Historical Thinking Matters
Spanish-American War: 3 Day Lesson
Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents that...
California Academy of Science
Colorful Fish Adaptations
I love lessons that incorporate the arts, they're so engaging and address a more diverse set of learners. Your class will investigate the reasons fish from the coal reef have adapted such colorful fins. They design a fish that uses color...
Curated OER
Dictionary Skills
Second graders use resources such as dictionaries and glossaries correctly to build word meaning and to practice all uses of their references; students also practice alphabetical order while locating information.
PBS
Baseball: The Tenth Inning - Bases Divided
Baseball is a relatively high-interest topic through which social studies classes can explore racial prejudice in the US. Video clips provide much of the background information that groups record on their handout and then share with the...
Shakespeare Uncovered
War and Leadership in Shakespeare’s Henry V
“Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” These two views of war, embodied in George Patton’s statement and Lorraine Schneider‘s famous 1966...
Curated OER
How Has Colonialism Led to Multilingualism in Africa
Prepare yourself for a top-notch presentation on colonialism in Africa! Discussed are the reasons for African multilingualism. Maps and a country-by-country look at various colonists that made their mark on the African continent are...
Curated OER
Environmental Rhyme and Reason
Students employ poetry as a medium to relay information and express views about significant environmental issues that exist today and to assess their effects on The State of the Planet as we enter the next millennium.
Media Smarts
Bias in News Sources
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
Curated OER
Transportation
Engage in an 8-day study of different modes of transportation. Your students explore the concept of location and define the physical characteristics of places, such as, land forms, bodies of water, natural resources, and weather.
Curated OER
Water Sources in Cape Verde and West Africa
Young explorers study the scarcity and importance of a continuous supply of fresh water in Cape Verde. They research the five main ways that fresh water is obtained in these countries. Each research group prepares a presentation, and...
Curated OER
Math for Kids
OK, now this is a cool resource. It contains ideas for 7 stations intended to be used by kids and their parents during family night at school. Each station engages learners (of all ages) in using scientific reasoning and mathematical...
Mathalicious
Been Caught Stealing
You're safe, when calculating the odds of stealing second base! Learners compare the rate of a runner to the distance the ball travels, in a lesson that explores right triangles and measurement. Full of discussion questions and fun...
Mathalicious
Out of Left Field
A baseball trajectory and a parabola seem to make the best pair in real-world quadratic applications. Here is a current baseball resource with questions, discussions, and explorations regarding a quadratic function and home run...
Curated OER
The Blues, B.B. King, Muddy Waters
B.B. King and Muddy Waters are two of the most famous blues performers of all time. In this music lesson, middle schoolers study the early careers and lasting musical contributions of both artists, each of whom carried the blues on to...
Scholastic
A Tale to Tell!
A creative spin occurs when one pupil acts as author Ann M. Martin. Using a Q & A at the back of her book A Dog's Life, other classmates ask the "author" questions. They discuss the reasons why they know the book is from a...
Curated OER
Literacy Activity: The Perfect Pet
Students develop their listening skills as they listen to the book The Perfect Pet. In this reading lesson, students listen to the book, and then talk about the pets they have. Then they make a graph as a class of all their pets.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...
TED-Ed
How Languages Evolve
Do all languages have a common ancestor? Although no one yet knows the answer to that big question, the narrator of this short, animated video explains how linguists use migration patterns, geological features, and word clues to...
Kids Can Have Fun
Cut and Paste Shapes
Engage youngsters in exploring the wonderful world of shapes with this series of cut-and-paste activities. Offering a variety of materials from printable pattern blocks to a series of matching exercises, this resource will have your...
Radford University
How Tall is the Tree?
Pairs or small groups work together to determine the height of a tree using similar triangles. Learners make a judgement which direction to let a tree fall to avoid hitting any structures. They then write letters to the principal...
Curated OER
Blazing the Trail
Learning about proportions through measuring and mapping distances is the focus of this real-world math instructional activity that doubles as an activity. Mathematicians complete a course designed to measure and map locations in order...
Curated OER
Governance
Second graders practice decision making. In this government lesson students role play making different types of decisions. They discuss how decisions affect life. The Great Binding Law of the Iroquois Confederacy is used as a focus.
Curated OER
Fun With Pacific Northwest Cities and Towns
Intended for fun only, learners play with the names of cities common to their region or state. This lesson includes a list of cities in Oregon and not much else. What you and your class choose to do with your list of cities is up to you.
Curated OER
Sort It Out
Elementary schoolers engage in a game of logical reasoning called Secret Sort. A Venn diagram is used as a way to sort objects. This resource would be a great way to introduce the Venn diagram (maybe the most famous, and most-useful...