Curated OER
Tell Me; I’ll Listen
Encourage respect, responsibility, and caring within your classroom with a collection of lessons that spark dialogue and self reflection. To address character traits, lessons touch on topics such as staying safe in the...
Curated OER
Lifestyles of the Extreme and Adapted
Students explain challenging theories about the evolution and distribution of microbes. They also investigate other examples of extremophile species, then create posters and write diary entries about them.
Bringing History Home
Ellis Island Simulation
Young historians step into the shoes of immigrants coming to Ellis Island. A simulation creates an experience in which participants visit several rooms, go through an interview process, and receive a stamp in their passport—either making...
Curated OER
The Care and Feeding of Kids: Finding Information on Nutrition and Fitness
The Learning Network is featuring an article about First Lady Michelle Obama and her quest to help reduce childhood obesity in America. The article talks about how she has talked with the top three suppliers of school lunches and has...
Starry Night Education
The Year and Seasons
Turn your classroom into a live demonstration of how the earth and sun interact to create the four seasons. Using a globe, a light source, and a series of constellation cards, super scientists discover how the...
Curated OER
Galluping Away
Pupils use Gallop Poll results to explore causes and effects of the concerns of Americans in the past. They administer a similar poll and consider what Americans in their community view as the most pressing problems in the United States...
Curated OER
You've Got Spam
What is spam mail? Discuss examples of spam mail and read about the "Can Spam Act." After reading the New York Times article attached, brainstorm why the act hasn't had much impact yet. Several discussion questions are listed.
Curated OER
15 Seconds of Fame
Young scholars write an autobiographical essay. In this writing lesson students read a narrative, Panic in Paris, and review the elements of a narrative as a class discussion. Well-known stories are used as examples for writing their own...
Curated OER
Information Overload: Looking at News
How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...
Curated OER
Telling Our Own Stories
Explore online profiles and social media with your middle and high school classes. Use blogs to inspire your class to craft a well-written, thoughtful response to a prompt you give. A few example prompts are given.
News Literacy Project
Should You Share It?
Sharing isn't always caring. Scholars learn how to reduce the spread of misinformation on the Internet. They take an online quiz of example posts targeted to a specific audience. Using critical thinking skills, they see if they can tell...
Overcoming Obstacles
Being Responsible
Responsible-decision making is the focus of the social-emotional learning lessons. After reading, The Ant and the Grasshopper: An Aesop Fable, scholars come up with six steps to take responsibility for their actions and then practice the...
Louisiana Department of Education
Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver's Travels tells the story of a man who goes on voyages and encounters strange people. A unit plan introduces readers to the classic text, as well as excerpts from other examples of sarcasm and satire, such as "A Modest...
Echoes & Reflections
Antisemitism
Propaganda and anti-semitism were linked to evil ends during the Holocaust. Using video testimony of Holocaust survivors, examples of Nazi propaganda, and discussion questions, learners explore the roots of anti-semitism in Europe and...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
War and Poetry
A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...
English Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Media Literacy with Focus of Strategies for Collaboration
Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.
Curated OER
Media Literacy in Presentations
Middle schoolers study the three types of mass media messages: visual media, written media, and audio media. After a class discussion which has them list examples of each, learners get into pairs and work on analyzing the "Four A's" in...
Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning
Reading Activity
Ready to integrate technology into your ELL instruction? Check out this reading activity that has language learners using the Internet and apps, joining online book clubs, and creating blogs. A fine model of what can be done.
Erica Made Designs
ABC's Desk Mate
Set up each pupil's desk with one of these back-to-school printables. Each desk decoration includes a line to write in the individual's name as well as a copy of the alphabet, complete with arrows and numbers that show learners how to...
Anti-Defamation League
Addressing Hate Online: Countering Cyberhate with Counterspeech
Cyberbullying is the focus of much discussion. Here's a lesson that offers suggestions for addressing cyberhate. After groups examine different examples of cyberhate, the class adds their suggestions to a list of ideas for how to counter...
Shoreline Community College
Properties of Logarithmic Functions
Use a straightforward approach to understanding logarithmic properties and their role in solving exponential and logarithmic equations to your math class. The lesson begins with an overview of a logarithmic function and its...
Curated OER
Paper Plate Sunflowers
A great way to recall the parts of a flower is to make one. Little learners create sunflowers out of paint and paper plates. They also discuss and label the various parts of their flowers.
Math Tales From the Spring
Ice Breaker Activity - Name Reflections
Get to you know your new class members with an ice breaker activity that uses their name and creativity. Scholars write their first name in cursive on a folded sheet of paper, cut around the curved lines, open the paper to view its new...
ReadWriteThink
Exploring Plagiarism, Copyright, and Paraphrasing
Plagiarism, copyright, and fair use are the focus of a three-part instructional activity designed to inform scholars of how to properly cite others' work. First, pupils use a KWL chart to begin thinking and...