Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
Meeting students where they are can seem like a daunting task, particularly when it comes to the ever-changing world of technology. However, using intentionally designed games can make learning fun, provide opportunities for critical thinking, and enhance knowledge related to mindset. Participants will... Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: January 29th, 2024
Participants will develop a broader understanding of what makes real-world phenomena engaging, student-centered, relevant, and grade-appropriate. During this session, participants will explore the role of phenomena in lessons that may be delivered virtually or in blended learning environments. By centering... Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: July 22nd, 2024
While it is important for students to engage in classroom discourse in their social studies classes in order to develop understanding, purposeful and effective opportunities for students to share their thinking and reasoning do not happen on their own. They require deliberate planning and facilitation... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: May 21st, 2024
The Mindset Makeover PD focuses on increasing teacher knowledge about growth mindset and how it can be fostered in their classrooms. Through this interactive session, participants will review research on growth mindset and develop their own goals for applying the research to classroom practices. Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: July 10th, 2024
During this second day of the Formative Assessment Institute, participants focus on distinguishing assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning. Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: June 5th, 2024
During this session, participants will discover how the use of technology can assist students and their families in preparing for a postsecondary education or career. Participants will be given the opportunity to walk through the stages of creating an account and will explore the benefits and functions... Read more »
Created by: Ryan Rahhal
Date Updated: July 3rd, 2024
Participants consider the benefits of discourse in science and explore three strategies that support discourse in the classroom by role-playing as students. They then discuss the benefits of each of the three strategies for incorporating discourse in their classroom. In small groups, participants discuss... Read more »
Created by: Patricia McDaniels-Gomez
Date Updated: July 12th, 2024
This interactive session will provide participants with the tools and resources they need to successfully create visual communication that informs stakeholders, strengthens partnerships, communicates goals and data, and inspires collaborative action. Participants will walk away with tools and resources... Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
Date Updated: June 21st, 2023
In this session, participants will investigate authenticity and e-learning and connect them to create meaningful experiences for their students. We know that authentic teaching engages students in real-world problems and situations. When teachers incorporate their knowledge of authentic learning with... Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: May 1st, 2024
In this session, participants experience the START app, an augmented reality app that is used for campus visits. Participants share their practices for campus visits and collaborate on ways to use the START app with students. Read more »
Created by: William Thompson
Date Updated: July 14th, 2023
How can we place students in the role of being active rather than passive learners? How do we allow students to have choices in their learning while at the same time creating a diverse learning environment? The answer is learning stations. In this professional learning session, participants will discuss... Read more »
Created by: Mary Braggs
Date Updated: May 4th, 2023
The session aims to answer the question of how technology can be effectively utilized to facilitate authentic learning experiences. It will guide teachers in generating action steps to nurture authentic learning with technology. Participants will explore the essential elements of authentic learning... Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: August 28th, 2023
In this professional development, participants learn about one of the K20 Center’s IDEALS, Student-Centered Learning Climate. Participants use Mentimeter to share experiences from their time as a student that they feel reflected a learning climate or approach that was student-centered. Through card... Read more »
Created by: Mariah Warren
Date Updated: July 17th, 2024
The Leading Educators in Authentic Development (LEAD) workshop is a series of professional learning sessions that develop teachers’ skills in leading professional development at their school sites. This workshop features four sessions over a two-day period. This first session, Leading Educators in Authentic... Read more »
Created by: Mariah Warren
Date Updated: November 11th, 2024
5E Lesson Writing Session 1: Authenticity and 5E Lessons focuses on building relationships with participants, examining different 5E lesson frameworks, and aligning 5E snapshots with the authentic teaching tool. Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: August 28th, 2024
This session dives into the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential to revolutionize student success. It is designed to explore how various AI tools can extend educators' and counselors' reach beyond the classroom, providing personalized support and streamlining administrative tasks.... Read more »
Created by: Allie Bishop
Date Updated: September 13th, 2024
In this session, participants will explore inquiry-based learning, one of the components of authenticity. Participants will identify barriers to productive student discussion and explore solutions to overcome these barriers. Participants will read a research brief on inquiry-based learning and apply... Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: October 4th, 2024
In this session, participants reflect on how they can partner with families to help students succeed in postsecondary education. Participants start with a reflection survey on family engagement, then work through family scenarios that focus on discovering each family's strengths and looking for opportunities... Read more »
Created by: Laura Buxton
Date Updated: August 22nd, 2024
This professional development session introduces educators to the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) instructional strategy. Participants explore how to apply CER across different content areas and understand its role in preparing students for college and career readiness exams. Through hands-on activities,... Read more »
Created by: Patricia McDaniels-Gomez
Date Updated: August 14th, 2024
In this professional learning session, participants explore the structure of a 5E lesson. They evaluate a model lesson from LEARN, determining how each section addresses components of Authenticity. Participants then examine resources on the 5E Model and discuss their findings. Next, participants work... Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: October 15th, 2024
After reading a poem and article about the death of an African American man, students read an article about the death of an African American boy and write an elegy for him in response. While this lesson is currently aligned only to 9th grade standards, it would be appropriate to teach in grades 9th... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: November 14th, 2024
Reading & Writing Poetry
Banned Books, Censorship Part 2
This lesson is designed to take place following completion of another K20 lesson, "Trigger Warnings." Through collaboration, reading, and research, students will continue the study of a controversial work of literature by examining various perspectives on book banning. Students will establish their... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Banned Books, Censorship Part 2
In this lesson, students will understand the essential elements of identity theft and consumer fraud. They will create a PSA-style poster or video about how to avoid identity theft. This lesson includes optional modifications for distance learning. Resources for use in Google Classroom are included. Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: August 3rd, 2023
Standard 9: Identity Theft
Through their own research and discussion, students see how career choice, postsecondary education, and salary are all interrelated. Students identify three careers that they might be interested in, identify the postsecondary requirements to attain these careers, and learn what the beginning is for... Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: September 11th, 2024
Standard 1: Earning an Income
This lesson addresses the components of evidence used to support hypotheses, as well as qualitative versus quantitative and primary versus secondary. This would be a good lesson to start the year and requires no prerequisite skills. This lesson includes optional modifications for distance learning.... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: July 11th, 2023
Experimental Components
In this lesson, students will listen to a song while completing a painting activity. Students will collaborate to paint a list of descriptive words on their canvases based on the song. Considering the song lyrics as poetry, students will analyze the song, focusing on descriptive language and sensory... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: October 8th, 2024
Communication: Using Descriptive Language
Banned Books, Censorship Part 1
Through conversation and close reading, students will begin the study of a controversial work of literature by examining the pros and cons of trigger warnings in our society. Students will choose two published opinion pieces (one from both sides of the free-speech debate) and deconstruct the arguments... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Banned Books, Censorship Part 1
In this lesson, students will explore the meaning and application of the Bill of Rights. Students will summarize each amendment from the Bill of Rights in their own words and discuss the application of each amendment. Students will then discuss whether or not "ballot selfies" should be a protected form... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: October 21st, 2024
Interpreting the Bill of Rights
The struggle for the right to vote has been a hallmark of American history. From African Americans to women, many groups have struggled to gain this basic civil right. This lesson examines the U.S. government's role in voting rights by looking at ways the government has promoted and restricted these... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: March 13th, 2023
Voting Rights in America
In this lesson, students examine how location can contribute to the economic success or failure of businesses. Students begin this lesson by watching a brief video about the influence of job outsourcing on the global economy. Next, students will read about the history of a bicycle company and consider... Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: November 20th, 2024
Importance of Location in Industry
This lesson uses the book "P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever" by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter to teach digraphs and nuances of phonetics in the English language. Students will brainstorm to identify other digraph words in their vocabularies, write and draw their own pages for a sequel... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: November 26th, 2024
Phonics
Once students have foundational knowledge of rhetorical analysis and persuasion, this lesson allows students to evaluate the use of rhetorical elements in modern product commercials and political campaign ads. This lesson can be used to make connections to rhetorical devices used in American or British... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: February 21st, 2024
Rhetorical Analysis of Media and Text
In this lesson, students explore the relationship between a set of numbers and the constraints of an inequality. They will write, graph, and identify solutions to inequalities and connect these to real-world scenarios when applicable. Read more »
Created by: Brittany VanCleave
Date Updated: December 12th, 2024
One-Step Inequalities
This lesson is best taught after students have already explored how speed, velocity, and mass determine momentum in terms of Newton’s first and second laws. Here, students will take those principles and determine Newton’s third law, including what occurs when two objects act upon one another. Students... Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: October 11th, 2024
Physical Science
This lesson focuses on comparing and contrasting fiction and nonfiction, writing a researchable inquiry question, and developing justice-based research questions. Students will familiarize themselves with the Tulsa Race Massacre and then read an excerpt from the novel "Dreamland Burning," followed by... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: June 10th, 2024
Guided Inquiry Research
In this lesson, students will discuss aspects of performance anxiety when speaking in front of an audience. They will identify strategies to manage these symptoms and create a tool to help improve their confidence when speaking to a group. Read more »
Created by: Adam Yeargin
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Speech and Debate
This lesson will introduce students to some of the lesser-known individuals whose actions paved the way for the civil rights movement. Individuals discussed in this lesson include Elizabeth Jennings, Samuel W. Tucker, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, George McLaurin, and Clara Luper. Using primary and secondary... Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: March 13th, 2023
The Civil Rights Movement
Students begin this lesson by brainstorming what it means to be a good citizen. Next, students analyze two documents to understand what it means to be a good citizen of a democracy, including responsibilities like participating in the democratic process, protesting injustice, and understanding how the... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: November 18th, 2022
Responsibilities and Rights of U.S. Citizens
Students will look at the increase in seismic activity in Oklahoma and around the United States in recent years. Some say the earthquakes are a direct result of an oil and gas process called hydraulic fracturing, while others disagree. Students will investigate this question for themselves and formulate... Read more »
Created by: Cacey Wells
Date Updated: July 10th, 2024
Earthquakes in Oklahoma
Students will identify the elements of a budget. They will examine how life events and lifestyle affect and change budgeting needs (i.e., personal expenses, emergencies, saving for future goals, family vs. individual). Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: June 28th, 2023
Standard 1: Fundamentals of Budgeting
Sometimes, students have an aversion to writing because they lack a sense of purpose. In this lesson, students learn that letters can be an important way to communicate and can be fun to write. First, students brainstorm what they already know about letters and then explore letters written by a variety... Read more »
Created by: Makala Foley
Date Updated: September 10th, 2024
Writing Letters
In this lesson, students use differences in water clarity among four Oklahoma lakes as a phenomenon. They investigate how local environmental conditions and the survival strategies and growth of phytoplankton (algae) affect water clarity. After designing and conducting experiments that relate water... Read more »
Created by: Heather Shaffery
Date Updated: September 11th, 2024
Nutrients, Genetics, and Plant Growth
This lesson asks students to analyze the motivations of Montresor in Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" and engages students by placing them in the role of a forensic psychologist. In this role, having students will answer questions in a clinical evaluation. Students will analyze... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Irony and Characterization in "The Cask of Amontillado"
In this lesson, students will examine the facts associated with evolution, infer what fossilized remains can inform us about an organism, explore how evolution is influenced by an ever-changing environment, and construct a timeline of an organism change resulting from environmental factors or human... Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: August 5th, 2024
Biology
In this lesson, students will learn about paleontologists who have helped shape our understanding of organisms’ evolutionary history. They will research and evaluate evidence that scientists have used to construct and continually use to reconstruct evolutionary history and environmental pressures that... Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: November 20th, 2024
This lesson is Part 3 of "Journey of the Isolated Variable," a four-part lesson series on solving different types of equations. In this lesson, students will build on the equation-solving knowledge they gained in Parts 1 and 2 in order to solve literal equations. Read more »
Created by: Amber Stokes
Date Updated: March 15th, 2023
Literal Equations
There are a multitude of reasons why we offer thanks to others. Whether someone has done us a favor, given us a gift, shared their personal or professional time, or even just offered a kind word, thanking them with a sincere thank you note is a timeless and appreciated form of gratitude. A timely and... Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: April 6th, 2023
Writing a Thank You Note
In this lesson, students will learn about the four points of natural selection and how they drive the evolutionary patterns of a species. Students will determine how to answer evolutionary questions through interpreting graphs and making connections among natural selection concepts. Students also will... Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: September 10th, 2024
Natural Selection
What motivated and inspired legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie to create and perform music? Students explore this question throughout the lesson by engaging in a Gallery Walk analysis of Guthrie photos and quotes and then using his lyrics to determine the political and social issues that Guthrie... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: April 18th, 2023
Contributions of Influential Oklahomans
In this lesson, students will explore the protected rights all students have on school grounds based on the precedent set by 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines. Students will analyze how this court case helped to clarify and extend students' First Amendment freedoms, then they will reflect... Read more »
Created by: Mariana DeLoera
Date Updated: June 22nd, 2023
What are Your Rights as a Student?
In this sixth lesson of the "Lord of the Flies" unit, students will analyze the text for symbols of power. Students will categorize evidence from the novel to support the claim that either the seashell or the glasses were the ultimate symbol of power. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: June 20th, 2023
I've Got the Power
In this lesson, students explore the theme of tradition by reading Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” and an accompanying article, “The Dangers of Tradition.” As students develop their own beliefs concerning the value and possible dangers of tradition, they share their opinions with their... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: October 22nd, 2024
The Lottery
In this lesson, students will explore the technology used by European explorers during the Age of Exploration. Through analyzing images, watching a video, and selecting an activity from a Choice Board, students will learn about four navigational tools and how this new technology influenced European... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: June 23rd, 2022
European Exploration and Navigational Tools
In this lesson, students examine the nature and function of international trade agreements in the world economy. Through engaging in an interactive story, students learn many important concepts regarding world trade. In addition, students explore both the benefits and drawbacks of trade agreements through... Read more »
Created by: Cody Sivertsen
Date Updated: August 29th, 2024
International Trade Agreements
This lesson focuses on engaging students to understand how their academic coursework connects to and affects their futures. Students reflect on their current level of academic performance, learn about the PreACT, take the PreACT, play the game Get a Life!, review and understand their PreACT scores,... Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: August 19th, 2024
Connecting Coursework to Future Goals in College and Career
In this lesson, students will explore how to find the surface area of prisms and pyramids. Students will discover the general formulas for finding surface area of prisms and pyramids and are introduced to the surface area of spheres and hemispheres. Students will apply what they learn to create a composite... Read more »
Created by: Samaya Williams
Date Updated: July 5th, 2024
Surface Area of Prisms and Pyramids
In this third lesson of "The K20 Chronicle" journalism unit, students will explore what it is like to be a photojournalist. First, students will view an ICAP video interview with Jordan Miller, a news reporter at the Salt Lake Tribune. She shares insights about being a photojournalist and reporter,... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: August 17th, 2023
Crafting the Article
In this first lesson of a media production unit, students interact with five types of cameras used for filming and create a 60-second or less short film. Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: March 16th, 2023
Media Production, Lesson 1
In this lesson, students will invent a new sport. Students will begin by playing a short round of ultimate Frisbee® or other sport and discussing what makes it a sport. Students will then read about the four components that make a sports game. Finally, students will use gym equipment to invent a new... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: March 15th, 2023
Inventing a Sport
In this visual arts lesson, students will design characters from shapes. After starting their designs, they will view videos from two professional artists on completing this exercise and iteration in character design. Once students have refined their characters, they will trade with other students who... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: April 17th, 2023
Shapes in Character Design
This lesson will ask students to consider and respond to the following essential question: "Why should we remember the Holocaust?" First, students will investigate the events that happened during the Holocaust by examining an infographic and reading the testimonies of those who experienced it. Next,... Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: August 9th, 2024
Stories of the Holocaust
In this lesson, students will explore some culinary aspects of French culture to learn about stereotypes and how learning about other cultures affects our conception of others. Students will define the word “stereotype.” After doing so, they will share stereotypes they have regarding French food, watch... Read more »
Created by: Macey Dedmon
Date Updated: April 20th, 2023
Examining Stereotypes in French Cuisine
Escher's Terrific Tessellations: The Art of Tile Transformations
In this follow-up lesson to "Diamonds, Not Just a Girl's Best Friend," students explore an app that creates Escher-like drawings. Students discuss the principles of design in the drawings. Students discuss Escher and then discuss similarities of the Plains tribes art that precede Escher. Students reflect... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: May 20th, 2024
Escher's Terrific Tessellations: The Art of Tile Transformations
Students will define “stereotype.” After doing so, they will share stereotypes they have regarding Hispanic food, watch a few videos that will explain or dispel those stereotypes, and come to a consensus on whether stereotypes are useful. When they have finished the discussion, they will construct a... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: September 22nd, 2023
Examining Stereotypes in Hispanic Cuisine
Discerning the Reliability and Credibility of Sources
In this lesson, students practice determining the relevance, reliability, and validity of information gathered while researching well-known urban legends. Students analyze the quality, usefulness, and accuracy of the sources they find using a provided framework. As their final product, students construct... Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
Date Updated: February 22nd, 2024
Discerning the Reliability and Credibility of Sources
This lesson introduces students to the emotions of anxiety and anxiety disorders. Students identify the causes and symptoms of certain anxiety disorders, including Social Anxiety Disorder, phobias, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Students then have an opportunity to explore different coping strategies... Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: January 18th, 2024
Causes, Symptoms, and Coping Strategies
The basics of envelopes and applying the concepts to musical performance
In this lesson for band classes, students will discuss what “attack” and “release” mean in a musical context. Students will participate in a “30-Second Expert” activity in pairs, in which one student reads about ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, and release) envelopes on synths and the other reads about... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: May 7th, 2024
The basics of envelopes and applying the concepts to musical performance
Students explore projectile motion using Newton's first law of motion. Read more »
Created by: Brittany Bowens
Date Updated: December 11th, 2024
Newton's First Law of Motion
Executive Branch, Cabinet, Executive Departments
In this lesson, students will research the role of the President’s Cabinet and the Executive Departments in creating public policy. Students will explore the duties of the cabinet, then participate in a simulated activity to gain a deeper understanding of the role the executive departments play in our... Read more »
Created by: Dannie Deason
Date Updated: May 22nd, 2024
Executive Branch, Cabinet, Executive Departments
This collection features tech tools and instructional strategies for supporting group awareness of learning. Group-constructed visual representations have been shown to affect knowledge acquisition significantly. When students see their learning and co-constructed knowledge as a group, it builds confidence... Read more »
This lesson focuses on scaffolding the use of the Get a Life college and career simulation game in the classroom, specifically targeting career awareness in middle school students. Participants will play the game and experience classroom activities designed to process the gameplay and facilitate discussion... Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
Date Updated: September 19th, 2024