Differentiating in Math Using Computer Games

Second grade teacher Robert Pronovost explains how he uses technology when teaching addition and subtraction. Students use two computer programs, Planet Turtle and Dream Box, to practice math. While students work on computers, Robert teaches differentiated math lessons in small groups. He explains how using technology helps to free him up for individualized lessons and elaborates on how he uses computer programs that assess learning and guide students through different levels.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Teaching Channel

Animal Inquiry

Supporting inquiry-based research projects, the Animal Inquiry interactive invites elementary students to explore animal facts and habitats using writing prompts to guide and record their findings.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Family Traditions

This lesson is a follow-up to the lesson "Who's Your Mama? A Family Who's Who" and is mainly based on "The Relatives Came" by Cynthia Rylant; therefore, family structure including titles or roles is assumed to be prior knowledge for this lesson.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Laura Bahlmann, Mary Lail

Sum Calculator Fun

Students work in pairs to practice math facts and use calculators to check answers.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Laurie Melton

Mapping Characters Across Book Series

Students work on a guided characterization project, using a graphic map to illustrate the ways a character from a book series grows and evolves over the course of the story.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

100's Day

What does 100 look like? Sound like? Feel like? In this video from Curious George, explore the many ways to measure 100 things. ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media. ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media.

Material Type: Lecture

Authors: National Science Foundation, WGBH Educational Foundation

Penguin Chick

In this nonfiction selection, an Emperor penguin lays an egg in the bitter cold of Antarctica. The penguin parents battle the harsh environment to protect the egg and nurture the chick to maturity.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Author: Betty Tatham

Penguin Watch

This website is designed to contain up-to-date news and information about the issues facing penguins in their natural habita,t specifically the African Penguin. Penguins feed at or near the top of food chains in many ecosystems and so are sensitive to alterations in the marine habitat. They are also highly visible enigmatic birds which as a family have a circumglobal distribution within the southern hemisphere. However, many of the world's 18 penguin species are facing threats to their existence. In 2010, 11 species were considered of conservation concern and five of these, including the African Penguin, were listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, The threats facing penguins are not unique, but generally represent more widespread impacts by man on the marine environment or its islands. Measure, will also be advantageous to the health of the wider marine environment and the other species that inhabit it. In other words, penguins are ambassadors of marine biodiversity and they should be seen as flagship species for conservation with their fate representing that of many of the worlds marine ecosystems and organisms.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading

Author: Department of Zoology

Fraction Penguin

In this craft activity, learners will recognize, name, and compare the fractions 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 by constructing a penguin out of portions of paper circles. This detailed lesson plan includes key vocabulary words, background information for educators, extension ideas, and resources.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: California Academy of Sciences

Bowling for Numbers

The purpose of this game is to help students think flexibly about numbers and operations and to record multiple operations using proper notation.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Illustrative Mathematics

Weather Experiments

Activities for children to learn about weather and tools for teachers and parents to help them explain the different types of weather to children.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Peace Poems and Picasso Doves: Literature, Art, Technology, and Poetry

Students apply think-aloud strategies to reading and to composition of artwork and poetry. They research symbols of peace as they prewrite, compose, and publish their poetry.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Unit of Study

Adding Fractions

Add two fractions with a visual representation.

Material Type: Simulation

Empowered Fiction Writers: Generating and Organizing Ideas for Story Writing

Do their minds go blank when they confront a blank piece of paper? Speedwriting can help students get started on writing and come up with topics to write about. They can then incorporate their key ideas and phrases into a narrative with the help of a graphic story organizer.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Simple Machines

This is an online activity about simple machines. Learners will try their hand at putting these amazing devices to work. They will use several simple machines to "build" a tree house. This an excellent activity to demonstrate how science-particular, simple machines-are at work in our every day lives.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Diagram/Illustration, Game, Interactive, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: COSI

Building Simple Machines: A Glass of Milk, Please

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast shows how the 34 steps in their Rube Goldberg invention use everything from gravity to carbon dioxide gas in order to accomplish one simple task: pouring a glass of milk. ***Access to Teacher's Domain content now requires free login to PBS Learning Media.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: National Science Foundation, WGBH Educational Foundation

Strategy Guide: Making the Reading Process Visible Through Performance Assessment

Effective differentiation begins with purposeful assessment. In this strategy guide, you’ll learn how to construct an authentic performance-based reading assessment that will give you access to students’ thinking before, during, and after reading.

Material Type: Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Bears of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Electronic Field Trip

Bears of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Electronic Field Trip presents 40 photos of grizzlies and black bears fishing, traveling with their cubs, and in various other activities and habitats. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is prime grizzly and black bear habitat. GYE encompasses two national parks, portions of six national forests, three national wildlife refuges, private and state lands, tribal lands, and Bureau of Land Management holdings. Its18 million acres (28,315 square miles) are approximately the same land area as the state of West Virginia! Many factors determine the long-term survival of bears in this vast area. They include proper food sources, open spaces that are free of human development, diversity of landscapes, and sound bear management practices. Climb aboard our virtual bus, look through its windows into wonderland, and experience the Bears of Yellowstone. Simply open your mind, post your questions on the message board, and see for yourselves how and why Yellowstone National Park is one of the last remaining strongholds of the magnificent grizzly bear in the lower 48 states. Truly, this is one field trip that "bears" a closer look and can save not only a bear's life, but your own!

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Yosemite National Park - A Birds Eye View

This animation of Yosemite National Park was created with Landsat 7 data. It was part of a series of animations done to promote our National Parks.

Authors: Alex Kekesi, Darrel Williams, Lori Perkins, Randall Jones