Learning Activities

In this learning activity, students will learn how to rewrite algebraic expressions by combining like terms. The students will apply properties of operations to add, subtract, factor, and expand linear expressions. The lesson offers a teaching video and additional problems for partner work to check for understanding. 

This learning activity can be used as a stand-alone activity but is best used as a core lesson activity. 

In this learning activity, students will watch a video Graphing on the Coordinate Plane from Simplify the Middle. Students will learn how to graph points as well as how to identify a point that has already been graphed. After watching the video, students will complete an exit ticket to demonstrate their understanding.

In this learning activity, the students will be reminded that in simple addition they learned to add all the numbers together to get a sum. In algebra, numbers are sometimes attached to variables. The students will learn that they need to make sure that the variables are alike before they can add the numbers. This learning activity can be used as a stand-alone activity but is best used as an introductory activity. Corresponding activities are available.

In this learning activity from Geogebra, students will practice graphing ordered pairs. Students will complete three separate tasks: Task 1: Practicing plotting ordered pairs, Task 2: Plotting ordered pairs, and Task 3: Creating ordered pairs. Each task will have instructions to help the students to complete the lesson. 

In this learning activity, students will learn to solve multistep problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. The students will apply properties of operations to calculate numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate, and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies.

This learning activity can be used as a stand-alone activity but is best used as a Before Activity, the During and After Activities can be found in the Tools or Recommendations section.

In this learning activity, students will learn to solve multistep problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. The students will apply properties of operations to calculate numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate, and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies. This learning activity can be used as a stand-alone activity but is best used as a During Activity, the Before and After Activities can be found in the Notes or Recommendations section.

Students will use the Quizizz response system to review solving multi-step problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals) and to use tools strategically. This Multi-Step Real-Life and Mathematical Practice Problems Quizizz game has fifteen questions to test the understanding of solving multi-step real-life problems and is intended to be used as an after-activity. Quizizz allows the teacher to conduct student-paced formative assessments through quizzing, collaboration, peer-led discussions, and presentation of content in a fun and engaging way for students of all ages.

(This learning activity can be used as a stand-alone activity but is best used as an After Activity, the During and After Activities can be found in the Notes or Recommendations section.)

This read-aloud will engage students and get them thinking about grouping hundreds, tens, and singles to make numbers. The students in Earth Day Hooray! have the challenge to collect 5,000 aluminum cans. At the end of each day, they have to add to their previous totals. They do this by adding hundreds first, then tens, and then the ones. The teacher will stop the video after each day and ask questions that will make the students mentally add and subtract numbers.

This learning activity is an introduction to civics and government. The students complete a study guide to demonstrate their knowledge of being good citizens in the community and how the rules and laws made by the government protect citizens.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

This learning activity is an introduction to civics and government. The students will learn how rules and laws protect citizens in the local and state communities. The students will learn the responsibilities of citizens. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

Students will wrap up their lessons on the Great Depression by working in collaborative groups to write the gist of an article on this topic. The students will take a short quiz provided by ducksters.com. The quiz will include information from the article as well as information they have learned throughout the lessons about the Great Depression, the Stock Market, and the negative effects they had on the general population. The students will create a Google Slides presentation about what they have learned as a summative activity.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The students will read an article explaining the Great Depression. Next, they will perform a skit about a family experiencing the effects of the Great Depression. Finally, they will examine pictures from this time period to learn more about Hoovervilles and how different they were from these families' original neighborhoods.  

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

In this activity, students will build background knowledge of the Early European Explorers and their motives for exploring the New World. Students will learn that Europeans were on the search for spices and trade with the East Indies, but found the Americas instead. Students will become familiar with different explorers and pick one to research more in-depth. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

In this activity, students will use their research materials to organize their information on a European ship. Each section of the ship is designed for different information on their Explorer. Ships can be displayed for students to learn from one another's research. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools. 

In this activity, students will organize research about their assigned European Explorer (see Early European Explorers: Part One!). Students will use the guided research paper to direct their research into key topics and ideas about an Early European Explorer. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

In this activity, students will further expand their knowledge of energy and matter by exploring electrons. Students will learn that the flow of electrons creates electric currents. Students will explore open and closed circuits to plan an experiment that uses electricity.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools. 

In this activity, students will further expand their knowledge of energy and matter by exploring electrons. Students will learn that the flow of electrons creates electric currents. Students will explore open and closed circuits and complete experiments that use electricity. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools. 

Students will watch a short video clip about how children were affected by the Great Depression. They will compare and contrast their lives to the lives of children in the 1930s. Students will pay close attention to how children's lives changed at school, at home, and in the workforce due to the high poverty and economic failure of the times. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

This activity can be done in partner pairs or in cooperative learning groups. The purpose of this activity is to teach students how to build circuits using everyday household and classroom items. The students will plan and carry out their investigation that explains the transference of energy from one place to the other by an electric current. The students will demonstrate that an electric current requires a complete loop so that the electric current can pass through it.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

This activity is the follow-up to the Pre-Test. It serves to introduce or refresh students about the steps in the writing process before writing an essay. This is a post-test to see what the students know before writing an essay. It gives the definitions of the seven steps and can be used to study throughout the course of the year.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

In this lesson, students will share their research with others on the places, events, concepts, and ideas of the Civil War. Students will be able to share their previously created Civil War books (see Alabama and the Civil War- Part Two) to help explain their research on the Civil War. 

Students will also utilize 4th-grade ELA standards to participate in an active listening activity while listening to others share their research with the class.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

In this activity, students will expand on their Civil War background to research different concepts, people, places, and materials of the Civil War. The students will use a guide to help them research one item per letter of the alphabet related to the Civil War. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

In this activity, students will begin to explore the primary reasons and causes for the Civil War. Students will begin to identify the differences between the Northern and Southern states, which ended with the Union and the Confederate States of America. Students will also comprehend why the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 led to the succession of Alabama and other Southern states. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools. 

In this activity, students will follow a Google Slide Presentation while writing notes or by taking digital notes about The Writing Process and the stages within the process. The students will also learn what each stage is designed to accomplish, what questions to ask to determine if they have met the goals of each stage and the focus of each stage.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The purpose of this “After” activity is to assess students' ability to manipulate phonemes through an activity called chaining. This activity supports students in building their articulation and distinguishing between the initial, medial, and final sounds in words. Chaining allows students to warm up their brains and practice hearing, seeing, and moving letters around to recognize patterns and repetition in language that will support their phonological and phonemic awareness. Using this as an assessment tool is a great way to identify students that have not fully mastered substitutions, deletions, and additions.  

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

This activity serves to introduce or refresh students about the steps in the writing process before writing an essay. This is a pre-test to see what the students know before writing an essay. It gives the definitions of the seven steps and can be used to study throughout the course of the year.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The purpose of this “during” activity is to provide practice opportunities for students to engage in the manipulation of phonemes through an activity called "chaining." This activity supports students in building their articulation and distinguishing between the initial, medial, and final sounds in words. "Chaining" allows students to warm up their brains and practice hearing, seeing, and moving letters around to recognize patterns and repetition in language that will support their phonological and phonemic awareness. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The purpose of this “before” activity is to provide practice opportunities for students to manipulate phonemes through substitutions of initial, medial, and final sounds. This activity supports students in building their articulation and distinguishing between the initial, medial, and final sounds in words. Advanced Phonemic Awareness Skills (Google Slides) allows students to warm up their thinking processes and practice hearing, seeing, and manipulating letters to recognize patterns and repetition in language. This is a great way to support their phonological and phonemic awareness skills. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

This government learning activity is an introduction to civics and government. The students will apply their learning of how a government makes rules and laws to create a classroom constitution that the students (citizens) will be able to vote on. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The purpose of this after activity is to provide opportunities to continue to build students' comprehension of the two versions of "The Three Little Pigs.” When students retell and summarize, they are activating prior knowledge and understanding of the story. When comparing and contrasting, students review story elements and analyze them for similarities and differences. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The purpose of this activity is to provide a comprehensive list of possible questions that can be used to build comprehension into the viewing/reading of the different versions of “The Three Little Pigs.” These questions will support students’ building of mental maps that will allow them to apply their understanding of two stories for comparison and contrast. Once the videos/books have been seen and questions discussed, students will be able to complete a Venn diagram that compares the story’s literary components (i.e., setting, characters, plot, and sequence).

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

Students will show comprehension of key vocabulary by playing a digital learning game on Gimkit. This is a review of the 11 vocabulary terms from Welcome to the Underworld in a paired reading with Chapter 18 of The Lightning Thief. 

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

Students will watch two videos with retellings of the classic story, "The Three Little Pigs." The purpose of the first video is to provide a first telling of the original story of "The Three Little Pigs." The second video, "The Three Little Javelinas," will offer a retelling of the classic story. These videos will provide background information and a basis for the discussion around the comparison and contrast of story elements.

This resource was created in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

Students will work through the Scientific Method in this NASA STEM Engineering challenge. In this challenge, students will create a paper rocket that can be launched from a soda straw, and then modify the design to make the rocket fly farther. Students will collect and analyze their data after three trials. To complete this lesson, students will turn their data into a graph and answer reflection questions. 

The essential question being tested is, “How will changes to the rocket’s nose cone length affect the distance the rocket will travel?” Students will work in groups of four, with each person’s rocket having a different length nose cone (2cm-5cm). Once constructed, each student will launch their rocket three times and record it in the data table. These trials will then be averaged, graphed, and analyzed to correctly answer the essential question. 

This learning activity was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science (GEMS) Resource Development Project, in partnership with Dothan City Schools.

The Length and Measurement Lab will provide students with hands-on experience in measuring the length and mass of objects using the Metric System. During this lab, students will be given a set of manipulatives (colored rods) and asked to find the length in centimeters. Then, they will convert that measurement into millimeters. The final task will require students to use a balance to record the mass in grams of each colored rod.

This learning activity was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science (GEMS) Resource Development Project, in partnership with Dothan City Schools.