This article describes covert and overt active engagement strategies for use with elementary students. Find the Question templates are included for use with informational text.

This article discusses the four forms of identifying similarities and differences: comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies and how these strategies can be used in an elementary classroom.

Learn about how organisms adapt to their habitats. This video is part of The Virtual School's "Adapting and Living Together" chapter within our Ecology and Environment topic.

This is a great lesson to use with pre-intermediate students. Though parts of it can be used with beginner students and as a review for more advanced students. The point of this lesson is to give students the ability to differentiate between similar-looking adjectives in English. When teaching adjectives ending in –ed and –ing you will cover words like boring and bored which tend to confuse new speakers. So if you find that one of your students is struggling with adjectives this is the right lesson to teach.If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Lesson 1 introduces words that are commonly used when speaking and writing. Students will learn basic adjectives old/new and young/old.If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Secondly, lesson 2 introduces more complex adjectives like wide/narrow and fresh/stale. Students will have a chance to put the adjectives into use through various activities.If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Lastly, lesson 3 focuses on more complex adjectives like dull/smart. Though these adjectives aren’t as common, they are still important for English learners to know.If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Lesson 2 allows students to practice what they learned prior. With your help, students can work on recognizing letters out of sequential order while learning additional vocabulary.If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Lesson 3 introduces spelling exercises to challenge your student’s existing knowledge of each letter. It can also be used as a review lesson for more intermediate students.If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

This article highlights resources related to water from the American Museum of Natural History and at-home activities on ice and water.

This article includes links to expository text for students in grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 about the climate differences between the Arctic and Antarctica.

Our new ESL Lesson Plan teaches about the use of two important pronouns – Anybody Nobody. A robust lesson plan with clear description, examples and practice opportunities, this is an engaging lesson that will help your students understand the use of these pronouns. The lesson is designed for Level B1 (pre-intermediate).If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

This article describes several traditional Inuit games and provides background information and resources for incorporating them into a lesson or unit on Inuit culture.

This article discusses how to use murals as an interdisciplinary, cooperative activity to blend science, art, and math concepts.

This article provides an overview of using rubrics as a method of assessment and discusses technological tools that facilitate the creation of rubrics.

This article reprints and links to informational text about the adaptations that allow mammals and fish to survive in polar oceans. Versions are available for students in grades K-1, 2-3 and 4-5. Related science and literacy activities are included.

This article includes links to expository text for students in grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 about the aurora.

This article lists seven art techniques and four poetry types that can be used to depict and describe the aurora.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Microbes are all around us. With around the same number of bacteria as cells in each human body, our microbiomes are constantly interacting with microbes in the surrounding environment. And indoor environmental microbes can influence our health, affecting allergies, asthma, and other health conditions. To better characterize indoor microbial communities, researchers conducted an environmental assessment as part of an epidemiologic study of 50 elementary schools in a large city in the United States. They identified more than 2,000 bacterial species in floor dust collected from 500 classrooms. The most abundant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and interestingly, the genus Halospirulina was reported for the first time in a classroom sample. Outdoor-associated and gram-negative bacteria were more abundant in classroom floor dust compared to homes, where human-associated and gram-positive bacteria are more abundant..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This article provides a brief discussion of the importance of teaching students to analyze data and representations of data as well as two resources that can help teachers implement these strategies into their instruction.