Analysis
Designed for teachers, this resource provides an overview of Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Good Earth. Information about the organizational pattern of the story, issues and themes addressed, historical background on...
Curated OER
Jump on Tens
Give the actors in your class a chance to shine as they act out skip-counting. In their roles, they take turns shouting out different number patterns and jumping when reaching the given goals set for each number family. A fun and...
Curated OER
Land and Liberty: The Saga of Sam McCulloch
The struggles of Sam McCulloch, a free black man, to be recognized as a citizen entitled to own land in Texas are the focus of research project that ask groups to examine a series of primary source documents and piece together...
Curated OER
Aborted Funds
Young scholars examine the basic structure of the United Nations Population Fund. They assume the roles of various parties involved in the United States' funding of the Population Fund to gain an understanding of the current administration
Curated OER
The Modern Day Minstrel - Lesson 1
Students identify and describe the various roles that musicians fulfill. They recognize various genres of music. They identify and interview musicians in the community and invite them to come in and talk about their roles as musicians.
Curated OER
Types of Groups
Middle schoolers are introduced to the various types of groups in a society. In groups, they create a chart showing the similarities and differences between primary, secondary, and reference groups. Using magazines, they cut out...
Curated OER
We Can Read It Together!
Students practice various skills in order to help children to learn the skill of reading. The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of reading to young children on a regular basis. The skills of repetition of key words and phrases are...
Curated OER
Whose Religion Is It?
Students analyze the impacts of religious expectations on gender roles. In this gender equity lesson, students compare and contrast different religions in societies in order to understand the cultural influences and effects of both...
Curated OER
Women in Society
Students survey similarities and differences in the role of women in Japanese and American culture and how these roles have changed over time. They predict what roles for women in Japan might have in the future and identify the...
Curated OER
Don't Miss The Boat
Fourth graders study immigration and what it is like to be an immigrant. They choose immigrant identities, dress appropriately, and role play during an International Fair where each student displays some aspect of his/her "home country."
Curated OER
Novel Extension
Sixth graders play the role of meeting Tuck Everlasting. They prepare to answer that person's questions. They determine that each member of the family wants to know about a different thing.
Curated OER
Growing on My Own, Kids on the Grow
Young scholars participate in an after school program that promotes critical thinking, concern for others, recognizing differences, accepting differences, self-motivation and personal safety. They cover how kids develop, expressing...
Curated OER
Wolves At Our Door
Students investigate the wolf. In this animal adaptation lesson, students examine the social characteristics of the wolf. They discuss the role of human intervention in reestablishing the wolf population.
Curated OER
A Soldier's Letters
Students explore the role letters play in a soldier's life and learn background information about Vietnam in the 1960s.
Curated OER
The Teenage Single Parent
High schoolers examine the challenges a single teenage parent faces. In groups, they research ways to positively cope with an unplanned pregnancy and design their own layette for their new baby. As a class, they discuss what it means to...
Curated OER
Stella the Swan
Students analyze the telling of a story with props. They study similarities and differences between ducks, geese and swans, how wildfowl are adapted to life in water, how wildfowl move and feed, and wildfowl family life, how they nest,...