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CCSS ELA Standard: 4.W.8

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

What’s In My Brain: Primary Sources
What’s In My Brain: Primary Sources
Two columns. One is an example, one isn’t. Can you figure out the hidden rule before the big reveal?
Gr 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8
Two Animals Switch Biomes
Two Animals Switch Biomes
What if a capybara and a kangaroo rat switched homes? Would their adaptations be helpful at all?
Gr 1-8
New Uses For A Cardboard Tube
New Uses For A Cardboard Tube
So, what can a cardboard tube be used for other than holding wrapping paper?
Gr 1-8
Van Gogh Self-Portrait Tournament
Van Gogh Self-Portrait Tournament
Who will win the tournament of Van Gogh self-portraits!?
Gr 1-8
How to Reset Your Brain When You’re Flooded
How to Reset Your Brain When You’re Flooded
Allison Edwards explains how changing your senses can reset your brain.
Gr 1-7
Compare and Create New Year’s Traditions
Compare and Create New Year’s Traditions
Hey! Our New Year traditions have a lot in common.
Gr 2-8
New Uses For A Pencil
New Uses For A Pencil
So, what can a pencil be used for other than writing and drawing?
Gr 2-8
New Uses for a Paperclip
New Uses for a Paperclip
So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?
Gr 2-8
Think Like A Historian
Think Like A Historian
Here’s how effects be causes and causes can be effects!
Gr 2-8
Looping Grid Art
Looping Grid Art
Pick a few numbers, draw some corresponding lines on grid paper, and you’ll end up with some interesting, looping math-y art!
Gr 1-8
Cram
Cram
Try this a simple (but surprisingly strategic) grid-filling game!
Gr 1-8
Self Portraits: Pointillism
Self Portraits: Pointillism
Turn your students into a bunch of Monets with q-tips and some tempera paint.
Gr 1-8
Math Game: Heaps
Math Game: Heaps
Try this a simple (but surprisingly strategic) subtraction game!
Gr 1-8
Impostor Syndrome
Impostor Syndrome
How high-performing students can often feel like they aren’t really that great.
Gr 2-8
Generalization: Systems Are Made up of Other Systems
Generalization: Systems Are Made up of Other Systems
A clock is a system. So is a rainforest. So is your school. Once you see systems inside systems, you can’t unsee it.
Gr 1-8
Investigating Christmas Trees
Investigating Christmas Trees
Start with facts about Christmas trees. Group them. Label them. Can you boil it all down to one big idea?
Gr 1-8
Game: Notakto
Game: Notakto
What if you only played Tic-Tac-Toe with Xs and you could play on multiple boards?
Gr 1-8
Dots and Boxes
Dots and Boxes
Who can make the most boxes from dots in this strategy game?
Gr 1-7
Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step Three
Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step Three
How do you turn “go research something” into a structured, creative learning exploration? Kathryn Haydon walks through it step by step.
Gr 1-8
Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step Two
Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step Two
How do you turn “go research something” into a structured, creative learning exploration? Kathryn Haydon walks through it step by step.
Gr 1-8
Depth and Complexity: 📚 Across Disciplines
Depth and Complexity: 📚 Across Disciplines
No topic is an island! With the 📚 Across Disciplines prompt, students note connections within and across multiple fields.
Gr 1-8
Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step One
Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step One
How do you turn “go research something” into a structured, creative learning exploration? Kathryn Haydon walks through it step by step.
Gr 1-8
Historic Social Media
Historic Social Media
How would people from history have interacted online? Students will develop a conversation online between people involved in the same event from history.
Gr 1-8
Drawing Natural Curves Like Andy Goldsworthy
Drawing Natural Curves Like Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy turns leaves and stones into art. Your students will learn to draw his signature natural curves — then build on them.
Gr 1-8
An App For A Historical Figure
An App For A Historical Figure
What kind of an app could have helped Abe Lincoln accomplish his goals?
Gr 1-8
Reduce Anxiety: Brain Plate (Tool 3)
Reduce Anxiety: Brain Plate (Tool 3)
When a student’s brain is full of worries, everything feels urgent. Brain Plate helps them sort what’s real from what’s noise — and actually do something about it.
Gr 1-7
Building Brush Bots and Art Bots
Building Brush Bots and Art Bots
What if we turned a tooth brush into a robot… that could do art?
Gr 1-8
Teaching Empathy With Faberge Eggs
Teaching Empathy With Faberge Eggs
The story of the Fabergé Eggs is heartbreaking. It’s also the perfect way to build empathy in your classroom.
Gr 1-8
Engineering: Build A Bridge
Engineering: Build A Bridge
Using real bridges as their starting point, students will construct bridges out of straws and paperclips.
Gr 1-8