Curated OER
What A Pair! A Cross Grade Writing Activity
What a pair! Older pupils interview younger ones and use what they learn to write a short, illustrated storybook that features the youngster as the main character. The youngster responds with a thank-you note in which they identify their...
Curated OER
Days of the Week
Cover both capitalization and the days of the week with a great kindergarten activity! Kids read each day of the week out loud, then write the name of the day on a line. They answer three questions about certain days of the week,...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Picturing a Story: Photo Essay about a Community, Event or Issue
Picture this. Class members follow in the footsteps of W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, James Nachtwey, and Lewis Hine by creating their own photo essay about a local event or issue.
Facing History and Ourselves
How Should We Remember?
We must remember the past in order to avoid its mistakes. Young historians analyze the importance of historical remembrance using primary and secondary documents, as well as video clips. They then study the creation of a World War...
Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Curated OER
The Responsibility of Preservation
Upper elementary and middle schoolers study the case of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird that was once-thought to be extinct. Learners explore the responsibility of people to preserve habitats, and take care of the animals who live in...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...
Curated OER
Social Studies Wonders: An Exploration
Help middle schoolers conduct Internet research and develop a working definition for the discipline of social studies. From a list of websites, they develop classification skills and differentiate between primary and secondary sources....
Curated OER
Jazz Exploration: A Collage Project
Middle schoolers explore and experience jazz through collage. They listen to improvisational jazz, discuss the origins of jazz, then design and create a collage that shows jazz being played. This project will result in amazing works of...
Curated OER
Art Critic for a Day!
Middle schoolers practice evaluating art by creating a research project and presentation. They use the Internet and library to discover a piece of art or artist whom they feel has an impact on the world of art. Next, they create a...
Curated OER
Celebrate Black History
Students research African-American mathematicians. In this middle school mathematics lesson, students celebrate Black History by conducting Internet research on an African-American, mathematicians or scientist. Students...
Curated OER
Native American Foods
Students explore Native American foods. In this middle school mathematics lesson, students research the types of foods Native Americans across the country typically ate. Students summarize a recipe in their own worlds.
Curated OER
The American Cowboy
Middle Schoolers produce a class newspaper about the American cowboy and the times in which he lived with illustrations, feature stories and advertisements typical of the times. This is an ambitious, yet worthwhile project for youngsters...
Scholastic
Dear Miss Breed
This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...
Australian Government
The Great Artesian Basin
Covering 23% of the continent and holding 64,900 cubic kilometers of water, the Great Artesian Basin is the primary source of water for much of inland Australia. Using detailed student worksheets, experiments, and case studies,...
Curated OER
Middle School Home Energy Audit
Seventh graders research the origins of local electrical power and compare costs and methods of generation with other areas of the country or world.
Curated OER
Library Media Center Research Learning Unit for 6th, 7th, & 8th Grades
Students focus on the process of and skills necessary for researching a topic. They study the topic of immigration while practicing note taking skills, organizing information and writing conventions.
Curated OER
Digital Science through Pod Casting
Students create science presentations. For this science unit lesson, middle school students create a presentation on an elementary science concept. The presentations are turned into podcasts for the access of elementary school...
Curated OER
6 C's of Motivation
Young scholars get involved in a Project-Based Learning instructional design model as they enter a problem-solving learning journey. They get to personalize their learning experience from the beginning by making choices. Students set up...
Curated OER
Family Letter
Middle schoolers, working with their parents, calculate and complete five word problems associated with multiplying and dividing decimals. Students research the current Federal minimum wage at the library or on the Internet.
Primary Resources
Drama Warm Ups and Circle Games
Circle games, energetic games, calming games, exit games. Whether used as ice breakers, warm ups, or exit strategies, or used in drama classes or content areas, the 28 games detailed in this packet deserve a spot in your curriculum...
Curated OER
Careers in Health
Middle schoolers will identify several professions in the healthcare field along with the characteristics of effective healthcare providers. They will also consider if any of the occupations covered in class are appropriate career paths....
CK-12 Foundation
Scientific Models: Mathematical, Physical and Conceptual
This is one super model interactive! Middle and high school science scholars examine scientific models through a simple resource. Guided, hands-on practice allows them to classify conceptual, mathematical, and physical models. Other...
Penguin Books
Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...