Lesson Ideas
Primary Lesson Ideas
Digital Stories & Responding to Stories
There are many beautiful read aloud stories your students could listen to. We love Storyline Online and Epic Books for books.
In Storyline Online, you choose a book you want students to read (they even have teacher guides for the books). Next, have students respond to the story in Flipgrid or Seesaw. They could draw a picture, write about the story, and then share their response in the format which makes sense for your students.
Check out the example to see how students could do this (we used Google Slides).
Finish the Comic
Educator Jarrett Lerner (@JarrettLerner on Twitter) has created many incomplete comics students need to finish. Students could do this activity by drawing on a screen in Seesaw, adding images in Google Slides, or by printing and completing it by drawing.
Students would love to see what their classmates create. Students could share their work on Flipgrid or the teacher could add a page on their website for WOW work (just like a classroom bulletin board).
He shares more on his website: https://jarrettlerner.com/activities/
Intermediate Lesson Ideas
HyperDoc Lessons
A HyperDoc lesson generally follows a 5E lesson plan model. The goal is for students to engage with content in multiple ways. The lesson linked above is a good introduction for students to the format. For more resources on HyperDoc lessons, click here.
Lesson Notes: This lesson can be embedded in a Google Site or Google Classroom. Students can work on this over a couple of days to complete.
Secondary Lesson Ideas
National Geographic Learn at Home activities for grades 6-12
Fostering curiosity and a passion for lifelong learning, this curated collection of activities can be adapted for students in grades 6-12 in a remote learning environment. Explore the planet through interactives and short lessons or take a deeper dive into a subject area with a complete unit.
The Learning Network
Teaching Resources for Bringing the World Into Your Classroom
Since 1998, The Learning Network has been helping people teach and learn with The New York Times. Here are tips for how to use our site.
Notes:
You and students can access articles, essays, images, videos, graphics and podcasts.
Most resources are free (only our lesson plans are limited to five per month for nonsubscribers).
Lessons and activities are included for ELA, Social Studies, ELL & Arts, Science & Math, and Current Events
GeoInquiries
GeoInquiries™ are short, standards-based inquiry activities for teaching map-based content found in commonly used textbooks. Each activity is designed using a common inquiry model and can be presented quickly from a single computer and projector or modified for students’ hands-on engagement. Collections of 15-20 activities per topic enhance your curriculum throughout the year. For more GeoInquiry resources, see the Guide "Getting to Know GeoInquiries".
Notes:
Teachers and students can access most GeoInquiry activities for free and without an ESRI account.
GeoInquiries are written for multiple content areas including:
Virtual Book Clubs
The School Library Journal published "How to Run a Virtual Book Club with Middle Schoolers" on how to engage learners in online book clubs.
Google Classroom Book Club: How to engage your student readers online
Emily at Read, Write, Learn It shares concrete ways to establish procedures and processes to set up book clubs with secondary students and includes strategies to implement via Google Classroom.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor founded iCivics in 2009 to reimagine civic education.
Her vision was clear and ambitious:
To cultivate a new generation of students for thoughtful and active citizenship. Civic knowledge is a prerequisite for civic participation. Yet for decades, civic education had largely disappeared from school curricula and the repercussions are undeniable.
Capturing this Moment in History
High school educator Kelly Gallagher and colleagues are engaging their students have created an extended lesson plan designed to encourage students to capture this moment in history.
He offers some thoughts about this assignment and provides a link to download the lesson plan.
Some additional ideas about students' documenting their experiences:
Current Events: Coronavirus
Here's a collection of resources for integrating current events, specifically the current global pandemic, into secondary content areas.
Coronavirus Resources: Teaching, Learning and Thinking Critically from the New York Times Learning Network
Stream live Explorer Classroom sessions every weekday at 2:00 p.m. EDT directly from the Explorer Classroom YouTube Channel here
Check out the calendar of events at Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants and stream events live on their YouTube Channel here
Weekday Live Sessions with Scientists, Naturalists, Storytellers, and Explorers
As communities around the world are exploring new ways of teaching and learning at home, we invite you to join us for live broadcasts of Explorer Classroom. In our commitment to support educators, students and families during this transition, we are now providing Explorer Classroom every weekday at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Explorer Classroom’s live video events connect students with National Geographic Explorers across all seven continents to bring exploration to life.
Events are free and open to the public.
Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants
Beaming Science, Exploration, Adventure and Conservation into Classrooms Across North America
Guest Speakers and Virtual Field Trips with Leading Experts from Around the World
Using Technology to Broadcast Live into Classrooms from the Most Remote Regions on the Planet
Events are free and open to the public.
Teachers Who Are Rocking It!
Amanda Sandoval is a US History teacher in California. Click on the image below to check out her HS Google Site. She is @historysandoval on Twitter.
Ideas to Keep You Going!
