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Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
California Academy of Science
Sorting the Solar System
Scientists are always sorting and classifying objects based on their characteristics. In a hands-on learning activity, young space explorers work together to categorize solar system cards based on their properties. It is up to the...
Curated OER
Show Not Tell
Middle schoolers learn to show, not tell, in their narrative writing. A slide show takes them through the process of choosing strong, descriptive words, and then provides writing prompts for them to use as practice. The first two pages...
La Jolla High School
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: In Search of Figurative Language
While this resource was originally made to be used in conjunction with John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, it could be used for any literary text. A reference sheet for readers, the resource includes terminology related to figurative...
Mr Gym
Hamburger Press
Hamburger Press is an activity that is definitely based on cooperation. Players need to communicate and work together to increase the number of hamburger patties they can press between them. Use cut-up pieces of swim noodles for the...
Denver Art Museum
Descriptive Haiku
Even though this is technically an art lesson, haiku poetry is actually the main focus! Learners view photographs of Japanese tea caddies. They list five descriptive words for the caddies, then write haiku poems using the caddies as...
Ceramic Arts Daily
Making Sounds with Clay
Here is a great way to incorporate art, history, and music. Learners will make airduct instruments, such as recorders, flutes, and whistles out of clay. The ceramic instruments can be quite ornate and even used to make music. The...
Asian Art Museum
Create Your Own Samurai (Breastplate) Armor
Your class is going to love this activity. They get out their rulers, cardboard, and paints as they make Samurai breastplates. The simple art lesson plan lends itself to many different subjects such as, math/measurement, world history,...
Curated OER
Medieval Architecture
While this resource is about architecture, it isn't about art. It demonstrates the differences between Romanesque and Gothic architecture to show changes in the socio-political spectrum of the time. Images and good discussion questions...
Perkins School for the Blind
Handprint Art
Stimulate the senses with a handprint art project! Flake laundry detergent, water, and food coloring are mixed together to create a substance that has a pleasant smell and will dry hard and dimensional. Children with visual disabilities...
California Academy of Science
The Emperor Penguin's Egg
Here is a game intended for use at home that could easily be adapted to the school environment. The class reads an informational story about emperor penguins and then they watch a clip from the film, March of the Penguins. They focus on...
ARKive
Animal over Winter
Gosh those polar regions can get cold. So, how do the animals that live there survive the long winters? Learners explore how animals adapted to survive harsh wintry conditions by completing a worksheet and comparing animal survival...
Curated OER
Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen
It is entirely fitting and proper that Wilfred Owen’s powerful “Dulce et Decorum Est” is the poem used for an exercise in close reading, discussion, analysis, and argumentative writing. Class members discuss focus questions in pairs,...
Polar Trec
Family Polar Fun Day
Family fun days are great for connecting home and school life, building strong parent/teacher relationships, and engaging young scholars in a fun and social way. Here are several activity ideas to help you and your class run your own...
Curated OER
Marvellous Mosaics
Introduce your class to the beauty found in Muslim mosques by engaging them in a culturally inspired mosaic art project. They view and discuss the nature of the mosaics found in mosques and then they use scraps of colored paper and black...
California Academy of Science
Earthquakes and Tectonic Plates
Here is a comprehensive package in which middle schoolers learn about types of seismic waves, triangulation, and tectonic plate boundaries. Complete vocabulary, colorful maps, and a worksheet are included via links on the webpage. You...
SEN Teacher
Nets (3D Models)
Let your learners pick and create a fun shape from this custom template. Shapes range from complex geometric figures to the more common cube and prism. Each page can be labeled with your personal directions. Additional printable listed...
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Create a simulation of acid rain in your classroom with lemon juice and bean plants to help kids study the effects of pollution on plants. In addition, learners will listen to a story and write responses based on guiding questions.
Exploratorium
Bubble Suspension
Create a cushion of carbon dioxide gas to float some soap bubbles on. Many concepts can be demonstrated through this activity:
Carbon dioxide gas is more dense than air
Bubbles are semipermeable, allowing only carbon dioxide to diffuse...
Exploratorium
Falling Feather
Whether or not Galileo actually dropped balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this demonstration will solidly demonstrate that objects are accelerated at the same rate, regardless of mass. You will, however, need a vacuum pump and a few...
Exploratorium
Soap Film Painting
If you are up for constructing a wooden frame, you can do this demonstration of the interference patterns when light reflects off of layers of soapy film. Both constructive and destructive interference can be seen as evidenced by the...
Oglebay Institute
Post-Impressionism: Van Gogh Drawings
Turn your young artists into little Vincent van Goghs with a lesson on brush stroke style and color blending. Pupils practice the painting technique by sketching various shapes before recreating a van Gogh piece or creating an original...
John Wiley & Sons
Build a Pyramid
Learners discover fascinating facts about the Great Pyramid of ancient Egypt and construct a scale model of the pyramid with this fun activity worksheet.
Mr. Hill's Science Website
Solar System Fact Sheet
Here is a fantastic, educational handout packed with information and facts not only about the planets in our solar system, but also regarding major moons and their surface features, dwarf planets, comets, and asteroids.