Curated OER
Redistricting: Drawing the Lines
Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They...
Curated OER
Graphic Novel Writing Workshop
Khaled Hosseini’s video “Using Real People and Events” motivates learners to reflect on their own experiences and to use those experiences as the basis of a graphic novel that expresses a universal truth. The richly detailed plan...
Curated OER
College or Bust?
Based on a New York Times article, "The College Drop-Out Boom," participants in a fishbowl discussion formulate and express opinions about the correlation between level of education, career options, and economic mobility. Ample...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...
Curated OER
Writing History: From Students to Scholars
An Online NewsHour article about scholarly ethics launches this study of plagiarism. Since historians are supposed to bring original ideas and perspectives to their publications, they must give credit to the ideas of others. After a...
Curated OER
Archeologists For a Day
Learners listen to a reading about fossils and go on a hunt for items with fossil characteristics. In this cross curricular fossil lesson, students will examine their fossil finds and create a graphic organizer. Learners...
Shakespeare in American Life
Performing Modernized Shakespeare
“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...
Curated OER
Jim Murphy, The Great Fire - Grade 6
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy provides the text for a study of the Chicago fire of 1871. The plan is designed as a close reading activity so that all learners have the same background information require for writing. Richly detailed, the...
Curated OER
RAINSTICKS
Students create a rainstick from recycled materials and begin learning about the "nature" of the rainforest.
Curated OER
Designing Another Juilliard
Students investigate the vision and history of the Juilliard School. They develop a personal mission statement, watch a video, conduct Internet research, and create a PowerPoint presentation about a fictional school that also promotes...
Curated OER
Changing Sounds
Students listen to sound. In this changing sounds lesson, students play instruments to help them hear volume and pitch. Students use the interactive whiteboard to experiment how change can make sounds go higher or lower.
Curated OER
Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
Curated OER
International Festival: Germany
Students complete several activities to learn about the German culture. In this German culture lesson, students read the 'Hansel and Gretel' story and create a paper gingerbread house. Students complete a matching game for the story....
Curated OER
My "I Spy" Book
Students create an "I Spy" book. In this book writing lesson, students work in groups to come up with a topic for their page. They create individual pages in the "I Spy" format.
Curated OER
Building Literacy Through Character
Second graders connect reading to writing by making predictions, completing text to world connections, solving problems, and more. In this reading and writing lesson plan, 2nd graders draw conclusions after reading and write them down.
Curated OER
Make a Peace Windsock
Students explore "peace." In this character development instructional activity, students define "peace" and discuss instances that reflect examples of peace. Students create a windsock using symbols for peace. Directions for the windsock...
Curated OER
Van Gogh Self-Portrait
Students explore using digital cameras to take their own photograph and then download them to the school's Dell computers. They then utilize the Tool Factory Workshop program to manipulate the photograph to only a few basic colors and...
Curated OER
Using Words to Work Things Out
Students explore appropriate ways to communicate feelings. In this character development lesson, students listen to Hands are not for Hitting and several other books about expressing emotions appropriately. Students observe...
Curated OER
Heroes, Kindness, and "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Students explore the concept of heroism. In this character education lesson, students reflect on the actions of the characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird as they create mission statements for Atticus Finch and prepare...
Curated OER
Fracking: Positive or Negative Impact?
Your teenagers may have heard of fracking, but do they really know what it is? And could they debate the benefits and risks? Educate your environmental science class with a lesson about hydraulic fracturing, non-renewable energy...
University of Chicago
Comparing Modern and Ancient Ideas of Ethnicity and Identity
Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...
US Institute of Peace
Advanced Mediation Practice
What will become of the giraffes of Amali? Pupils participate in a large scale role-playing activity to study the art of conflict mediation. The lesson engages participants in the struggle between two countries and the animals caught...
Curated OER
Chocolate Fever
Fourth graders read and interpret each chapter of the book in small groups through various exercises. Vocabulary lists are given, as well as rubrics, quizzes and activity sheets. Students create their own PowerPoint presentations to...
Curated OER
The Journey of the Magi
Middle schoolers create storyboards. In this pre-Christmas special lesson, students produce a storyboard for a TV version of the poem, "The Journey of the Magi". Options to complete with or without technology are included.