Fairy Tales: 5/4 Fitness Fantasy Game Like it or not, Pokémon Go has gotten children and adults away from their computers, playing video games and off their couches, watching TV while surfing social media. People of all ages are walking, riding bikes, and probably skate boarding around towns and cities, as well as college campuses, searching for the popular little creatures to capture in their cell phones. The downside - distracted players not watching where they're going and risking accidents, predatory attacks, and the zombie-like throngs walking the street - has put a damper on this internationally popular game. However, this curriculum reflects the influence of the upside of Pokémpn Go: getting people moving. Physical fitness has become a real health concern in the digital age with people of all ages playing video games for hours on end with little or no physical movement except to click a mouse or work the controls on a game console. Physical Education is not provided in many schools at a time when it's needed most. This unit that spans all grades (older children involved in the activities can also work with younger children as coaches and mentors) uses familiar fairy tales that are reflected in the various fitness activities inspired by these age-old stories that most children have either read (or heard as bedtime stories) or seen in movies. Note: Older children can also create their own games based on Super Heroes in comic books and/ or movies. Since most schools do not have the tech tools to make this a digital game like Pokémon Go, 5/4 Fitness activities use available or inexpensive materials (some of which schools may have in the supply room). A few purchases will have to be made for things like plastic and actual eggs, apples, climbing ropes, etc. Safety concerns should be observed at all times. Older students may also need to wear protective gear to avoid scrapping knees and elbows, as well as helmets, for some activities. Students' medical needs and limitations must also be taken into consideration for some activities, such as five minutes lying in a "coffin," running with a pea in each shoe, or running in only one shoe, etc. There are also bonus rounds for students to play to earn extra points or break a tie. Points can be traded for Golden Coins that can be used to purchase free time. Information about the games will be posted on social media (Facebook). If enough schools get involved, sponsors will be added to provide schools with the highest scores at the end of the school year a chance to win tech tools like laptops, tablets, smart boards, cells, etc. This would allow the game to be supported by technology to keep track of points earned, interact with players from other schools, provide videos of games and players, etc.

Goal: To help students learn how to develop a hypothesis and create an experiment to test it. Ojectives: 1. Students will examine a diagram to try and determine which of 4 cisterns will be filled with water first using pipes that are used to fill them. 2. Based on observation and critical thinking each student will create a hypothesis, then team up with students with the same theory of the problem. 3. Students will work in groups based on their hypotheses to create 3D versions of the drawings to test their hypotheses. 4. Students will discuss their findings with the entire class and share how they came to their conclusion. 5. Students will revise their hypothesis based on the results of their experiments and class discussion. *6. Students will follow up the discussion by following links online to see various approaches to the problem. *7. Students will tackle problems related to the topic to use mathematics to find solutions. *Grades 6 and 7, 4-7 gifted only Materials Needed (Grades K-3, Special Education Middle School): 1. Milk cartons 2. Straws 3. 1 liter bottles half full of water Materials Needed (Grades 4-7, Special Education High School): 1. 1 or 2 liter bottle 2. Straws 4. Plastic water pitchers THIS RESOURCE ALSO INCLUDES A FLIPPED CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

$$$$$$$How to Succeed in Business$$$$$$$ This project is based on a successful school business: “Chapman’s Chips,” a six-week mini-course for gifted students, grades 4-6. Goals 1. Students involved in running a business providing a product or service for half an hour each day will be responsible for their specific jobs and will work together to make their business a success. Each student will be responsible for performing the job they chose and helping support other students who may have difficulty. 2. Students will have the opportunity to share their experience after working in groups or individually, varying the method of sharing, as well as keep a written, artistic, or recorded summary of their experience each day. Students’ reflections will be part of their portfolio, along with their job and job description, and any other artifacts they have.

This curriculum for students. grades 4-8 encourages the study of a series of activities requiring critical thinking, scientific study through research, hypothesizing and testing a hypothesis, encourages scientific study and research based on the video introducing the curriculum and a detailed article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iNcRJGzzxs ARTICLE: https://myweatherupdatenow.com/post/asteroid-wiped-dinosaurs-caused-years-long-winter?notifid=10362&cid=998&segid=1&impid=697476bc2e2bf50228434df4ded2abHave students read article in groups of four or less, paying attention to underlined words: GOAL: Understanding how dinosaurs became extinct through research and simulation. OBJECTIVE: Students in grades 4-8 will understand how asteroids can affect the earth and how to reproduce the extinction of dinosaurs due to an asteroid that hit earth 66 million years ago causing a prolonged nuclear winter, and apply what they learn to predict and prevent future extinctions on earth.

The Common Core asks students to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life. http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/ From Reading to Writing: CHAPBooks Using ELA CSCC Skill Development, Students Will Transition From Reading Books to Writing Books With Skills Acquired The goal of this extensive reading, comprehending, and writing literature using the ELA CSCC, students will learn how to identify story elements, language usage, how to summarize and re-tell the stories and/or information, distinguish different genres, recognize books by title and author and illustrator, analyze structure and theme is various types of literature, along with the other standards, as well as choose genres that appeal most to them when they get the opportunity to write their own poetry chap books (Assignment 1) and other types of books: non-fiction, storybooks, novels, science books, art books with descriptions of illustrations, how-to-books, cookbooks, etc. which will be available to check out in the classroom’s library. From Library to BookStore Students in higher grades (5-6-elementary, 7-8-middle school, and 9-12, high school) might want to create a bookstore and invest in having a few books printed, along with a poster advertising their book with illustrations created by the author or an artist commissioned to illustrate the cover.

Students in grades 3-8 will locate types of soil using several resources provided in the lesson plan: Students will engage in ten methods of inquiry to study the various types of soil collected. Soil is an important part of our ecosystem and various types of soil are useful for specific reasons. Using inquiry students will discover the differences in the types of soil and how each type interacts within the environment, how various types of soil provide things needed for our survival, and how we can preserve and care for our soil. While engaged in observation, collection, and interaction with various types of soil and their properties, students will engage in scientific inquiry as specified in the standards. "Science as inquiry is basic to science education and a controlling principle in the ultimate organization and selection of students' activities. The standards on inquiry highlight the ability to conduct inquiry and develop understanding about scientific inquiry. Students at all grade levels and in every domain of science should have the opportunity to use scientific inquiry and develop the ability to think and act in ways associated with inquiry, including asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating scientific arguments. The science as inquiry standards are described in terms of activities resulting in student development of certain abilities and in terms of student understanding of inquiry. " https://www.nap.edu/read/4962/chapter/8#105

GOAL: Help students create their own flash mob dance to an oldie or current song and challenge every classroom to learn the dance and meet in the gym at a specific day and time to perform the flash dance to promote physical fitness. OBJECTIVES: 1.Students will suggest songs for the flash mob based on popularity and rhythm (could be an oldie or current hit song, hip-hop song, or popular jingle). 2. Students will create movement in rhythm with music with guidance from gym, music, and/or drama teacher (if available) using vintage dance move or current ones. 3.Students will rehearse the dance each day until they master it. 4. Students will be recorded on video performing their flash dance. 5. Students as a class will challenge every classroom and all staff to learn the dance by a specific date and time when the school gym or other space is available. 6. Students will continue to perfect their movements every day, increasing physical activity. 7. Students will join with students in other classes that accepted the challenge on the appointed day and time. There are links to flash mob videos. Here's a link one that focuses on bullying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDId5UPhIM

Students learn how literature and history coincide as writers describe and immortalize historical events. The goal of this lesson is for students to understand how media like poetry and drama evoke emotional responses of historical figures, events, and their effect of those event.

Using classic fables and fairy tales to analyze themes that are easily identified, this two-part lesson prepares 8th grade Language Arts Students to read and analyze themes in classic children's literature.

Goal: Connect typical students with students with special needs as coding mentors during Hour of Code initiative. Objectives: 1. Typical students will assist students with special needs to learn a simple coding game as a code mentor. 2. Students with special needs will be introduced to code by a mentor. 3. Students will decide after activity if they want to continue collaboration. Technology tool: Lightbot. ISTE Standards NETS - are included

Quizlet provides practice for learning or practicing skills. This Quizlet written for middle school students provides both learning and practice in defining literary terms and testing understanding of those terms in alignment with CCSS. Combined with activities using familiar stories as examples, this lesson provides numerous technology-based learning assessment that scaffolds learning and understanding literary terms through a variety of methods. Collaborative learning and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) also make learning cooperative and engages students in uses of a variety of instructional strategies that are in engaging and theoretically proven.

Goal: To broaden students' awareness of the world and where specific continents or located, as well as countries on specific continents, by researching host countries for the olympic games. Objectives: 1. Students will be assigned to a group using the name of a continent and will research countries that have hosted olympic games, the year(s) each country hosted the games, and where it is located on the continent. 2. Students will individually or collaboratively create a map of one of the countries on their continent that hosted Olympic Games. 3. Each student will create a poster providing a look at the Olympic Games the year(s) his/her country hosted the olympics using multimedia. 4. Students will share poster in a variety of media with various audiences.

Students in eighth year are facing the end of middle or junior high school and in the not-so-distant future the start of high school. between then and now they have a great deal of academics to learn, tests to pass, and the pressures of being adolescents. So why not start the year celebrating their final year in middle or junior high school in classic Hollywood fashion? This first week of 8th year English-Language Arts unit does just that! Show your students just how special they are whilst assessing basic language and writing skills. Roll out the red carpet, notify the paparazzi, and let your students have a great time watching film trailers, writing reviews, looking back at summer, and getting the star treatment; whilst introducing collaborative learning and project-based activities. Start the school year with high expectations and watch your students soar.

Students will trace history of papier mâché after being introduced to the subject with a video of an art installation of 1,600 papier mâché pandas. Students will develop an understanding and respect for the art form resulting in them creating their own Papier Mâché exhibit. This is a technology-based instructional strategy using cooperative learning and inquiry to engage students in research, analysis, and discussion.

"Cater Pillars" and "Butter Flies:" Language, Science, Math, and Art Plus Any Other Subjects That Can Be Added to This Fun Unit to Start the School Year Introducing Specific Skills, Collaborating with Peers, Investigating and Researching Online, and Including Family in Creating an Artifact for Display Goal: Students will learn how to investigate a topic that involves multiple subject areas and gain understanding about the topic and how the various subjects covered relate to each other. Objectives: 1. Students will learn how to research, investigate a topic using available resources individually, in pairs, and in groups. 2. Students will use skills in various subject areas to problem-solve, explain, calculate, and present materials to ask or answer questions or verify information. 3. Students will observe caterpillars and record changes as they go through metamorphosis. 4. Students will learn how to treat animals ethically during scientific observation and follow rules regarding the ethical treatment of animals involved in scientific experimentation. 5. Students will learn how to record and interpret scientific data. 6. Students will learn how to test scientific data and ask scientific questions about results and possibly create hypotheses for future study. 7. Students will learn how to create presentations of scientific study using technology, if possible. introduce this unit by having students read the following article on their tablets, laptops, or smart phones or in pairs or groups on school computers or smartboards. Note: if there's no available technology, create a power point presentation covering all of the points in the article and include the illustrations.

Goal: To create interest in/understanding of geography through exploration and mapping Objective: 1. Students will work in pairs to locate pokemon go figures on or within walking distance of school in search of hidden treasure ("gold coins"), following longitudinal/latitudinal clues using compasses to help locate each "gold coin." (for prek-second year students, use alphabetical mathematical problems, riddles, or simple code.) Note: more than one coin tin be placed at each stop according to the "value" of each pokemon character. multiple coins should be placed in individual plastic bags - enough for each pair. perhaps any not claimed tin be awarded to pairs that a. finish first; b. collect the most coins; c. collect the most Pokemon; d. have the highest scores, etc.) 2. Students will retrace their steps and take note (draw, videotape, vocally record, write, etc.) information individually, and as a class create a "thought map" of the area explored as a collaborative enquiry discussion of following: a. area covered from point a (school ) to point b b. (farthest parameter) c. number of steps, feet, yards, fractions of mile, miles, etc. covered 3. Students will also identify visual markers: a. street signs b. other markers (alleys, parks, houses, etc.) 4. Students will measure area after consensus of how it is to be measured, then create map scale - how many feet, yards, miles - and map equivalent: one inch = one mile. 5. Students will individually create treasure map games on Scratch or as Board Match , etc.

Inspired by Pokémon Go's use of maps, this curriculum gets students coming back to school this fall outside observing nature. The curriculum activities can be used at all grade levels and for all abilities. It includes school activities, as well as flipped classroom activities at home. Goal To teach observation, investigation, and presentation skills using integrated curricula to become more aware of natural phenomena in neighborhood and school environments and how to use science, math, geography, and oral/written descriptive language to study, record, and share environmental information and understanding. Objectives: 1. Students will observe natural phenomena (birds, trees, and in SchoolZone and MyZone). 2. Students will record information collected and synthesize through scientific thinking based on observation, research, inquiry, and presentation. 3. Students will work in pairs/groups to record, assess, and synthesize data, using research and observations made during investigations of their natural environments.

Goal: Start the new school year establishing a relationship with each students' parents. Send a short text or email introducing your students' family to the teacher and permission to send or drop by with a short list of things students can do to get ready to start the school year, each of which relates to the nine activities planned for the first week of school. Objectives: 1. Students and parental figuers will get acquainted with teacher, expectations for students and PF's participation in class activities. 2. Students and PF's will learn things about each other and establish a rapport. 3. Students will be asked to complete specific simple tasks and to be sure to bring very specific items to them the first day of school. 4. Students and parents will be introduced to and experience flipped classroom activities right from the start of school, using fun activities for children and adults. 5. Students will engage in several mysterious activities that will have them anticipating the first day eagerly. 6. Parents will be provided with contact information and told they will be contacted by text or email regarding their children's progress and/or any issues that may arise. 7. Students will also have an opportunity to communicate with teacher before the first day of school.

As part of the U.S. government's commitment to Let Girls Learn, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Peace Corps have formed a powerful collaboration to expand access to education for adolescent girls around the world. Educating girls is essential to healthy and thriving communities but, globally, 62 million girls are not in school, and barriers to adolescent girls completing school are particularly significant. In some countries, fewer than 10% of teenage girls complete secondary school. This program will address that challenge by empowering local leaders to put lasting solutions in place. Peace Corps Volunteers who live and work at the grassroots level will serve as catalysts of community-led change, and every American can get involved and make a difference. https://letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov/ FOR GIRLS' SCHOOLS AND AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR GIRLS Let Girls Learn STEM: Elementary Science States of Matter: This science lesson is for young students and older students with special needs. Ice, Water, and Steam Goal: Students will learn about the states of matter through observation and engagement. Objective: Students will physically interact with matter at three different states - solid, liquid, and gas - by identifying snow or ice as a solid, water from melted snow or ice as a liquid, and steam from melted snow or ice as a gas. Outcomes: 1. Student provide information to create a concept map on a white board or other display area showing the three states of matter, using the students’ pictures and/or photographs, and images from the video. 2. Students work collaboratively in small groups or pairs using their collective pictures/photos showing the states of matter to create a “states of matter” timeline. 3. Students make their own picture or video books referring to the concept map and their group discussion timeline.

Students in eighth grade are facing the end of middle or junior high school and in the not-so-distant future the start of high school. Between then and now they have a great deal of academics to learn, state tests to pass, and the pressures of being adolescents. So why not start the year celebrating their final year in middle or junior high school in classic Hollywood fashion? This first week of 8th grade ELA unit does just that! Show your students just how special they are while assessing basic language and writing skills. Roll out the red carpet, notify the paparazzi, and let your students have a great time watching movie trailers, writing reviews, looking back at summer, and getting the star treatment; while introducing collaborative learning and project-based activities. Start the school year with high expectations and watch your students soar.