National Book Network
A Day with No Crayons
Colors and crayons are the inspiration for this collection of activities! Kids illustrate the real world, come up with their own names for colors, make their own crayons (with teacher assistance), create artwork they can eat, and more.
Curated OER
Magical Musical Tour: Using Music Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet. Although designed for gifted learners, the...
Curated OER
Teaching with Poster Art: World War I Posters
Learners interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this World War I lesson, students examine World War I posters. Learners investigate the use of propaganda strategies in the posters and discuss the visual metaphors.
Curated OER
Yes We Can! Students with Autism & Down-Syndrome on the Drums!
To learn about various topics and improve their social skills, learners with special needs play along with music on drums and other sound objects. Teachers take digital pictures of the young scholars participation and use them to make...
Hot Docs
Docs for School: Viewing and Teaching Guide
Teaching documentary in your class? Inform your instruction with a guide meant to support teachers as they begin with documentary. The resource includes information on what a documentary is as well as documentary modes, elements, and...
Washington State Department of Health
Let's Cook!
Recipes, tasting activities, images of fruits and veggies, fun food facts... you name it, this resource has it! Your class will be cooking up wonderful dishes in no time with these materials. Included here are recipes, handouts,...
Curated OER
Melodies and Math: Creating Music with Non-Traditional Instruments
Review the 4/4 and 2/4 time signatures in music with a helpful music theory lesson plan. Young musicians experiment with electronic sounds and create their own musical performance using instruments made from materials found in the...
Historic New Orleans Collection
Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson plan with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New...
Curated OER
Technical Merits
What is technical knowledge? The class explores what technical knowledge might mean to an Olympic athlete. They catalog the different types of information that athletes would need to compete in various Winter Olympic sports and develop...
Curated OER
Children's Books
A challenging lesson on writing a book for children awaits your fifth-graders. They must use laptops, document cameras, and a projector to create and present an original piece of writing. A checklist that has all of the requirements for...
Curated OER
Finger Painting and Feather Painting with Nature
Students explore finger painting and painting with feathers and recreate the look of objects in nature. They read the book, 'It Looked Like Spilt Milk,' create a shaving cream print, paint with feathers, and construct a mirror image on...
Curated OER
In Depth with the Full Spectrum
Students explore the basic color wheel and the ways that artists use color to guide the viewer's attention through a painting's composition. A creation of a sense of depth in a two dimensional space and the effect of color on mood and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 1: In Depth with the Full Spectrum
High schoolers study the ways in which an artist can use color. They view various images of artwork and discuss the effect of color on spacial dimensions, focal points, tone, and mood.
Curated OER
Egg People
Here is an ingeniously clever lesson on seed germination that's sure to be a hit with your kids. In it, learners create "egg people," out of eggs, egg cartons, potting soil, grass seeds, and markers. There is also a potato version and a...
Curated OER
Motion Picture Analysis Worksheet
In this motion picture analysis worksheet, students decipher what type of motion picture they viewed based on a complete list of criteria. Students then answer multiple questions based on their discoveries.
Curated OER
Photograph Analysis Worksheet
In this photograph analysis worksheet, students are presented steps for analyzing photographs that include observation, inference, and further questioning.
Curated OER
Poster Analysis Worksheet
In this poster analysis worksheet, students respond to eight questions that help them analyze a poster more in-depth. Students then answer multiple questions based on their discoveries.
Curated OER
The History of The Cyclorama and Moving Panorama
Here is a activity designed to acquaint learners with two amazing forms of entertainment from the 19th century: The Cyclorama and the Moving Panorama. After seeing what these two contraptions were all about, pupils make their own version...
Curated OER
Celebrate Hanukkah in Israel
Explore Hanukkah and its origins with a social studies lesson. Learners discover the history of Hanukkah and its traditions. They locate Israel on a map, hear the story of the menorah and create their own...
Curated OER
Retelling Information
This scripted instructional activity suggests using the journalist’s five W’s (who, what, when, where, why) to teach readers how to summarize a story and to how to distinguish between significant and supporting details. A template and...
Curated OER
Down a 4th, Up a 5th
It's time to practice those sharps. Young musicians write the order of sharps by counting down a fourth and up a fifth. This is a great way to teach sharps to emergent musical note readers.
Curated OER
"World enough, and time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Discuss tone and imagery with Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress." In an attempt to get his fair lady to consummate their relationship, he write a poem urging her to seize the day! Introduce the author to your high school class,...
Curated OER
Student Newspaper Project
Writing teaches us so much. One can identify the many characteristics of a newspaper, use the Internet to gather information, and communicate with others. Primary students create a class newspaper for publishing and dispersal.
Brooklyn Museum
Lorna Simpson: Gathered
Lorna Simpson is a photographer who has put together a collection of photos from the 1950s in order to challenge the idea that primary source documents are objective in their portrayal of history. Learners are introduced to Ms. Simpson's...