Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Desert Views: First Impressions

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students are introduced to primary source material and the ways in which early travelers viewed aspects of the desert environment. The activity addresses the geography themes of location, region, and human/environment interaction.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What If?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read WHAT IF? up to the page that ends "Suddenly, across the field they saw..." and discuss how the animals are feeling. They then discuss their feelings and in pairs discuss a possible ending to the story.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Graduation Requirements

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders make decisions, set goals, and take necessary action to achieve goals. They review their school course descriptions book. Students review the graduation requirements from the book. They are given an handout "Graduation...
Lesson Plan
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Teamwork

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Teamwork is the focus of this activity. By discussing what teamwork means, learners begin to explore this topic. There are a series of slides focusing on the behavior of geese that highlight leadership and teamwork skills.
Lesson Plan
Creative Visions Foundation

Developing a Structure for Documentaries

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Provide some group brainstorming and story-planning time with the fifth lesson in a series on examining and creating documentaries. After you've explained the purpose of each section of a documentary, groups meet to plan the beginning,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Meaning Behind the Mask

For Teachers K - 2nd
Young scholars explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shaping the View: Composition Basics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students view images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art web site, and list the objects and figures in the image. They discuss the way their eyes move around the canvas and take note of where their eyes fall, follow and finish. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Monster Exchange

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students draw and describe their monster. They exchange papers with another student and recreate the monster based on the other student's description.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Egyptian Symbols: What story do they tell?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students create a stele to represent what symbols are the most important to them. In this symbols lesson plan, students learn about Egyptian symbols, and then put their own important symbols into model magic clay according to their size...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating Musical Notation

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
In this creative music activity from Scientific American, students learn about musical notation and then design their own notations. Great web resource links are alsp provided
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strong Verb Image Makers

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use description language to clarify ideas and create vivid images in an essay focusing of strong verbs. They discuss weak verbs and explore that the better image the words create, the better the reader understands the text.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking at Life through the Creation of Personal Metaphors

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students focus on the creation of personal metaphors, which are first illustrated in pictures and caricatures and then extended to descriptive/analytical paragraphs. They teach the lesson to others using their own personal metaphors as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Beatrix Potter's Naughty Animal Tales

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners gain insight into the unusual, solitary world of Beatrix Potter's Victorian childhood and can compare/contrast it with their own world to explain why Potter wrote such simple stories and why she wrote about animals rather than...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis and Clark: Prized Possession

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students create a Sacagawea-inspired wampum belt. In this Native-American instructional activity, students study Sacagawea and her influence on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Students learn about wampum and prized possessions and work...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analysis Through Character Action/Beliefs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore characterization. In this characterization lesson, students give analytical responses to questions and determine a character's beliefs. Students use the school mission statement to develop two beliefs that the statement...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Picture a Character

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
How would Jean-Etiénne Liotard paint the characters from "The Little Mermaid?" What would the main character from "The Little Match Girl" look like from Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes' point of view? After examining various paintings...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We Found It!

For Teachers 1st
First graders identify and describe landforms. They demonstrate an understanding of the compass rose and a map key using the trail of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. They generate a map key.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children's Book Creations

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students create a children's book version of the Japanese folk story "Momotaro Boy of the Peach" and present the story to elementary students. In this children's book lesson, students design their book to explain Japanese culture to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adapting a Musical

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students transform literature into musical productions. In this integrated arts lesson, students discuss how musicals are written and produced. Students then select literature they are familiar with to adapt into musical productions.
Lesson Plan
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WHAT DARWIN NEVER SAW: Evolution, Science, Biology, Natural Selection

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students view video showing recent field work on a twenty two-year study of finch beaks on a small island in the Galapagos, showing natural selection clearly operating in the wild.
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The Eye of the Beholder: A Media Literacy Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the impact the news media have on shaping perceptions and opinions in general and in their coverage of the presidential campaign.
Lesson Plan
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Spaced Out

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to the space environment. This lesson covers the major differences between the environment on Earth and that of outer space and the engineering challenges that arise because of these discrepancies. In order to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Spin and Bias in the Media

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners compare different types of media.  In this media comparison activity, students will assess the where all types of media gets its information by viewing a video of a news story and critiquing it.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cherokee Leaf Printing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars investigate their local creeks and forests and practice identifying trees.  For this ecology identification lesson plan, students utilize a pad and pencil while on a field trip near their school and describe their...