Pimsleur
The Weather
What's it like out today, and what do you plan to wear? These are the two main topics for this Italian instructional activity. By the end of the plan, pupils should have a grasp of basic weather and clothing terms as well as a general...
Curated OER
The Art of Science: Gravity
Through a series of experiments and demonstrations, fifth graders will learn about gravity. They will make predictions, drop various objects, write down their observations, and try to understand gravity through balance. This...
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Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe: What is Beautiful?
Students consider the notion of beauty and what impact the media and popular culture have on it. In this cross curricular instructional activity, students examine print ads, write down and share their thoughts on them. Then students form...
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Civil War Diaries
Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...
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Forensic Colloquium Experience: Debating the Issues
Pupils prepare for an participate in a debate. They watch instructional videos on how debates proceed. Pupils work in teams to research various topics, present their opinions on the issue, and respond to opposing viewpoints during a...
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Exploring the Controversial Plan to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
High schoolers examine the Bush Administration's plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from varying points of view. They work in small groups in order to perform their research, but they compose individual journal...
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Overland Trails To The West
Consider the political, physical, and geographical factors that led to and marked the Westward Expansion. Learners will track the various routes developed during the 1800's. They create a first person journal describing what they see,...
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Investigating World Cultures
Middle schoolers, in groups, write research reports and create visuals about countries, put on a culture fair, and use PowerPoint to present their information.
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Math Series
Even though this activity is just a simple review of estimation, it is a fast and easy way to explore this topic. Young mathematicians estimate the number of items contained in two jars and discuss their answers. Afterwards, they can use...
Poets.org
Ghosts and Spirits
Connect poetry to a naturally kid-friendly topic: ghosts! Draw on your class's prior knowledge of the paranormal to help them access the classic poem "Haunted House" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After a fun warm-up activity describing...
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Radio Program #3: Company Towns
Students analyze the characteristics of company towns. They locate former company towns on a map. Students classify the perspectives of residents of company towns. Creative writing unfolds within this lesson.
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Explaining Factors Causing Conflict and Cooperation
Students discuss what causes conflicts amongst groups especially pertaining to Native American tribes. In this conflicts lesson plan, students have discussion questions that they verbally answer and write in a journal.
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Exploring Volcanoes
Fifth graders use the ERIC database to find information on volcanoes. At the end of their research they present their findings, draw a volcano, and write bout what they found interesting about it. They also classify and categorize the...
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Creating a Consumer-Awareness Information Campaign
Young scholars work across grade levels to research and design a community awareness campaign on the benefits of purchasing fair trade chocolate. They develop print advertisements, conduct research, write letters, make posters and...
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Civil War Letter
Middle schoolers put themselves in the shoes of American Civil War soldiers. In this Civil War instructional activity, students compose letters to their families from the the perspective of soldiers in the war.
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Interative History Notebook Mini-lesson
Students respond to Holocaust literature. In this interactive history instructional activity, students select quotes from chapter 1 of Elie Wiesel's Night and reflect on their meaning as they record their thoughts on poetic, prose,...
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A Doctor's Dilemma
Students consider the bioethical dilemmas faced by doctors and write case studies about relevant issues within a particular medical decision.
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Connecting Immigrants In Black And White
Students explore the many ways that ethnic newspapers help immigrants in the United States stay connected to their cultures and countries of origin. They write articles for ethnic newspapers.
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Generation TeXt
Students write sentences using different writing styles. Through peer editing, they hone their writing to create effective thesis statements. They create a glossary of text messaging terms.
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Exhibiting Hope
Young scholars watch a video clip about the effect of Hurricane Katrina. They examine the challenges that New Orleans still faces a year after the hurricane. They work together in small groups to create a museum exhibit on a topic of...
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Climate Change
Pupils define and associate words with the topic of climate change while completing associated worksheets. They read and discuss articles about climate change including the effects of global warming and the greenhouse effect.
Teach Engineering
The Challenge Question
A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory lesson in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is needed to...
Teach Engineering
The Grand Challenge
Magnetic resonance imaging, just how safe is it? The introduction to unit study of magnetic resonance imaging technology presents the grand challenge questions of how an MRI machine works, the risks involved, the physics involved,...
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Environmentally Friendly
What can your pupils do to promote better conditions for wildlife? After researching issues around wildlife management, class members use the Internet to locate three different organizations devoted to protecting wildlife. They then...