American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Paper
Paper, paper everywhere. Paper is so prolific that few think about where the idea for it originated and how it is made. Introduce young readers to the paper-making process with an activity that lets them create their own.
Curated OER
Teens Making a Difference
Is your opinion significant? Help your class discover the influence their opinions hold and encourage them to make a positive change in their community. To start, they get in teams and brainstorm why their school should have more healthy...
Louisiana Department of Education
Out of the Dust
The Grapes of Wrath may be the most famous novel set during the Dust Bowl, but what other stories cover the same time? The unit focuses on the Karen Hesse novel Out of the Dust. Learners keep a timeline of the Dust Bowl, maintain a...
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Go Tell Aunt Rhody
Students interpret a story with unfamiliar vocabulary through the examination of visual images. They view the song and book "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" and describe the story told in the song. Students interpret the visual images in the boo...
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I Spy a Pattern-Kindergarten
Students copy, create, describe, and extend patterns with objects. They explore a variety of patterns through the use of manipulatives, sound, rhythms, songs and movement. Cooperative processes are used to encourage partner discussion.
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The National Anthem Project: Notating "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Middle Level Strings).
Students hear a melody, play in their instruments and write it down on manuscript paper. They correct their melody and play from their own manuscript paper. Students continue this procedure at least once a week.
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The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
High schoolers complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the...
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Comparing and Contrasting Heroes
Here is a language arts lesson that can be used with virtually any grade level. The only thing that changes is the reading level of the books. Learners compare and contrast different heroes and the characteristics they hold. They use a...
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Theatre: Exploratory Techniques
Using various exploratory techniques, young actors work as an ensemble company to devise, perform and evaluate a piece of theatre for assessment. This outline provides an objective and a list of games and activities that stimulate skills...
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Strike Up the Band
Students create song lyrics celebrating the history of labor unions serving the entertainment industry, then create posters illustrating the importance of each union to the industry they represent.
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History of Aaron Copland
Third graders study the history of Aaron Copland, the famous American composer. They dance to the song Hoe-Down composed by Aaron Copland.
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Bootleg Bytes
Students conduct background research to explore the positions of different groups involved in the digital piracy debate, then participate in a fishbowl discussion that seeks to find a consensus on the issue.
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Look, Listen and Learn
Students brainstorm what they know about the performing arts and research an artist or song and its related genre. Students work in groups to create an online banner to attract peers to their performing arts genre.
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We Are The Freedom Riders
Students consider the role of the Freedom Riders. In this American Civil Rights instructional activity, students watch videos, listen to lectures, and conduct research regarding the participants in the Freedom Ride protest. Several...
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Pollution is Not a Solution
Students explore the environment by completing science worksheets in class. In this water conservation lesson, students identify ways water is used in our society and how we abuse the privilege. Students discuss methods to reduce water...
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You're Invited to a Ceili: Exploring Irish Dance
Learners recognize a Ceili as an Irish dance of celebration and investigate Ireland while studying the dance. In this Irish dance lesson, students search the geography of Ireland, read poetry, identify costumes, draw and perform a...
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The Blues . Writing . Biographies/Profiles . The Soul of a Man
This lesson, focused on profile writing and its unique characteristics, considers the profiles developed in the film The Soul of a Man while also asking students to consider other profiles they are familiar with and to write some of...
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Discord in Dixieland
Students brainstorm businesses located in their community, and whether or not their community has been affected by the introduction of chain stores. Students debate the effects that chain retailers have on local businesses and...
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The Phenomenon of Sound: Waves
Students explore sound waves. In this sound waves lesson, students brainstorm different sounds and how sounds move or travel. Students then create a KWL chart and work through six different lab activities to examine how sound waves...
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Bossy Britain Upsets Colonists
Students examine the causes of dissatisfaction that led to the American Revolution. Then they make a Flap Vocabulary Book and glue on a map of the thirteen colonies and make a title page called "Road to War in it." Students also...
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Freak the Mighty - Rodman Philbrick
Students read and examine the novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. A variety of assignments involving this novel is offered for the students to complete with higher order thinking skills.
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The Twentieth Century
Fifth graders summarize a decade in the twentieth century and compare it to another decade. They present facts in a Hyperstudio document that includes text, photos, and audio to describe the decade.
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The Practice Interview
Young scholars study the interview process by interviewing each other in pairs using a name game. They formulate and ask effective interview questions and practice interviewing skills. They invite a guest to their classroom or go outside...
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Wind
Learners make a wind vane, anemometer, wind spiral, and wind streamer to calculate wind movement. In this wind lesson plan, students test each of their wind instruments, and graph the results of the wind speed in different locations.