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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

OPTIC - A Reading Strategy Recipe: Visual Literacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A visual literary lesson provides learners with OPTIC (Observations, Predictions, Themes, Inferences, Conclusions), a reading strategy to help them understand and interpret visual and written texts. Scholars practice the strategy with a...
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Unit Plan
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Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl Matilda Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...
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Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Gorongosa: Making Observations Activity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Do you have young scientists wanting to make new discoveries rather than just completing the same experiments? Young scientists use their observational skills to identify animals and patterns in animal behavior. Through tracking...
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Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Mirroring Emotions

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Do you ever give your class the "teacher look"? Without saying a word, they become silent and engaged (hopefully). How do they know what you're thinking? Explore the concept of nonverbal communication and how it relates to our mirror...
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Lesson Plan
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Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Using Our Senses to Observe

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Look around and explore. Little ones use their five senses with some day-to-day activities designed to guide observation and apply STEM strategies. Young scientists learn through comparing/contrasting and observing with magnifiers as...
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Lesson Plan
Project Noah

Writing Goes Wild

For Teachers 4th Standards
Young scientists develop their observation and writing skills as they craft and then post a detailed description of a plant or animal they have spotted and photographed.
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Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Inquiry Cubes

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
How do you teach kids to "science" effectively? Inquiry cubes are a "sort of" puzzle with no answer—promoting even more questions! Group members work together to use the evidence on the visible sides of each cube to infer what lies on...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Metier of Blossoming" by Denise Levertov

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Poetry analysis need not be a lugubrious exercise for young learners. The approach used with Denise Levertov's poem, "The Metier of Blossoming" is one of close observation, of noticing and reflecting on the words, phrases, and images the...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Crisscross” by Arthur Sze

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Arthur Sze's poem "Crisscross" launches a lesson that asks scholars to use their observation skills. They first draw an image that reflects what crisscross means to them. They then examine a photograph of a lightning strike and list what...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Instructions on Not Giving Up" by Ada Limón

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What do the myth of the phoenix bird and Ada Limón's poem "Instructions on Not Giving Up" have in common? Young scholars create a list of what they notice about both the myth and poem, then consider what the similarities might indicate...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" by E. E. Cummings

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars engage in a role-play exercise, compare their demonstration to a time-lapse video, and to a poem by E.E. Cummings. The ensuing discussion asks learners to consider the similarities among the three.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" by Ed Roberson

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A free write, an image of magnolia leaves, and the Ed Roberson's poem "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" ask scholars to use their noticing skills to reflect on the lesson beauty teaches about loss and grief.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
William Wordsworth's poem "Lines Written in Early Spring" lets learners sharpen their observation skills. Class members first closely examine the image "Flowers in Front of an Abandoned House in Demerino, Russia," listing what they...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Explore Art and Movement Inspired by Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Panel 58 from Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" of paintings provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to sharpen their observation and analytical skills. After engaging in a warm-up activity that introduces the concepts of...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Compare and Contrast: School Photographs

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Separate and very unequal! An interactive presents learners with two images: a photograph of a boys' bathroom at a school in Gloucester County, Virginia, and a second of a girls' bathroom at a different school in the same county. The...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Show and Tell Museum - Investigating Primary Sources: Read and Interpret Primary Sources

For Teachers 3rd
Scholars become detectives in a activity that focuses on primary sources. Learners practice their observational skills by examining the teacher's artifact and visiting the Show and Tell Museum that highlihgts items from peers and...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Understanding Nonverbal Messages

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The Overcoming Obstacles course for middle schoolers continues with a unit module on communication. In the first lesson, participants engage in a series of activities that help them recognize nonverbal clues and the importance of making...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Declaration” by Tracy K. Smith

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Tracy K. Smith's erasure poem "Declaration" challenges scholars to use their noticing skills to make connections between an engraving entitled "The Declaration of Independence" and Smith's poem. Class members record observations and...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

Critical Observation Challenge: Was Elsa Really Arrested?

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
A 14-slide presentation showcases a social media post featuring Disney's Elsa from the movie, Frozen. The seemingly harmless post received lots of attention, raising the question, how do we know posts are factual? Scholars go through...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Curious George: Fan and Blow

For Teachers Pre-K - 4th Standards
What kind of wind works best to make things move? After watching a short video from Curious George, super scientists answer the question by testing various wind-making tools. Learners observe, record, and share their findings.
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Lesson Plan
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Workforce Solutions

On the Job

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Four lessons spotlight a variety of professions while boosting listening and observational skills and making inferences. Lesson one challenges pupils to group cards based on a commonality then justify the relationship they see. Lesson...
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Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Keeping a Field Journal

For Students 6th - 12th
Young scientists begin a field journal by following four steps. A real-world example of an entry showcases the different parts, including location, date, drawings, and more. 
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Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Draw a Monarch

For Students 6th - 12th
Five steps walk scholars through the process of drawing a Monarch butterfly. Participants research the insect, make observations, trace, then color. 
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Putting in the Seed" by Robert Frost

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young botanists dig into a lesson that has them planting lima bean seeds and observing their growth. They compare their experience to that of the speaker in Robert Frost's poem, "Putting in the Seed."