Curated OER
Under the Spell of Spiders
Students examine spiders. In these spider lessons, students will view spider images and live spiders to determine physical characteristics, habits, and habitats. Students will examine fantasy and folklore about spiders to create and...
Curated OER
How Size Shapes Animals
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently. In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows. Once students create...
Curated OER
Fossils Footprints Across Time
Young scholars examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil lesson plan, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The...
Curated OER
Heaven or Ground Hog Day?
Learners discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
Curated OER
Downloading Trouble
Students explore the meaning of piracy. In this technology lesson, students discuss the economic and social repercussions of DVD and CD piracy, then further their knowledge by completing on-line research on the topic. Several...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Learners participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
Curated OER
Rocks and Minerals
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
Curated OER
The Important Thing
Fifth graders create a list of "Important Things" about being a fifth grader. In this important things lesson, 5th graders create the script and make a movie about important things in fifth grade. Students share their movie with incoming...
Curated OER
Producing a skit for the morning announcements
Students produce a skit to appear on their morning announcement that is in lined with their franchise topic. In this producing lesson plan, students produce a 2 minute skit including originating, scripting, editing, directing, and...
Curated OER
History, African Americans, The Blues
This lesson plan enables teachers to use blues music to explore the history of African Americans in the 20th century. By studying the content of blues songs, students can learn about the experiences and struggles of the working-class...
Curated OER
Greek and Roman Symbolism
Young scholars explore Greek and Roman symbolism in art. In this visual art lesson, students draw portraits of ancient leaders based on the written descriptions they read about them. Young scholars also design campaign posters using...
Curated OER
Romeo & Juliet (Drama)
Ninth graders read and internalize the drama Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Many intriguing and thought provoking assignments are waiting for the completion of students within this lesson profile.
Curated OER
Strange Sounds
Learners investigate sound as a form of energy. In this energy, forces, and sound lesson plan, students explore how different sounds may be made as they make a variety of materials vibrate. Learners observe the effects of vibrations and...
Curated OER
The Ballad of the Sad Café
Students view the film "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" and analyze it for stereotypes of mountain and hillbilly communities. They identify and discuss Appalachian values represented in the film and write a report on their observations.
Curated OER
Edgar Allan Poe Quiz: Poetry
If you are planning a lesson on Poe's poetry, you may be able to use some of the questions from this online interactive quiz. It covers numerous poems and requires matching the poem with the line of poetry.
Curated OER
Mending Walls: Barriers in Communications
Students explore a literal and figurative wall. In this communication lesson, students examine and discuss barriers in communication as they analyze Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Robert Frost's "Mending Wall".
Curated OER
Service Learning/Then and Now
Eighth graders explore service learning projects. They work, in groups, to choose a video project. Students collect information and present it in a storyboard. Next, they use music, video clips, and still pictures to create their video...
Curated OER
Phenomenology Lesson Plan #1
Students approach media with a phenomenological criticism. They recongize biases that they have and where they have come from. They also identify biases in professional work.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Molecules to the Max!—Teacher's Discovery Guide
Molecules to the Max! refers to a movie released in 2009 about the world of atoms and molecules. A helpful discovery guide provides five posters on science topics typically covered at the middle school level. It also explains the...
Curated OER
Educator's Guide: A Christmas Carol
Planning on using Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol this year? Then give yourself a gift and download this colorful guide thats packed with goodies. Kids, as well as the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future are sure to...
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Nixon vs. Humphrey, “Convention” (1968)
After viewing the infamous 1968 Presidential campaign ad, "Convention," groups use AdMaker to create their own 30 second ad that features Richard Nixon rather than Hubert Humphrey.
Media Education Lab
Sponsored Content as Propaganda
What is sponsored content? Who produces sponsored content? Why? Is it fair or unfair? What are the privacy implications for consumers? To answer these questions, class members view a model screencast before crafting their own that...
Library of Congress
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Act
From the time of its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin has been controversial. To better understand the debate, class members first examine a broadside decrying the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and then two newspaper reviews of the...
Curated OER
Behind the Movie Chicago
Students explore the genre of the musical film and its history. They draw conclusions on relationships between a stage musical and a musical film. They share the results of their research as a class.