Curated OER
English Perspectives
To further their understanding of the basis of the conflicts between the Pocumtucks and the English settlers, class members research the religious beliefs and attitudes of the Puritan farmers that settled in Deerfield, Ma.
BBC
Code Calling - Working Out New Words
Young readers practice deciphering new words by using context clues and grammatical rules. The online activity embedded in the plan is especially engaging, and should be enjoyable for all pupils who work through it. A good printable...
Curated OER
Compare Two Versions: Folk Tales, Sequencing, and Summary
Compare two versions of "The Three Little Pigs" (traditional and Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, told from the wolf's point of view). As your 4th graders recount the familiar version of the story, emphasize the...
Curated OER
Presidential Election 2000
Students examine the presidential candidates and their election platforms. They further analyze the platforms by creating a chart to determine which candidate most represents his or her beliefs and values.
Curated OER
My First Book
Introduce young writers to the process of writing a book. Start by reading a book of your choice and discussing the essential elements of any book such as the cover, story, and illustrations as well as who is responsible for each...
Library of Congress
The Conservation Movement at a Crossroads: The Hetch Hetchy Controversy
Should wilderness areas be preserved or managed? Class members examine primary source documents, including lecture notes, articles, essays and congressional records to better understand the Hetch Hetchy controversy that created a split...
Curated OER
Take a Walk in Their Shoes: Great Leaders of Our Time
Research the characteristics of leaders who have used nonviolence to change society. The class then applies this information to their own community to find leaders with these same characteristics, creating a wall collage of pictures and...
Curated OER
Improving Speaking Skills in the Language Classroom
How can you create an "English-free" classroom for your foreign language learners? This year, use some of these strategies to maximize your students' opportunity to communicate in the language.
Curated OER
What Possessed You?
To review the possessive form, a teacher could use this presentation to help learners cement their understanding of grammar. Using commonly encountered mistakes, it gives students a quiz in which they identify the correct word for use in...
Curated OER
"It's All About Grandma Chic": Reading Informational Text
This New York Times "Learning Network" exercise on reading informational text poses 6 questions about a high-interest article on teen fashion. The article meant to be review with is resource, "More than meets the iPhone Lens", is rather...
Curated OER
Pronoun Reference
Do your young readers have a hard time with using the correct pronouns? Use this resource to help them practice identifying and fixing incorrect pronouns. The worksheet includes twenty sentences, some of which need to be fixed, and some...
Learning to Give
We Can Help to Make a Change!
The importance of accepting those who are different is the subject of a service learning project. Upper graders craft presentations for younger learners on ways to include everyone in the school community and to decrease the feelings of...
Mr Gym
Soccer Round-Up
Round-up as many soccer balls for your team as possible. Hula-Hoops are scattered about equal distance from the center spot. The older the players, the farther away the Hula-Hoops should be from the center spot. There should be enough...
Perkins School for the Blind
Daily Journal
Keeping a daily journal is fun. It builds strong writing skills and provides an expressive outlet. For children with visual impairments, it's even more important. It provides a way for them to connect written word with real events, which...
Perkins School for the Blind
Tactile Journals
I absolutely love this idea. Children with visual impairments create tactile journals which describe an event from the previous week in an artistic way. They verbally describe one event from the previous week and then use a wide array of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Are These Right?
Is that a right triangle or a wrong triangle? Young mathematicians look at eleven different shapes and use a measuring tool of their choice to determine which triangles have right angles. Consider cutting out sets of the shapes to...
Perkins School for the Blind
More or Less
The concept of more or less is one that needs to be mastered prior to learning other concepts such as quantitative analysis, addition, or subtraction. This activity provides several ways to teach learners with low or no vision to...
Curated OER
Insects A-Z!
Alphabet insects! Who has ever heard of such a thing? Get ready because your class is going to research insects that start with a specific letter of the alphabet. In small groups, they'll use the Internet and reference texts to locate...
Curated OER
Rumors
Your young gossipers write an exponential function for the number of people who have heard a rumor after a number of days have passed. Learners then answer a series of questions, including whether or not the solutions are realistic by...
Street Law
Mock Trial - Sandra W. v. Gregg M.
Sandra W. v. Gregg M. concerns a woman who sues a sexual partner for negligent transmission of HIV.
Kansas Poets
Persona Poem
Young poets are asked to craft a poem in the voice of a first person narrator, a dramatic monologue of sorts, that reveals not only a dramatic situation but something of the narrator's character as well.
Curated OER
A Second Visit To Old Sturbridge Village-The Story Tour
Learners conduct research on 1830s families and early New England culture. They conduct research on the Old Sturbridge Village website, participate in an online chat with a costumed interpreter, and continue to develop possible plots to...
Curated OER
Human Cloning, Genetic Engineering and Privacy
Review the aspects of human cloning and the moral issues associated with it. Individually, your students will keep a list of the articles related to this issue and research issues related to the ethic issues people are concerned with....
Learning for Justice
Beauty is Skin Deep
If you are in need of a lesson on tolerance or the impact of media, this plan could be useful. The class begins with a brainstorming session in which they reflect on their own experiences with bias based on appearance. Next, they...