Missouri Department of Elementary
Acting Out Respect
Bert and Ernie, Lucy and Ethel ... what makes a great friend? Pupils first learn about the STAR method of problem solving: Stop, Think, Act, Review. Small groups then role play various scenarios to demonstrate respect and compromise in...
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Problem Solving Game
Creativity, communication, cooperation. Pupils assume the role of employees at a game factory working together to develop a new game. Using the principles of the STAR method (Stop, Think, Act, Review), they work in teams to create game...
Missouri Department of Elementary
If It’s to Be, It’s Up to Me
Here's a clever switch on the tale of Pandora's Box. Rather than lifting the lid and having problems escape, class members write a problem on a strip of paper and place it in Pandora's Problem Box. A student then pulls a problem...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Lean Mean Coping Machine!
Seventh graders are asked to choose and rank five scenarios from a list of ten that are most important to them. After explaining the reasons for the choices, they then identify the coping skills they used to make their decisions.
Missouri Department of Elementary
My Conflict Shield
As an exercise in self-awareness and improvement, class members create a Conflict Shield listing 12 skills they believe are the most useful in conflict resolution. They then color the ones they have mastered while leaving uncolored those...
Scholastic
Voyage on the Mayflower
After completing an online activity about the Mayflower, scholars draw a picture about what they know of the Thanksgiving holiday, including a one-sentence summary. A reading of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma is...
Curated OER
The Internet and Society
Learners consider the impact of the Internet on society, information, and communication. They practice using the Internet through a variety of web searches, information gathering activities, and Internet communication. A class discussion...
Curated OER
Family and Household Structure
Students examine what the word "family" means today. They identify cultural traditions that are still popular in the United States. They read primary source documents and discover how advice is passed on from generation to generation.
PLS 3rd Learning
Budget Basics
Prepare young adults for life with various budgeting activities. Exercises include identifying fixed, variable, and discretionary income, and creating a budget based on a realistic projected income. The required website allows teachers...
Curated OER
World War I
A thorough and engaging look at World War I, this slideshow details the start, strategies, and surrender of "The Great War." The breadth of this presentation could sustain an entire unit on World War I, and could be split into several...
Anti-Defamation League
What Is Culture?
Explore the complexity of culture with this rich and comprehensive lesson plan, which will prompt your learners to think critically and respectfully discuss our current definitions of culture, and how those definitions might...
Curated OER
If It's to Be, It's Up to Me!
Eighth graders discuss the question: How does one become an effective decision-maker or problem solver in social situations? They are given three brief scenarios and after each one students are asked, "What would you do?" Students think...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Teaching the 9/11 Anniversary
Here is a lesson on terrorism and 9/11. While outdated, it could be easily revised for today's teens. It includes targeted vocabulary, a background information activity, critical thinking questions, and step-by-step procedures for...
National Geographic
Mapping the Americas
Celebrate the geography of the Americas and develop map skills through a series of activities focused on the Western Hemisphere. Learners study everything from earthquakes and volcanoes of the Americas and the relationship...
Virginia Department of Education
World History and Geography to 1500 A.D.
Here's a great resource for your curriculum library. The 240-page packet, organized into units by topics, includes sample lesson plans, links to primary and secondary source documents, worksheets, activities, and sample assessments.
Curated OER
Freedom by the Fireside: The Legacy of FDR's "Four Freedoms" Speech
Students read and analyze Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address. They listen to recordings of speeches by F.D.R., answer discussion questions, and participate in a debate.
Curated OER
Flag Day
Students describe the symbolism, tradition, honor and power that flags bear and explore the stories of Civil War battle flags.
Curated OER
The Countries of Latin America
Fifth graders study the geography, culture, government and economy of Latin American countries. They work in groups to fill out a profile describing their Latin American country. They listen to a reading of Latin American folktales and...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Democracy Wall
How free are people in the United States, or in the world for that matter? The class reads and compares two articles that discuss levels of freedom enjoyed by different people around the globe. They discuss why some people have more...
Curated OER
Trading Cards
Students create trading cards based on historical individuals that helped people with disabilities. In this disabilities lesson plan, students put the name, picture, description, and graphic on the card.
Curated OER
Cures: Barometer
Learners discuss and fill out a worksheet about the controversial cures of people with disabilities in the past. In this disabilities lesson plan, students write about the issues and justification for if they agree or disagree with these...
Curated OER
The Early Cold War: 1947-1970
With a combination of images, maps, and valuable information, this presentation is a strong resource for a history class that is coming out of a WWII unit and into a Cold War unit. Some points are outlined for students, while others are...
Friends of Fort McHenry
Cannons During the War of 1812
During the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812, only 25% of the bombs and rockets fired at Fort McHenry actually reached their target. Using an interactive online simulation, combine your historical study with physics and...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Military Advisers in Vietnam: 1963
How did the beginning of the Vietnam War factor into the Cold War with the Soviet Union? As part of a study of American involvement in Vietnam, class members read a letter address to President Kennedy and his response in which...