Missouri Department of Elementary
I Know What You Did This Summer
Developing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships is difficult, especially as middle schoolers begin dating. A short activity permits eighth graders to practice their skills as they consider how they should respond to a...
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Quest for Magic Minutes
A "Magic Minute" activity asks class groups to develop a commercial to advertise a way to turn a time-waster into a time-saver. Ad groups begin by brainstorming time-wasters and then problem-solve was to turn them into time-savers. After...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Survivors
Developing a positive self-concept can sometimes be a challenge. Seventh graders engage in an activity that helps them identify their individual strengths and helps them recognize how these strengths can contribute to being a successful...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Color Your Destiny
Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Rocks and Minerals in Our Lives
Young geologists discover the important role that rocks and minerals play in our everyday lives through this series of hands-on activities. Starting off with a lesson that defines the difference between plants, animals, and...
Curated OER
Diversity Day
Eleventh graders explore a variety of different cultures and their traditions. They complete an evaluation and short reflection of the day on the following prompts: I learned I... and I wish I... Each student then observes and talks with...
Curated OER
School Manners and Student Behavior
Students write rules for good manners. In this character building lesson, students discuss and record showing respect in the classroom, playground, and cafeteria. They role play these behaviors in front of the class.
Curated OER
The Mosaic School
Students complete activities to learn about world cultures. In this multicultural instructional activity, students define the terms diversity, culture, and mosaic. Students research their family's country of origin and complete...
Curated OER
Respect the Beach
Students work together to compare and contrast sand particles. They identify what sand grains are composed of as well. They complete writing activities to complete the lesson.
Curated OER
Exploring Gullah Culture...Through Language and Numbers
First graders examine the culture of the ancient Gullah people. As a class, they practice saying and writing the days of the week and numbers in Gullah. They are read a Gullah folktale and put the events of the story into the correct...
Curated OER
Special Sunflowers
Students view a picture of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. In this caring and kindness lesson students read Camille and the Sunflower and explore the feelings of the characters. Students complete worksheets related to Camille's feelings in the book.
Curated OER
Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict
Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...
Curated OER
Earth Day Number Sense
Elementary schoolers count and order objects using numbers 1-300. They bring recyclable items from home. Students group the items, skip count by 2's, 3's, and 5's, and arrange the items on a number line. Recyclable plastic bags are put...
Curated OER
Building Collegiality During Teacher Appreciation Week
Acknowledge the teachers in your life and on your campus as we celebrate all educators during Teacher Appreciation Week.
Education World
End-of-Year Student Survey
Take the time at the end of the school year to learn from your youngsters about their experience in your class. Designed for elementary pupils, this survey asks students to comment on such elements as activities/lessons they did and...
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
Bully Prevention
Students examine the topic of bully prevention. In this character education lesson, students establish what bullying is, role play bullying scenarios, and discuss how to manage bullying incidents.
Curated OER
Perspective
Learners create oil pastel landscape paintings in this middle-level Art instructional activity on perspective, horizons, foreground, background, and middle ground. The instructional activity includes resource links to books on teaching...
Missouri Department of Elementary
How Do I Act Like a Friend?
Familiar puppets set the stage for a thoughtful discussion about friendship. To show what they know, scholars role-play scenarios. Peers offer a thumbs up when they view positive character traits exhibit good friend behavior.
Common Sense Media
Super Digital Citizen
Teach your charges how to become responsible digital citizens with superheroes! Start out with a brief class discussion about what acting safely, responsibly, and respectfully looks like. Next, have each pupil create their own digital...
Curated OER
In Case of Emergency
A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness instructional activity....
Missouri Department of Elementary
Fatal Accident
While there may not be any ghostbusters in the neighborhood, there are plenty of emergency response agencies ready to give support if something is amiss. To that end, instructors invite a member of an emergency response agency to address...
Curated OER
The Gingerbread Man Trail
What a fun way to familiarize your young learners with friendly faces on campus! Scholars read "The Gingerbread Man," discussing the characters he meets. Then, they examine a map of the campus, placing photos of employees (such as the...
Curated OER
Get in Shape with Geometry
Using geoboards, computer programs, and hands-on manipulative materials, elementary schoolers engage in a study of two and three-dimensional geometric shapes. This lesson is chock full of good teaching ideas on the subject, and the...