Curated OER
Maus: After Reading Strategy Instructional Routine
Class members create literary mandalas for two characters from Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about his father’s experiences with the Holocaust. After finding quotes that reveal three good traits and three bad traits of each...
Appalachian State University
Effective Feedback
Use this well-developed class period to introduce your junior high learners as to how to provide effective feedback concerning their classmates' writing. The plan includes a warm-up, review, introduction, guided and independent practice,...
Developing a Global Perspective for Educators
Imagine Being Me
The design of this two-day instructional activity eloquently exposes learners to the topic of social justice for people with disabilities. The plan is built off the reading of Are You Alone on Purpose? by Nancy Werlin. The activity...
Curated OER
“Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Readers not only identify aphorisms in Emerson's "Self Reliance," but also find evidence of transcendental elements contained in the essay. They also demonstrate consistency...
Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools
Watercolor Project
Lead your class into watercolor with a well-sequenced plan. Pupils learn about famous watercolorists Winslow Homer and Georgia O'Keeffe and take notes on a presentation about these artists and watercolor techniques. After a teacher...
St. Joseph Community Consolidated School District #169
Nutcracker
'Tis the holiday season and the Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker Prince come alive with a teaching and study guide for Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Background information, activities, games and puzzles are all included in...
Scholastic
What Makes a Leader?
After creating a list of great American leaders from the last century and researching their lives, pupils will brainstorm aspects of leadership and discuss what traits may be shared by all leaders.
Curated OER
Ordinary People: Unsent Letter
Invite your learners to take on the voice of a character from Ordinary People as they write a letter. Pupils use what they know about the given character to compose their letter, which must relate to the plot of the novel.
PBS
Heart to Heart
Study heart health and math in one activity. After measuring their resting heart rates by finding the pulse in their wrists, learners build a stethoscope to listen to their heart rate, and note the differences between the two methods.
EngageNY
Summarizing Deviations from the Mean
Through a series of problems, learners determine the variability of a data set by looking at the deviations from the mean. Estimating means of larger data sets presented in histograms and providing a way to calculate an...
EngageNY
Dilations as Transformations of the Plane
Compare and contrast the four types of transformations through constructions! Individuals are expected to construct the each of the different transformations. Although meant for a review, these examples are excellent for initial...
EngageNY
Prove the Pythagorean Theorem Using Similarity
Amaze your classes with the ability to find side lengths of triangles immediately — they'll all want to know your trick! Learners use the Pythagorean Theorem and special right triangle relationships to find missing side lengths.
EngageNY
Using Trigonometry to Determine Area
What do you do when you don't think you have enough information? You look for another way to do the problem! Pupils combine what they know about finding the area of a triangle and trigonometry to determine triangle area when they don't...
It's About Time
Building a Motor/Generator Toy
Combine science and playtime with the final lesson in an innovative unit. Scholars apply everything they have learned in previous lessons to build their own motors/generators and use it in a toy of their own design.
Massachusetts Department of Education
Similarity through Transformations
Create the ultimate miniature golf course. The 93-page model curriculum unit from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education contains nine lessons on understanding similarity in terms of both Euclidean geometry...
EngageNY
The Power of Algebra—Finding Primes
Banks are responsible for keeping our financial information safe. Mathematics is what allows them to do just that! Pupils learn the math behind the cryptography that banks rely on. Using polynomial identities, learners reproduce the...
EngageNY
Modeling with Polynomials—An Introduction (part 2)
Linear, quadratic, and now cubic functions can model real-life patterns. High schoolers create cubic regression equations to model different scenarios. They then use the regression equations to make predictions.
EngageNY
Systems of Equations
What do you get when you cross a circle and a line? One, two, or maybe no solutions! Teach learners to find solutions of quadratic and linear systems. Connect the visual representation of the graph to the abstract algebraic methods.
EngageNY
Graphing Systems of Equations
Expand on learners' understanding of quadratic-linear systems. Building on the graphic understanding developed in the previous lesson, pupils learn algebraic methods of solving the systems.
EngageNY
Are All Parabolas Similar?
Congruence and similarity apply to functions as well as polygons. Learners examine the effects of transformations on the shape of parabolas. They determine the transformation(s) that produce similar and congruent functions.
EngageNY
Complex Numbers as Solutions to Equations
Quadratic solutions come in all shapes and sizes, so help your classes find the right one! Learners use the quadratic formula to find solutions for quadratic equations. Solutions vary from one, two, and complex.
EngageNY
Modeling from a Sequence
Building upon previous knowledge of sequences, collaborative pairs analyze sequences to determine the type and to make predictions of future terms. The exercises build through arithmetic and geometric sequences before introducing...
EngageNY
Why Call It Tangent?
Discover the relationship between tangent lines and the tangent function. Class members develop the idea of the tangent function using the unit circle. They create tables of values and explore the domain, range, and end behavior of...
EngageNY
Integer Exponents
Fold, fold, and fold some more. In the first installment of a 35-part module, young mathematicians fold a piece of paper in half until it can not be folded any more. They use the results of this activity to develop functions for the area...