TeachableMoment.Org provides educators with timely teaching ideas to encourage critical thinking on issues of the day and foster a positive classroom environment. It is a project of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility (formerly Educators for Social Responsibility Metropolitan Area).
Topical activities are available for elementary school, middle school, and high school levels.
Activities for
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
THE GARBAGE PATCH: Two Earth Day Lessons for Elementary Students (4/8/09) With the help of a short video clip, students explore the 'life cycle' of a plastic bag and develop a 'reduce, reuse, recycle' action plan.
LESSONS ON THE INAUGURATION for grades K-12 (posted 1/13/09) Our 15-page PDF booklet includes student readings and interactive lessons about the inauguration, Obama's inaugural speech, the challenges facing the new administration, and the inaugurals of presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt.
AWARENESS OF ANGER for grades 3-6 (12/10/08) Students reflect on a time when they were angry. They describe the ways people communicate and physically react when they have strong feelings and consider what choices we can make when we are angry.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Classroom Activities for Starting Off the School Year (9/3/08) This 28-page PDF booklet includes great activities to get your class (grades preK-12) off to a good start in the new school year.
ACTIVE LISTENING (for grades 3-6) (7/1/08) In this lesson, students practice active listening by paraphrasing what they hear.
POINT OF VIEW for grades 3-6 (5/21/08) Through an exercise and roleplays, students consider the importance of understanding another person's point of view in solving a conflict.
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION? for grades K-3 (4/16/08) In these two fun classroom activities, students practice sending and receiving messages and consider what communication is.
PEACEMAKERS (for grades 3-6) (3/19/08) A series of classroom activities culminate in students interviewing a peacemaker in their school or community.
CONFLICT AND WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS: Two Lessons for Grades 3-6 (2/27/08) The first lesson introduces students to the concept of conflict; the second has students practice coming up with "win-win solutions."
RESPECTING DIFFERENCES for K-2 (2/20/08) Students observe that even friends may disagree in their opinions. The lesson includes an "opinion continuum" exercise that encourages students to respectfully express and listen to different opinions.
LISTENING WELL (2/6/08) In this activity for grades 3-6, students practice the skills of good listening.
ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT: What can we do about it? Through a series of engaging activities, students learn basic facts about climate change and consider what we can do about it.
WORK, WORKERS, & THE US LABOR MOVEMENT: Unit Plan for 5th Grade Social Studies An 8-lesson activity helps students explore issues of work and workplace conflicts through reading, discussion, interviews, and investigation.
Two Problem-Solving Approaches (K-12) Regularly instituting these two approaches in your classroom will build your students' problem-solving skills and create a more congenial classroom atmosphere.
Teacher Mentors for Students By spending a little informal time each week with a student not from their class, a teacher mentor can play an important role in a young person's life.
Study Guides: The Librarian of Basra and Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq These two recent children's books (grades K-12) present a positive opportunity to open up discussions of the Iraq war with students. Both tell the story of Alia Muhammed Baker, the chief librarian of Basra, Iraq, who saved 30,000 books from Basra's library before it burned during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Community Meeting & Meditation (Grades K-5)
These two classroom practices give your students time and space to reflect on and discuss their thoughts and feelings.
I-Messages & The Assertiveness Line (Grades K-5) Teaching students these strategies to deal with problems that come up with friends can help create a more peaceable classroom.
Think Differently (Grades K-5) Two great activities to add to your classroom routine: an Opinion Continuum opener, and a Win-Win Role-Play & Discussion.
10-Minute Community-Builders (Grades K-5) An experienced classroom teacher offers two 10-minute activities she has found useful in building community in her classroom, particularly at the start of the school year.
Feelings Charade (Grades 4-12) This fun activity can help open up communication with and among students about their feelings. It also helps build students' vocabulary and their confidence in using their full vocabulary range.
Puppet Skit: Dealing with a Bully (Grades K-1) After two puppets discuss how a bully at their school, youngsters analyze what they've seen and consider w to respond to the bully.
The Heart Story Encourages students to consider the effect of "put-downs" and to think about how to express "put-ups."
Conflict Escalator Uses puppets to introduce young children to the concept of escalating and deescalating conflict.
Be strong, Be Mean, or Give In? (Grades 3-5) Uses a student role play to help young people consider the choices of assertiveness, aggressiveness, and passivity.
Two Activities on Diversity In a group and one-on-one, students consider their similarities and differences and see that it's okay to talk about diversity.
Exploring Stereotypes: First Thoughts (Grades 4-6)
Students consider stereotypes, beginning with stereotypes of "teenagers."
Listening Circles
This simple process gives young people--and adults--a chance to express their feelings about events of the day.
Microlab for Exploring Tough Issues Well-structured small-group discussion can help students discuss issues of the day that concern them.
10-Point Model for Teaching Controversial Issues A classic guide for how to explore sensitive issues in your classroom.
Activities for
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS
MESSAGE IN THE WAVES: Two Earth Day Lessons for Middle School Students (4/8/09) After viewing a short video clip, students consider the effect all our waste has on the environment and develop a 'reduce, reuse, recyle' action plan.
LESSONS ON THE INAUGURATION for grades K-12 ( 1/13/09) Our 15-page PDF booklet includes student readings and interactive lessons about the inauguration, Obama's inaugural speech, the challenges facing the new administration, and the inaugurals of presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Classroom Activities for Starting Off the School Year (9/3/08) This 28-page PDF booklet includes great activities to get your class (grades preK-12) off to a good start in the new school year.
Presidential Election 2008: MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES (for grades 4-6) (1/30/08) Four 45-minute lessons engage students in considering what qualities they might look for in a political candidate; how to get information about candidates; and how they and the adults in their lives decide whom to vote for.
ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT: What can we do? Through a series of engaging activities, middle or high school students learn basic facts about climate change and consider what we can do about it.
Two Problem-Solving Approaches (K-12) Regularly instituting these two approaches in your classroom will build your students' problem-solving skills and create a more congenial classroom atmosphere.
Study Guides: The Librarian of Basra and Alia's Mission:Saving the Books of Iraq These two recent children's books (grades K-12) present a positive opportunity to open up discussions of the Iraq war with students. Both tell the story of Alia Muhammed Baker, the chief librarian of Basra, Iraq, who saved 30,000 books from Basra's library before it burned during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
I-Messages & the Assertiveness Line
Teach your students a strategy for being assertive when problems come up with friends and family. Then have students practice the skill regularly.
Feelings Charade (Grades 4-12)
This fun activity can help open up communication with and among students about their feelings. It also helps build students' vocabulary and their confidence in using their full vocabulary range.
Find Someone Who
This fun activity is a good one to use at the beginning of a course. It's a quick way for students to connect with one another and overcome shyness.
Affirmation Interview
Students interview and learn about one another.
Listening Circles
This simple process gives young people--and adults--a chance to express their feelings about events of the day.
Cultural Banners
Students work individually to create a "cultural banner" expressing values, traditions, and activities important in their families.
Machine Building: A Cooperative Activity
Students work in small groups to create a group "machine."
Coping Strategies: Managing Feelings
Working in small groups, students categorize coping strategies as positive, negative, neutral, and time-out behaviors.
Metaphors for Expressing Feelings
Students examine how feelings are expressed in a poem, and then use metaphor to write about their own feelings.
Similes & Feelings
Students explore anger using similes.
Activities for
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
War, Peace, Terrorism & Other Global Issues
The Middle East
Nuclear Weapons & Other Related Issues
Teaching Strategies
Ideas & Essays
'THREE CUPS OF TEA' and a Man with a Mission (12/3/08) Alan Shapiro appreciates the book about Greg Mortenson, the man who builds schools and bridges of understanding with people in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Essay: HISTORY: THE DISENCHANTING INSTRUMENT OF RECALL ( 4/30/08) Alan Shapiro asks: Are we, as teachers and citizens, willing to examine the disturbing actions of our government since 9/11? And what are the consequences of not examining them?
EARTH DAY 2008: An Essay on HISTORY & THE ENVIRONMENT ( 4/30/08) An Earth Day presentation to students prompts educator Alan Singer to reflect on some vital questions that Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth left out.
FREIRE, AYERS & AN ECONOMICS LESSON FOR FIFTH-GRADERS The theories of Freire and Ayers--and the Massachusetts curriculum framework--guide Emma Rose Roderick in creating a unit plan for fifth-graders on work (Freire, Ayers & an Economics Lesson for Fifth Graders).
NURTURING THE PEACEMAKERS IN OUR STUDENTS: A Guide to Writing & Speaking Out About Issues of Peace and War Alan Shapiro reviews the new book by teacher Chris Weber
THOUGHT-PROVOKING SUMMER READING Our ever-inquiring curriculum writer Alan Shapiro suggests books, articles & a blog that are sure to sharpen your thinking.
Book Review: OVERTHROW Alan Shapiro reviews Stephen Kinzer's compelling account of "America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq."
Book Reviews: BURY THE CHAINS: Prophets & Rebels in the the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves and KING LEOPOLD'S GHOST Alan Shapiro reviews two books by Adam Hochschild about injustices and those who fought to end them.
Essay: WARMTH & LIGHT DISPEL THE CLASSROOM CHILL In a talk at the recent Educators to Stop the War Conference, ESR Metro executive director Tom Roderick reflects on the creativity of teachers during these trying times.
Essay: POST-ELECTION THOUGHTS ESR Metro executive director Tom Roderick considers Bush, Kerry, the nature of moral values, and where we go from here.
Teachers' Forum: HOW DO YOU TEACH ABOUT THE ELECTION?
Classroom teachers share their ideas about how to address the 2004 presidential election in the classroom.
Essay: SEND IN THE COPS?
School violence is once again making headlines in New York City and politicians are scrambling to do something about it. Unfortunately, so far they aren't addressing the core issue: how to foster good relationships in our schools.
The Essential Skill of Crap Detecting.
Students can practice the art using today's news.
Teaching Politics & the Politics of Teaching.
There's no escaping it: Teaching is a political act.
Teaching on Controversial Issues
Nine all-purpose guidelines to keep in mind.
Teaching Critical Thinking: The Believing Game & the Doubting Game
These two processes offer us an opportunity to think rigorously without polarization and to embrace contradictions that normally divide us.
The Plagiarism Perplex
The world wide web is the greatest resource for student plagiarism since the creation of the encyclopedia, writes Alan Shapiro. What's a teacher to do?
How to Stop Cheaters
Students enter the test room with time-honored ways of playing the cheat. But what if they could tattoo their bodies with numbers if it pleased them and examine them anytime they wished?
Film Review: To Be and To Have
The widely hailed documentary about a French teacher and his elementary class is a paean to conformity, says reviewer Maxine Phillips.
