Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Problem Solvers: Challenge Activities (Theme 4)
Creative activities help bring literature alive. The first of a set of lessons designed to accompany selections from Theme 4: Problem Solvers uses activities such as skits, responses to music, and social studies projects. These...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Acting Out Respect and Compromise
Puppets showcase the importance of being a good friend. Following a discussion about positive character traits, scholars create a paper-bag puppet and role-play scenarios with a peer.
Missouri Department of Elementary
How Do I Act Like a Friend?
Familiar puppets set the stage for a thoughtful discussion about friendship. To show what they know, scholars role-play scenarios. Peers offer a thumbs up when they view positive character traits exhibit good friend behavior.
Rational Number Project
Initial Fraction Ideas Lesson 22: Overview
Have young mathematicians subtracting fractions in no time with this manipulative-based math lesson plan. Using their sets of fraction circles, young scholars explore a number of word problems involving the subtraction of fractions...
101 Questions
Nana's Paint Mixup
You would probably do anything for your Nana, including fixing her mistakes! Nana provided the wrong ratio to mix red and white paint, and she didn't realize it until after she mixed the paint. Your class now needs to figure out how to...
101 Questions
Thanksgiving Taters
What would a meal be without the taters? The question is, how long does it take to peel those potatoes? Given the rate of peeling one potato, scholars predict the time it takes to peel the bag. The twist is that the first potato was...
101 Questions
Bean Counting
Don't spill the beans ... before the end of the lesson! Learners must predict how long it takes two people working together to fill a glass with beans. A video presents the rate it takes each person independently, and another video...
Curated OER
Problem-Solving Strategy: Act It Out Word Problems
In this congruent shapes worksheet, students determine if they can us the five figures to form a figure congruent to the rectangle. Students follow the steps to solve the problem: understand, plan, solve, and look back.
Curated OER
Using Words to Work Things Out
Students explore classroom community building. In this character development and community building instructional activity, students listen to Hands Are Not for Hitting and generate a class list of positive ways to handle classroom...
Curated OER
Multiplication Snack Activity
Youngsters study multiplication facts by manipulating food in order to problem solve. They will use healthy snack items as manipulatives to solve various multiplication equations. Charts, tables, physical models, and so much more are...
101 Questions
Safe Cracking
How long would it take to break into a safe by testing every possible combination of codes? Pupils view a video clip of this happening and must determine the total amount of time before success. They measure how long each step takes, add...
Curated OER
Problem Solving and the Sports Page
Fourth graders create and solve word problems using the boxscores from the sports section of the newspaper. The role play the sport, define abbreviations used and examine the fundamentals of scoring the sport.
Curated OER
Sherman and Cyrus
In this problem solving worksheet, students compute the number of steps Sherman takes to catch his pet frog, Cyrus. A detailed explanation is included with the answer of the problem.
Curated OER
Tug of War Exercise
Learners hone their acting and imagination by playing tug-o-war with an imaginary rope. Each group works together and pretends to pull the other group over the imaginary line with an imaginary rope. This could be a good improve warm up...
Curated OER
Alexander And The Wind-Up Mouse
Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...
Missouri Department of Elementary
So Much to Do, So Little Time: How Do I Tie All of the Loose Ends Together?
How do people manage to get everything done when there are so few hours in a day? Scholars explore the question as they participate in small group discussions about time management. They construct a daily schedule and complete a...
101 Questions
World Record Balloon Dog
What is the world record for a dog popping 100 balloons? Viewers observe as a dog pops 25 balloons and must figure out how long it should take for the canine to pop the other 75. They discover the previous record and predict if this dog...
Curated OER
Ravishing Rings (Multiplication with a Snack)
Learners understand multiplication through the use of snack manipulatives. In this multiplication lesson, students solve a multiplication problem using pretzels and then create and answer original problems. Learners analyze how they got...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Respect for Self and Others—Giving and Getting the Big R
Tween find out what it means to give and get respect. After reviewing the Recipe for Relationships studied in a previous lesson, groups create a dramatization of two-minute scenario in which an individual behaves inappropriately in a...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Sally’s Super Day
After having a bad day, Sally took scholars' suggestions and had a super day. Pupils listen to her newest short story then discuss the events that occurred. They sort each event by what was in her control and what was not. Participants...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Relationships…Going Up While Growing Up
The final lesson in a series of five that focus on developing the interpersonal skills required to develop and maintain positive relationships asks class members to identify their best friend-making skill. Individuals share these claims...
Curated OER
Time Dilation and Geometry
Learners solve problems of dilation and velocity. In this geometry lesson, students apply the Pythagorean Theorem to solve problems and relate it to time and velocity.
101 Questions
Square Partitions
Challenge your classes while developing their problem-solving skills. A square is divided neatly into four equal triangles by its diagonals until one diagonal is moved from a vertex to the midpoint of one side. Now, scholars must devise...
101 Questions
Joulies
Does your coffee get too cold too fast? Joulies just might be your answer! Learners use experimental data to make a conclusion about how effective Joulies are at keeping coffee at the ideal temperature. A video shows the graph of the...