Center for Applied Linguistics
Practical Applications of Fractions, Percents, and Decimals
Young architects are prompted to design a playground in assigned groups. Using a 10 x 10 grid. Your fifth graders will apply their knowledge of fractions, percents, and decimals to the real-world task of designing a playground....
Curated OER
Field Guide to Schoolyard Insects and Their Relatives
Sometimes all you need to complete your perfect lesson plan is an awesome hands-on learning experience. Here is an extension activity that is sure to excite your learners. They'll head outside to observe the local insect community. When...
Science Matters
Seed Adaptations for Dispersal
After a grand conversation about seeds, adaptation, and dispersal, scholars work collaboratively to examine seeds and record their findings on a four-column chart. Small groups share their observations and further discuss seed...
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics...
National Wildlife Federation
Hot, Hotter, Hottest: Extreme Weather's Impact on Our Resources
How dry is it? It's so dry, the river only runs twice a week! Through an analysis of maps and discussions, pairs learn about droughts across the United States in the ninth of 12 lessons. They then read about, answer questions, analyze...
Science Matters
Matter Cycles — Sum It Up
Scholars become part of the cycle of matter with a reader's theater that showcases producers, consumers, decomposers, and the sun. A diagram and discussion concludes the learning experience and enhances comprehension.
Scholastic
Holes Match 'Em Up Challenge
Upper graders read the book Holes as a class or by themselves. In groups, they identify symbols and discuss how they are connected among the many plots in the story. They create a timeline in which they sequence the main...
Curated OER
Investigate Science Using Crayfish
Young scientists discover the importance of scientific investigation by observing live crayfish. They carefully observe the patterns of crayfish in different environments. Then they discuss their conclusions and define what all living...
Scholastic
Writing Letters to the Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets
To celebrate National Poetry Month, young writers focus on the role letter writing has played in the development of poets. They begin by journaling three to five associations to a writing prompt that requires them to identify their...
Curated Video
Detecting Lies & Harmful Links
Who and what can you trust online? How do you know? After viewing a pair of introductory videos on positive and safe online conduct, learners discuss the content and put it into practice during an online search activity about alien...
Curated OER
Create a Youth Consumer Magazine
To underscore the importance of being informed consumers, kids check out youth consumer magazines and websites and then create their own. Although no detailed plans are included in the resource, it is packed with ideas and suggestions.
Curated OER
Feelin' Buggy
Young scholars discuss five senses, compare and contrast human and insect senses, use adjectives to describe things they touch, smell, and see, and write stories in first person describing what it would be like to be size of insect.
Illustrative Mathematics
The Florist Shop
A real-world approach to common multiples asks learners to find different groups of flowers based on their multiples. Useable as a class activity or independent exercise, they will have to organize their thoughts to explain the totals of...
Curated OER
Inventions- The Impact
Learners investigate inventions and the impact they can have on people. In this technology lesson, students research Thomas Edison and discuss how the invention of the light bulb impacted others. Learners sketch out an invention they...
Curated OER
Figurative Language iMovie
In order to understand figurative language, learners read 5 poems, each exemplifying a different literary device. They discuss and write responses to each poem. They then choose one literary device which they will use as the basis...
Curated OER
Why Do Governments Exist? Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...
Curated OER
Hot Spots
Keep an eye on progress with reading and vocabulary using pink and green sticky notes. This resource describes how to set up the sticky note system so that learners can note difficult passages, and teachers can track ability.
The Science Spot
The Wave Exercise
During a instructional activity on wave motion, physical science participants basically act out the waves as a group. Through their movements, the amplitude, speed, frequency, and wavelength are all identified. Ideas for modeling the...
Academy of American Poets
We Sing America
Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...
Innovative Mobile Apps
Action Words
From asking to yelling, this app teaches action verbs through images. Users listen to each word and tap the picture that corresponds with that verb. Just touch the screen to get started!
Brak Software, Inc.
Human Japanese Lite HD
Start with the basics of the Japanese language. The app, which is organized into chapters similar to a textbook, is made up of approachable text, which reads like someone calmly talking you through the aspects of the Japanese language,...
Macmillan Education
Celebrations: St Patrick’s Day
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a couple of fun English language exercises. After first activating students' prior knowledge about Ireland and Irish culture during a class discussion, learners work in pairs or small groups to...
Curated OER
Getting Geared Up!
Pupils create their own Power Point presentation displaying clip art pictures of simple machines and telling how each machine makes tasks easier. They break into small groups and review information on simple machines from website and...
Curated OER
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
Second graders use literature journals and discussion groups to summarize and improve their reading comprehension. In this reading skills lesson, 2nd graders discuss animals they've loved and read the story The Girl Who Loved Wild...