Prestwick House
Understanding Language: Slant, Spin, and Bias in the News
We live in a time of fake news, alternative realities, and media bias. What could be more timely than an activity that asks class members to research how different sources report the same topic in the news?
Peace Corps
Celebrating Our Connections Through Water
Water is vital for survival, but how does it help global cultures flourish? Elementary and middle schoolers learn about the different cultures around the world that celebrate water and incorporate it into their festivals or traditions.
US Institute of Peace
Characteristics of Peacebuilders
Can anyone become a peacebuilder? A lesson on character education challenges scholars to examine the characteristics of well-known peacebuilders. Pupils then look within themselves to discover their own strengths as they relate to...
Curated OER
Just an Ordinary Day
Young sociologists identify how technology has impacted the traditional culture of Romania as they read and discuss "Just an Ordinary Day'" by Nina Porzucki. A instructional activity encourages learners to study Romania's history...
Macmillan Education
Understanding Your Skills and Talents
Skills, talents, and personal qualities are the focus of the fourth session in a 23-lesson series of life skills exercises. Participants build a mind map of all the skills and talents in the class, and then groups work together to...
Garden Earth Naturalist Club
Parts of a Flower! Flower Dissection
Sometimes the best way to learn about plants is to see the different parts of a plant yourself. Groups of learners dissect flowers to answer questions about what they observe and what they wonder about their flower.
Core Knowledge Foundation
A Time for All Seasons - Winter
As the days get shorter and a chill enters the air, it's time to start teaching your little ones about the wondrous winter season. Through a series of teacher demonstrations, whole-class read alouds and discussions, and hands-on...
Advocates for Human Rights
Who are Immigrants?
What do Jerry Yang, Patrick Ewing, John Muir, Charlize Theron, Peter Jennings, and Saint Frances X Cabrini all have in common? They are all immigrants to the United States. Famous and not-so-famous immigrants are the focus of a resource...
Duluth-Superior Area Educational Television Corporation
Marc Chagall / Magic Realism
Surrealistic painters like Marc Chagall and Wendy Rouse show viewers an expansive world in a small area. Young artists have a opportunity to create their own surrealistic paintings in response to a study of works by Chagall and Rouse.
Advocates for Human Rights
The Right to a Clean Environment in the United States
Even if a school has gone digital, chances are there's still plenty of paper being used. The three activities help scholars learn about the environmental impact of paper and another consumer products of their choosing, the issue of...
University of Minnesota
Sheep Brain Dissection
Bored with frog and earthworm dissections? Had your fill of fetal pigs? Anatomy students will be intrigued by the sheep's brain, and you will be prepared with guiding questions, extension activities, and pictures as they dissect one —...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Tic Tac Toe, Get Off My Toes
Why is conflict resolution such an important skill to learn? Pupils explore the topic, playing an adapted Tic-tac-toe game. Two class teams are tasked with finding a win-win solution to a hypothetical conflict before adding their X...
Curated OER
Learning From World War II and Connecting It to the Present
Compare and contrast World War II to the modern Iraq war with this instructional activity. After watching a film, learners use supporting evidence to support their point of view of the conflicts. Using the internet, they create a...
Perkins School for the Blind
Casting with Plaster
What a fun lesson! Your class can experience the design and construction process by creating a mold and a duplicate for an engraved image. The lesson is specifically written for learners with visual impairments and allows them to create...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 4
West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man introduces viewers to the remarkable finds on Santa Rosa Island. Archaeologist have discovered on this small island that is part of the Channel island chain, human and pygmy mammoth...
US Institute of Peace
Taking a Step Toward Peacebuilding
What can someone do to increase the peace? Pupils take small steps toward a big peacebuilding role in the final lesson in a 15-part unit. Individuals identify their roles as a peacebuilder and create a stepping stone that reflects their...
Curated OER
Personalized Postcards
Middle schoolers create and send postcards to friends and family members. Using actual photographs, they write a rough draft and final draft of a paragraph and print it out to glue onto a postcard template to mail to their friend or...
Curated OER
Polar Animal Research Reports
Third graders research and write a report on a polar animal. Each student be given a graphic organizer to complete on a particular animal. They are encouraged to use technology for the research and presentation portions of the project.
Curated OER
Volcanoes
Second graders review the characteristics and aspects of volcanoes. Using this information, they write a creative story and draw illustrations to accompany the words. They use geographical terms to describe a location and the physical...
Curated OER
Hickory Dickory Dock
Students follow written directions to construct their own tangram. In this tangram lesson, students use their tangram to develop original figures that illustrate characters and/or objects from their favorite nursery rhyme. Students also...
Curated OER
Emotion Similes
Students define what a simile is before writing a poem that is based primarily on similes. They brainstorm and write the poem using the give format. They write drafts, revise and present a final poem.
Curated OER
Auto-Bio Poem
Students create an autobiographical poem. In this writing lesson, students write an eleven line autobiopoem after read the teacher's model. Students include their name, fears, and family in the poem.
Curated OER
Picture Me with Words
Students search in newspapers for words that describe them or what they like. They gather the words and use them to create a self-portrait. They read "boring" sentences and rewrite them using more descriptive words. They write 10 word...
Curated OER
Predictions, Predictions, and More Predictions
Third graders pose questions about the subject of a short story based on the title and cover illustration; then read the story and determine if their questions actually pertained to the story line, and, if so, how the story answered the...