Lesson Plan
American Psychological Association

Counting Fidgets: Teaching the Complexity of Naturalistic Observation

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Why do psychologists conduct experiments in controlled laboratory settings? High schoolers gain an understanding of the importance of controls with an activity that involves naturalistic observations with no imposed controls.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Attention to Detail

For Teachers K - 5th
After a quick warm up activity, learners get ready to use their keen observation skills to examine an ornate Japanese pencil box. They discuss the artistry, skills, and story of the box, paying close attention to details. They then...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Picture This

For Teachers K - 4th
A unique writing lesson, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...
Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

Fishbowl Discussion

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Filter young teenagers' opinions and perspectives with a classic fishbowl discussion. Given any topic relevant to your curriculum, a group of class members engage in discussion for their peers to observe.
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Declaration” by Tracy K. Smith

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Tracy K. Smith's erasure poem "Declaration" challenges scholars to use their noticing skills to make connections between an engraving entitled "The Declaration of Independence" and Smith's poem. Class members record observations and...
Handout
Curated OER

Participant-Observer Guidelines Handout

For Students 10th - Higher Ed
Take your collaborative group work to a higher level with this informative handout about the nature, aims, and tasks of participant-observers. Teaching middle and high schoolers how to improve group process advances collaboration skills...
Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Mirroring Emotions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Do you ever give your class the "teacher look"? Without saying a word, they become silent and engaged (hopefully). How do they know what you're thinking? Explore the concept of nonverbal communication and how it relates to our...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Show and Tell Museum - Investigating Primary Sources: Read and Interpret Primary Sources

For Teachers 3rd
Scholars become detectives in a lesson that focuses on primary sources. Learners practice their observational skills by examining the teacher's artifact and visiting the Show and Tell Museum that highlihgts items from peers and...
Activity
Smarter Balanced

American West in the 1800s

For Teachers 8th - 12th
To establish a context for an assessment or a study of pioneers and the American frontier in the 1800s, groups examine photos and record observations about clothing, housing, and travel.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transparent Shoebox Dig

For Teachers K - 4th
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Can We Learn From the Past?

For Teachers 7th - 11th
What would future archeologists learn from your scholars' personal belongings? Have them bring in a box of "primary sources" from their home. Discuss the difference between observations and inference, using some of your own items to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scaling it Down: Caves Have Maps, Too

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Measurement and map skills are the focus of this lesson, where students crawl through a "cave" made out of boxes, desks and chairs, observing the dimensions.  Your young geographers measure various aspects of the cave and practice...
Lesson Plan
1
1
US Institute of Peace

Observing Conflict

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Can your class manage conflict? Give them the tools they need to succeed at conflict resolution with the third lesson in a 15-part series of peacebuilding activities. Learners draw from personal conflict experience as they analyze...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale

For Teachers K - 5th
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Observing Human Rights Day

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How much intervention is appropriate for America to take in cases of human rights violations? Class members ponder a question that has lingered since the birth of America with a series of primary sources that reflect the degree to which...
Activity
Tutor 2 U

Plan for the Murder Solving Lesson

For Teachers 8th - 12th
It's a classic case of whodunnit - with a forensic twist! Learners observe a crime scene and compile evidence, along with emergency phone calls, fingerprints, and interview statements to find the criminal and solve the crime.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Council for Economic Education

Satisfaction Please! (Part 2)

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Simply understanding consumer rights may not help people solve their problems. Understanding who to turn to becomes key in many different scenarios. Teach the value of various organizations that fight for consumer rights through...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Personal Artifacts

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders put their observation skills to work. In this observation skills lesson, 9th graders examine personal artifacts that their instructor has gathered. Students take notes on the artifacts they analyze and write lab reports...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Thanksgiving

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Introduce the basics of Thanksgiving with a language arts instructional activity. As pupils practice observation skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension, they design paper turkeys by outlining their hands and feet and by...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Community Journals

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Students visit a multimedia online journal as a model for their research and journal about their own communities. They examine writing for themselves and writing for an audience as they study the community and present it in more than one...
Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Refugees from the Caribbean: Cuban and Haitian “Boat People”

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Should refugees fleeing poverty be allowed the same entrance into the United States as those fleeing persecution? High schoolers read about US foreign policy in the late 20th century regarding refugees from Cuba and Haiti, and engage in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Memories to Last: Observing Monuments

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use scientific observation and inference to examine the Hazen Brigade Monument. In this observation lesson, students review the reasons for building monuments in society. Students then recall monuments they have seen and...
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

A Tale of Two Men

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores were both born in 1858, and both came to the Dakota territory in 1883, but they influenced the developing country of America in different ways. Elementary and middle schoolers apply written and...
Handout
ProCon

Daylight Savings Time

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
An entomologist named Geroge Vernon Hudson is credited with proposing Daylight Saving Time (DST) so he could better study his insects. Using the informative website, scholars read a brief introduction to the topic and then explore the...

Other popular searches