Lesson Plan
Teaching Tolerance

Constructively Engaging in Digital Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Say no to hate speech! Pupils discover the importance of practicing empathy and inclusivity in digital communities and discuss strategies for responding to online hate speech. Then, small groups develop and present class guidelines for...
Lesson Plan
Teaching Tolerance

Civic Engagement and Communication as Digital Community Members

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Don't feed the Internet trolls! Using a thought-provoking resource, pupils brainstorm a whole-class list of the possible kinds of bias young people may experience online. Next, in small groups, scholars create posters illustrating how to...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Close Read: Epiphytes of the Rainforest and the Creatures That Call Them Home (Pages 24–26)

For Teachers 5th Standards
It's all connected. Scholars use pages 24-26 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to identify the relationship between the plants and animals in the rainforest. They answer and discuss questions about the relationship with a...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

A Rainforest Folktale: Determining the Message of “The Wings of the Butterfly,” a Tukuna People Tale

For Teachers 5th Standards
Did you the message? Scholars listen to a read aloud of The Wings of the Butterfly to summarize and determine the message of the text. They discuss the folktale and vocabulary in groups, then use a double bubble map to compare the story...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Reading for Fluency: Readers Theater about the Rainforest (Page 33)

For Teachers 5th Standards
Lights, camera, action. Scholars use page 33 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to create a readers theater. They work in triads and use sticky notes to mark and create their own speaking parts from sections of the text. They...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Interviewing Meg Lowman: What Does it Mean to be a Responsible Scientist? (Pages 37–39)

For Teachers 5th Standards
Can I ask you something? Scholars read about the night walk on pages 37-39 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World. After discussing the text with their group, they work together to create interview questions they would ask Meg...
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful instructional activity focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and...
Lesson Plan
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Workforce Solutions

Egg-streme Sports

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here's a new twist in the egg drop competition. Using only six inches of tape, four straws, and 2 pieces of newspaper, teams build a structure that keeps an egg from breaking when dropped. What's different about this project is that the...
Lesson Plan
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Workforce Solutions

Human Knot

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Employability skills are difficult to measure but are essential in the workplace. Introduce high schoolers to employability skills with the Human Knot activity. Groups of six grab hands to form a human knot and untangle themselves. The...
Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Understanding Conflicts

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The Resolving Conflicts module begins with a lesson about tolerance and learning to appreciate differences among people. Through a series of activities and games, middle schoolers learn that conflicts arise when people have opposing...
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Facing History and Ourselves

Fist to Five

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A "Fist to Five" routine asks participants to indicate how they feel about an opening question, like how ready they are to start learning, how well they understand instructions, etc. Groups then suggest strategies to get learners ready...
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Facing History and Ourselves

Making Meaning of Community

For Teachers 6th - 12th
In the post-pandemic classroom, it's more important than ever to begin the school year by building a strong sense of trust and community. Using the Make Meaning and Big Paper teaching techniques, groups develop a definition of community...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Four Corners Debate

For Teachers K - 12th
Should the student population wear uniforms to school? Pupils express whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with a controversial statement, moving to a designated corner of the room to indicate their stance....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

To Quote or Not to Quote

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Quotation marks are the focus of this resource. In it, youngsters discover how to correctly use punctuation marks. It is meant to be carried out over a three-day period. You could shorten it, but I wouldn't. The activities are...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adventures in Statistics

For Teachers 5th
Here is a fantastic lesson for your fifth grade math scholars. In it, learners must determine if the classrooms of upper graders are bigger, or smaller, than the classrooms of the lower grades. Some excellent worksheets are embedded in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Putting Back the Pieces

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders become museum conservators and undertake the hypothetical restoration of an ancient American work of art. Groups design a plan for reconstructing the work of art, outlining the steps they need to take and the materials...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Biomes Lesson 5: You Need a Vacation

For Teachers 6th - 10th
In cooperative groups, emerging ecologists research assigned biomes found in Arizona. Combining photos and facts, they use PowerPoint to produce a fully automated commercial that lasts 45 seconds. In addition to the lesson plan outline,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Praire Biome Models

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders, in groups, list the physical characteristics of a biome and think of ways in which animals might have to adapt to live there and make a biome mobile ball that show the different types of habitats that shape the praire biome.
Lesson Plan
BBC

Words in the News

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here's an "old-school" lesson plan on an event in US history. High schoolers look into the massive layoffs that occurred in New Orleans in 2005. Discussion and debate take place, and groups of learners must cut and paste a series of...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Literature and Art Through Our Eyes: African-American Artists

For Teachers 3rd - Higher Ed
Examine the contributions of African-Americans in the worlds of art and literature. Over the course of a few days, young scholars will read and analyze a poem, a short story, and a piece of art. They complete a range of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poly-Mania

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This hands-on lesson takes young geometers on a tour of 2D polygons and 3D polyhedrons. After exploring different web resources and discussing geometric shapes, small groups construct models of polyhedrons using bendable straws. Note:...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cell Analogies!

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Liken a cell and its organelles to a tiny person and its organs. After gathering information on cell structures and their functions, small groups collaborate to come up with an analogy of their own. They produce a collage describing the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Polygon Division Models

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students use polygons to explore division. They use pattern blocks to represent whole numbers and fractions. They discuss divisors, factors, dividend and products. In groups, students present models and solve problems. They justify their...