Institute for Humane Education
I've Been Branded!
How many pairs of Nikes® or Apple® products are in the average American home? What makes someone buy one particular type of laundry detergent over another? Scholars grapple with these questions as they develop a list of brands they use...
Curated OER
Pen Pals
Students make their own predictions about the amount of different types of birds at each site before they go there. In groups, they collect the bird data and compose letters to their pen pals sharing their information. To end the lesson...
Acoustical Society of America
Musical Instruments Part I - Woodwinds
What is the connection between sound and vibration? Learners find out as they conduct a series of experiments with instruments they create. The experiment is well explained, includes modifications for visuall and hearing impaired...
Curated OER
Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 6 ELA/Literacy)
Keep an eye on the growth of your sixth graders' reading and writing skills with the help of this practice Common Core assessment. Working their way through the six included fiction and nonfiction reading passages, learners answer a...
Curated OER
Lesson 1- Set Design
Line, shape, color, texture, space. The first in a three-part series of lessons intended for advanced theatre arts classes introduces the elements of set design. Class members examine maquettes and analyze how designers have put together...
California Department of Education
An Online Tool I Can Use
Tools for school—and beyond! Introduce your sixth graders to online tools to plan their academic and professional futures. The fifth and final lesson in a series of career and college readiness activities focuses on a scavenger hunt to...
Computer Science Unplugged
Kid Krypto–Public-Key Encryption
Class members have an opportunity to experience how to use a public key to encrypt information and a private key to decrypt it. Groups create their own public key and encrypt information then develop private keys to decrypt this...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Spectroscopy Mission
In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
California Department of Education
What's Next?
Let their futures take flight! The sixth and final installment in a series of career and college readiness lesson plans pulls it all together for graduation-bound seniors. Individuals comb through their action plans and describe the...
Curated OER
Pre-Reading Preparation
Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research lesson, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in groups to research...
Noyce Foundation
Time to Get Clean
It's assessment time! Determine your young mathematicians' understanding of elapsed time with this brief, five-question quiz.
NPR
Can You Beat Cognitive Bias?
In a time of fake news, media manipulation, and Internet trolls, a resource equips learners with the tools they need to recognize and combat resources that are designed to appeal to our cognitive biases. Introduce learners to five...
British Council
Unit 8: Proofreading
Plagued by punctuation or stymied by spelling? Lesson eight in a nine-part series of career education and skills activities introduces the importance of proofreading. Learners categorize common writing errors and construct error-free...
Curated OER
Write Right!
After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...
Curated OER
Masterpieces and the Mass-Produced
Young scholars examine "masterpieces" and mass-produced objects as they discuss humankind's inventiveness and creativity. They also analyze the role of problem solving in the creation of masterpieces and mass-produced items.
Curated OER
On 'Punched Out': Looking at Brain Trauma and Other Risks of Violent Sports
The tragic story of Derek Boogard, a hockey star whose sports-related brain injuries eventually lead to his death, is told through a series of videos. There are also articles that can be read. This poignant lesson gets participants to...
Curated OER
Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 4 ELA/Literacy)
Track the progress of your fourth graders' reading and writing skills with this practice Common Core assessment. Based on a collection of six reading passages that include narrative stories, poetry, and a series of...
Curated OER
9/11: The Flight That Fought Back
Who is the al Qaeda and what happened on September 11? Older high schoolers will explore the political objectives of al Qaeda and possible reasons for the September 11 terrorist attacks by watching a video program and working through...
National First Ladies' Library
The State Of The States
Students engage in a study of the states as part of the United States while conducting research using a variety of resources. The focus of the study is the states that were part of the Union by 1890. Students create an almanac about...
Curated OER
And the Moral of the Story is...
Students retell a story using computer software. In this story elements lesson, students retell the story giving the plot, setting, characters and moral using Pixie software.
Curated OER
No Bones About It
Students conduct Internet research on the different parts of the skeletal system. Then they create a model arm that demonstrates how muscle and bone work together to create movement.
Curated OER
Where Do Birds Live? Cavity Nesters of the Watsonville Wetlands
Students compare and contrast primary and secondary cavity nesters. In this life science lesson, students explore the different types of nests that birds make. They play a team game to apply what they learned.
Curated OER
Periodic Table of the Elements: Noble Gases
Students research how neon signs are made and design their own. For this periodic table lesson, students familiarize themselves with the noble gases on the periodic table. They watch a video, research how neon signs are made, and design...