Engaging Deeper Thinking

This activity is a great end of book project. It can be very effective as a group project, but can also be a great individual project. As a group students will need to justify and explain how they want their hexagons/ideas connected and agree at the ultimate arrangement. There isn't one right answer and the conversations will be rich and lots of critical thinking will be taking place.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is a beautiful tribute to the victims of 9/11. The website does an amazing job of bringing the museum and its exhibits to life even for people who have never been there. This Google Slide deck has links taking students throughout all corners of the website in an organized way. It hits on some of the lesser known aspects of 9/11 as well as gives students the big picture. It ends with a link that moves away from the museum and tells a less known story about the boat evacua

The Freedom Trail is a walking trail in Boston that links the many historical sites important to American history. This Google Slidedeck doesn't cover everything on the tour, but highlights those important to what students learn in American history. Some places included are the Paul Revere house, the Boston Massacre Site, Bunker Hill Memorial, and the USS Constitution. It also includes a link to another walking tour in Boston called the Black Heritage Trail. This is a carefully selected curation

Annotating while a student reads is an incredibly important skill. This assignment makes annotating fun with booksnaps. Students will look for signposts like words of the wiser, again and again, aha moments, memory moments, and tough questions. They will take a picture of the text and then create a fun and thoughtful reaction and analysis of the important quote they chose. This does not have to be used with The Lightning Thief. Booksnaps is an idea that works for any fictional book. It could be

Introduce your students to a very popular genre, dystopian future. It can be hard to find school appropriate content for this genre, but everything included here is clean. This slide deck can be used independently for students to work through on their own or it can be used as a whole group lesson. The videos and stories are sure to be engaging and get your students discussing big ideas with passion. This slide deck includes two original short stories based on the dystopian future genre that are

Students will briefly learn about what UNESCO world heritage sites are and will explore a map that shows their locations. They will then get a virtual tour of 5 different sites- the pyramids of Giza, Rome city center, sites in Greece, Easter Island, and the Taj Mahal. Each slide has a link and then questions to guide students in their explorations. The questions help the students stay focused as well as hold them accountable. Students will love this opportunity to explore the world and it could

This is a great beginning of the year activity to get to know your class. It gets the students really thinking about books that have been meaningful to them throughout their lives. Listening to students share the books that have impacted them will create classroom community and also allow you to get to know them as readers. You'd be surprised how inspirational of an activity this ends up being when students present their Textual Lineage to the class. This Google Slidedeck has example slides tha

There is a traveling exhibit called The Science Behind Pixar that has made its way across the United States to different Science Centers. They have created an amazing virtual exhibit that gives a wonderful online version of this exhibit. This Google Slidedeck helps students to stay organized and focused while they travel through the exhibit and holds them accountable while they explore. It is a great STEM activity and shows real world career connections for students who are interested in animati

Forever Ago is a podcast that digs into the history of popular everyday things. This episode is about the intriguing history of macaroni and cheese. Students will be surprise to learn how far back macaroni and cheese goes and to learn about how Thomas Jefferson introduced it to America and how it helped Americans during the Great Depression. There is a notes page as well as a fun, highly engaging blog post assignment. Students will take notes during the podcast and then use those notes to creat

This virtual field trip takes students through 4 specific exhibits in the British Museum that focus on ancient Egypt, the ancient Mayans, and then allows the students to more freely explore the museum. The students will answer questions about each exhibit. The slide deck ends with an interesting video by that explains some controversy around some of the artifacts in the British Museum. This virtual field trip is sure to get your students thinking. Please preview the content. It could be used as

This virtual field trip begins in Pompeii. Pompeii has 360 degree views of the ruins that students can explore. It gives informative background knowledge about Pompeii before the eruption as well as why the impact of its discovery is so important. Finally, there is a connection to another famous volcanic eruption that occurred in what is now Greece. They share the connection of both being destroyed by a volcanic eruption, but at the same time being perfectly preserved underneath the ash for thou

How I Built This is a podcast about innovators and entrepreneurs that have made it big. There are over 400 episodes so I have curated a list that I think will interest students and are also appropriate for upper elementary students all the way through high school. This is a great podcast for the classroom because the more careers and exposure students have to other stories, the bigger their own dreams for the future can become.  Have students choose 1 or 2 of the episodes to listen to on their o

Cinderella is a classic tale that has been told across cultures for hundreds of years. Many students will be familiar with the Disney version that is mostly based on the Charles Perault version. Using Epic and your school or local library you will need to plan ahead to check out some of the recommended Cinderella books. This unit could easily take a week. It is recommended they partner read one book a day while filling out a table that analyzes the common Cinderella events. On the fourth and fif

Virtual Field Trips are highly engaging. They are a great way for students to explore a little piece of the world without having to leave the classroom. This virtual tour takes students to Hawaii. Maunakea is a stunning space observatory at the top of the tallest mountain in Hawaii. Students can navigate through the summit at different times of day- sunset and night are absolutely beautiful- as well as see some of the telescopes up close. VR glasses can be used, but are definitely NOT a requirem

Students will learn all about the history of how and why we celebrate Thanksgiving in this google slides exploration. Each slide has links to different parts of the Thanksgiving story. Everything from Holland where the Pilgrims lived before they began their voyage across the Atlantic, to interactive explorations of their harrowing journey across the Atlantic, to the history of the Wampanoag tribe that lived in Plymouth, and what events led to that first celebration. There is a 30 minute video wi

There is an amazing variety of podcasts and uses of podcasts to bring into the classroom. This one is more focused on the Social Emotional aspect of school. These are short 3-5 minute episodes called A Little Happier. Included with the links to this collection of 6 intriguing episodes is journaling/reflection questions that students can complete individually and then share as a class whole group or during a community circle discussion.

This slide deck is the perfect introduction to the history and cultural traditions represented in the Lunar New Year (sometimes called Chinese New Year or Asian New Year) celebrations. It is comprised of 4 very short video links that provide insight into the different new year traditions like the history, the lion dance, fireworks, and the myth behind the zodiac. Each video has a few questions to go with it. At the end of the slide deck there is an optional art activity that involves salt paint

This is a fun assignment for students learning about the solar system. This allows students to pick a planet to research and then write a postcard pretending to be an astronaut exploring this planet writing to someone back on Earth. They will incorporate facts about the planet with creative details about what that person would be experiencing while on that planet. Links are provided to help students research their chosen planets. Also, a sample is provided. The final product will be handwritten

This Google slide deck has links for students to explore deeply the history of meteorites on Earth, with a special emphasis on the one that left the impact known as Meteor Crater in northern Arizona. Students will explore different websites and answer questions about the sites and there is also a video of a scientist at the bottom of Meteor Crater. This would be the perfect addition for any unit about the solar system. It could also be used as a stand alone virtual field trip. All kids are fasci

This slide deck is a wonderful way to help students appreciate the cultural, economic, and environmental aspects of Christmas tree farming. Many people don't have any idea how Christmas trees are harvested and grown or much about the sustainability practices they have in place. This presentation will show you a wonderful video from one of the largest Christmas tree farms in the United States. Students will also be introduced to a highly effective and engaging way to take notes called Sketchnotin