Curated OER
African-American Heroes
Students explore websites about famous African-Americans. They work in pairs to decide on an African American who should be honored with a stamp. They write a letter recommending this person for a stamp including appropriate reason why...
Curated OER
Flying Geese
Students examine the Flying Geese quilt pattern, and discuss and identify the pattern. They write a paragraph titled, My Quilt Report, summarizing the information discussed about the quilt patterns.
Curated OER
Making Decisions Based on Best Information
Fourth graders are introduced to the techniques to determine if the information they gathered was the best available. In groups, they discuss how having the best information can help them make important decisions. They also participate...
Curated OER
Soil Conservation and the EU
Third graders examine how the European Union countries conserve their soil. In groups, they describe ways in which humans can destroy soil and create a plan in which they can be involved to conserve soil in their community. They make...
Curated OER
Heritage: What Would YOU Take?
Fifth graders classify goods based on their value and decide what they would take with them if they were resettling to a new land. They write an essay defending their choices.
Curated OER
Math:Survey Role-Playing Activity
Pupils create survey questions to discover why students join clubs. Using sampling methods and question phrasing techniques, they conduct the survey both in and out of school. Once pupils analyze their survey information, they suggest...
Curated OER
Making Decisions Every Day
Third graders discuss the importance of being able to make decisions on their own. Using information on Montana's Native American tribes, they develop their own supporting statements. They also discover techniques to determine if the...
Curated OER
Building Paper Bridges
Students construct a bridge that can hold 100 pennies. In this math lesson plan, students evaluate the strength of their bridges. They predict how much weight a bridge can hold based on its design.
Curated OER
Prairie Poetry
Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.
Curated OER
Great Expectations
Learners examine how Pip's inner thoughts are portrayed through the medium of film in "Great Expectations." After viewing the film, they answer discussion questions, and compare and contrast the differences between the portrayal of...
Curated OER
Alarm as the Clock Ticks Toward 2000
Students explore how various people and businesses are reacting to the potential technological problems that may occur when the year 2000 arrives. They read and compare two related New York Times articles and share their own views of the...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Water
Global Water Supply Middle School Curriculum
We take a steady shower stream and clean drinking water for granted, but in many countries around the world, the lack of water or a clean water supply is responsible for higher sickness and death rates. Taking a closer look at the water...
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of the Child
Don't be fooled by the size of the resource: these few pages provide the blueprint for a substantial, thoughtful unit on children's rights and the different philosophies and approaches that the United States and other countries have...
Virginia Department of Education
Matter and Energy: Equations and Formulas
Using simple materials, an informative instructional activity demonstrates the Law of Conservation of Matter and explains how to balance chemical equations. Young chemists perform experiments, analyze reactions, and balance...
Virginia Department of Education
Mystery Iron Ions
Young chemists perform an experiment to determine if a compound is iron (II) chloride or iron (III) chloride. Then they determine the formula, balance the equation, and answer analysis questions.
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
Virginia Department of Education
Properties of Compounds and Chemical Formulas
Young chemists have unknown compounds they need to sort. Performing three different tests on each, the chemical behaviors they observe become the basis for data analysis.
Virginia Department of Education
A Crystal Lab
Young chemists grow ionic crystals, metallic crystals, and supersaturated crystals in three different lab experiments. Observing these under a microscope allows pupils to compare the various structures.
Curated OER
The Visible Spectroscopy Expert Witness Problem
In a simulated crime science investigation, chemistry or physics sleuths use spectroscopy to analyze solutions. The lesson gives learners practice making salicylate solutions, using spectrophotometers, calculating dilution amounts,...
Cornell University
Hydrophobic Surfaces—Deposition and Analysis
Couches, carpets, and even computer keyboards now advertise they are spill-resistant, but what does that mean? Scholars use physical and chemical methods to coat surfaces with thin films to test their hydrophobic properties. Then they...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: Narrative Poem
The first lesson of a five-lesson unit designed for eighth graders has class members reading and watching a video of Edgar Allen Poe's narrative poem, "The Raven." They then craft their narrative poem, illustrate it, and share their work...
Florida Alliance for Arts Education
Theatre Arts
What skills do storytellers employ to bring to life the characters and events in their tales? After listening to a recording of a Haitian folk tale, class members consider how tone of voice, pace, and gestures can be used to enliven a...
Curated OER
Conservation of Energy
Fifth graders examine their use of energy over a certain time period. They come up with a plan to reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint. Groups of learners complete a chart with three columns; energy-using events, the form...