So many teachers loved our first collection of “22 Things We Found on ShareMyLesson That We Just Love,” we decided to delve back into this free website powered by the American Federation of Teachers to give you 22 more of our favorite bookmark-worthy teaching resources.
1. Superheroes: Comics in the Classroom
Let your students embrace their inner superhero in this super-motivating writing unit designed for grades 6–8. The detailed lesson plan has tons of writing activities for short stories, informative texts, biographies and comic strips. There are even PowerPoints to go along with each lesson.
2. 10 Productive Choices to Make Your School Days Run Smoothly
Teachers are decision-making machines! In this article from Share My Lesson’s Points to Ponder blog, you’ll find reminders and tips on things like what to say when you don’t know the answer to a student’s question to help you reflect on your choices and make positive decisions.
3. Road Trip!
Did someone say road trip?! Ask your students to plan a cross-country trip itinerary in this lesson for grades 9–12 that teaches economics and money management. Kids calculate driving distances and costs for gas, food, hotels and entertainment.
4. Parent-Teacher Conference Checklist
Students aren’t the only ones we need to connect with during the school year. You can use resources such as the parent-teacher conference checklist to build strong alliances with parents and encourage them to get involved in their children’s educations.
5. EZ-to-Digest Lessons on Close Reading
The real gem in this unit plan for grades 7–10 is that each lesson focuses on one small section of the skill sets students need to develop for effective close reading. This makes it easier for lower-level readers to digest the information.
6. The Constitution: The Country’s Rules
Not only will this cross-disciplinary lesson teach your first graders the importance of the U.S. Constitution, it also offers the bonus of reinforcing your classroom rules. The activities include reading poetry, listening to patriotic music and creating a Constitution necklace that represents the three branches of government.
7. Create a Peaceful Classroom Culture
Try out these peaceful rituals and games—like Two Truths and a Story and Compliment Relay—to establish a safe and positive classroom environment this year.
8. Life on Mars: What Are the Chances?
Science meets math in this lesson for grades 6–9 that compares the probability of there being life on Mars with winning the lottery.
9. Editing Tips for Students
As teachers, it’s in our nature to cringe when we read assignments with run-on sentences and misspellings that could have easily been caught with spell-check. Set your expectations for editing assignments with this PowerPoint for grades 7–8 that outlines the common mistakes students make when writing.
10. What’s in the Bag?
The littles will love this interactive lesson for grades PreK–1 that builds expressive language skills by asking students to guess the object in a bag after giving them three one-word clues.
11. 5 Tips for Elevating Your Teaching Voice
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that “owning our profession” isn’t being boastful or conceited. In this inspiring article by a middle school teacher, you’ll find tips on how to assert yourself as an expert educator in your subject area. By the way, if you’ve written about an education topic you’d like to share, you can submit it to Share My Lesson’s Points to Ponder blog for consideration.
12. Romeow & Drooliet Read by Haylie Duff
Your students in grades K–3 can watch this video of one of their favorite TV stars, Haylie Duff, reading a book about two dogs who are star-crossed lovers. You can also check out more books read by celebs—like Harry the Dirty Dog read by Betty White or Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch read by Hector Elizondo.
13. Blow the Whistle on Bullying
Get kids moving with this bullying prevention phys ed activity that helps students come up with strategies to self-monitor name-calling. Variations of the lesson are provided for elementary, middle and high school students.
14. Ice Cube Lift
There’s nothing like an experiment to get kindergartners excited about science! In this lesson, students get to actually see how water can change from solid to liquid or liquid to solid by using a piece of string to try to pick up an ice cube.
15. “Connect With Students” On-Demand Webinar
This webinar shows you how to implement strategies to create positive classroom chemistry and build strong connections with your students all year long. Bonus: You can get credit for attending all of Share My Lesson’s PD sessions. Check out more of their on-demand webinars—like Kicking the Year Off With Kindness and A Tool to Model Appropriate Behavior—here.
16. Around the World With Cinderella
Teach with fairy tales! Students read versions of Cinderella from various cultures and countries—like Egypt and Ireland—in this first-grade lesson. After reading, kids compare and contrast the different texts.
17. Ribbon Fractions
This three-lesson unit for third grade uses the example of having leftover ribbon after wrapping birthday presents as an introduction to fractions. Students use cut strips of ribbon to model the concepts.
18. Cardio Comparisons
Here’s the ultimate brain break for fourth graders! Students measure their heart rates while doing different cardio activities—like jumping rope or climbing stairs—and then record the data in tables and graphs.
19. Describing Dragons
In this one-week creative-writing unit for grades 3–6, students explore descriptive language by designing and describing the features of their own dragon.
20. Circumference Mystery
This video for seventh-grade geometry makes a mysterious connection between the estimated age of a tree and the property of circumference.
21. Transcendentalism and The Twilight Zone!
Cross over into … the Twilight Zone with your high school English class. In this lesson, students watch an old episode of The Twilight Zone and make connections between the philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau.
22. The Physics of Boomerangs
Boomerangs are one of those things that make you go hmmm! This video for grades 8–12 explains the physics behind boomerangs and then shows students how to make their own using cardboard, scissors, ruler, protractor and stapler.
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