This site offers free drug and alcohol resources to use during Red Ribbon week. There are posters, teaching guides, worksheets, articles for parents, and brochures about underage drinking. The lessons plans connect to science standards for 5th and 6th grade. Download and share this free information with your school community.
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Download a free planning guide and additional resource materials for Red Ribbon week. The National Family Partnership was the sponsor of the first Red Ribbon week back in 1988. They work to educate youth about dangers of underage drinking and drug abuse. Articles on this site include tips on how to prevent substance abuse and inspire adults to participate in drug prevention activities.
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The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program has a colorful new "cool" website that cleverly teaches students how to resist peer pressure, abstain from drugs, violence, and gangs. Fun features such as Lucky Kat TV provide cartoons and videos about Internet safety, confronting bullies, and the correct use of prescription drugs. There are opportunities to share photos, poems, and videos and engage in interactive activities. Follow the adult link for more in-depth information meant for parents and caregivers.
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The goal of Girls Health is to "promote healthy, positive behaviors in girls between the ages of 10 and 16." The site addresses issues all young teenage girls face. It provides constructive advice on a number of health issues such as; body changes, nutrition, relationships, bullying, Internet safety, drugs, alcohol, and smoking. There are separate sections for educators and parents that include additional links and materials free to download. In 2008, Girls Health won the Aesculapius (Greek god of healing) Award of Excellence.
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Is your school looking for resources to enliven your Red Ribbon week in October? This site outlines a complete schedule to help organize the events and provides plenty of valuable links to other drug prevention organizations. The wide range of creative ideas they suggest will make Red Ribbon week or month fun, engaging, and informative.
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Are you looking for ways to inspire meaningful discussions of September 11th and to help make sense of this tragedy? The Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center of New York City presents awards to honor teachers who have created exemplary educational projects for students to express and sustain the memory of September 11th. This site shares their projects from the globe and involving all aspects of the arts and humanities, including history, language arts, visual, media and performing arts. Although this site is mainly designed for grades 5-12, there are some activities for younger elementary students found in the "Resources for Your Classroom" section of the site.
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September 11 Personal Stories of Transformation is a multi-media classroom resource kit that includes eight videos. Each unit is complete with primary resources, historic context, related links, tool kits, ideas for community service projects, and a teacher's guide. Each story is accompanied by questions that encourage students to connect what happened in recent history to their own lives and the choices they make. The site provides a concrete understanding of what happened and how people responded on September 11, 2001 and how people have worked toward making positive changes around the world after these events.
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Inspire students to believe they can make a difference in the world. "Pennies for Peace" is an international service-learning project that does not ask families to contribute large sums of money. Author of the book "Three Cups of Tea,” Greg Mortenson, and his young daughter Amira believe that by donating pennies children can help support education in Afghanistan and Pakistan while simultaneously promoting peace.

The project comes with an extensive toolkit that shows how to implement the campaign, provides background resources and curriculum materials. The toolkit is grouped by the grade levels, K-4, 4-8, and 9-12. The Pennies for Peace Curriculum directly links to grade level standards in social studies, math, and literacy. In order to participate schools need to register on-line. There is a page for "kids" that provides facts about a typical village and school and background information about Pakistan and Afghanistan. The tool kit contains videos and photographs as well as maps from National Geographic that are free for download. The videos will take participants through the steps of implementing the project to interviewing Greg Mortenson, possible classroom applications, and short clips to support sections of their curriculum. Address core subjects such as social studies, math, history, geography, science and language arts while enhancing cultural awareness in your students.
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Find great resources on Power To Learn. Check out the Internet Smarts section for Interactive Case studies, Online Resources, and materials to help teachers/students/parents with digital safety. Teachers and Parents can find information on how to use these materials with students. Find interactives about cyber-bullying, illegal musical downloads, wireless internet, social networking sites, misinformation, and more!
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Promote world peace by joining this global art installation project. Pinwheels for peace gives students and teachers, artists and non-artists and the young and old alike an opportunity to voice their common desire to live in a world free of violence. Bring your family, classmates, school district, or local organizations together to assemble and decorate pinwheels containing messages of peace. On September 21, the International Day of Peace, insert them in the ground of a visible location in your community and let your wish for peace resonate with others around the world. The pinwheel template and directions are available for download or feel free to build your own design.
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Grab your student’s attention by creating subtitles over old video clips from Bombay. Using humor, teachers can demonstrate how to punctuate dialog and how body language and intonation enhance communication. There are several movie clips from which to choose. The subtitles can appear as text, or be turned into speech. It is also possible to record your own voiceover. Their second site, Bombay TV 2, lets the viewer drag and drop scenes to create their own unique video sequence. All videos are published on-line and come with an embed code and web address. Teachers and students can share videos by embedding them on websites, by email, or social bookmarks.
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This website offers tons of information on the dangers of the internet and how to keep children safe when they are there. Resources found here are great for educators and parents alike. The site also provides PDF documents on numerous “non” internet topics: hate at school, suicide, eating disorders, sexual abuse, cellular phones, bullying, and more. There are also multimedia presentations (all related to Internet Safety).
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This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers, parents, and students manage the tough issues of bullying and cyberbullying. Whether you plan a special unit or lesson on this topic for Bullying Prevention Week or select from these resources on an as-needed basis, you will find useful ideas and strategies for students and adults to work together to erase bullying from your class and school culture. Be sure to share these resources with parents and your parent organization via your class or school web page.
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Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and seeks to provide educators with tools to reduce prejudice of all kinds. You might already be familiar with this group's "Mix it Up" initiative which seeks to get middle school and high school students to sit with someone new for one day during lunch at the cafeteria. This site contains lesson plans, links for teachers, parents, teens, and kids, current topics related to prejudice, an on-line version of the Teaching Tolerance magazine, an order form for free curriculum materials, and links to other resources.

The teacher’s link offers classroom activities (many interactive) that tie in with the lesson plans. There is also a link to receive FREE kits and handbooks! The “Parents” link offers activities and ideas for ages 2-17! There are online activities, recommended books, “talking points” for parents, and more. The “For Teens” link includes a wealth of resources: video clips, lessons, 10 steps to take action, downloadable posters, essays, and true stories. The Kid’s link offers “read,” “Explore,” and “Play” options for elementary (and younger middle school) students. A “sign up” box appears when you first enter the site, click on the X to remove the box.
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This site offers a WebQuest (with several task options) introducing and exploring the work of Dr. Jane Goodall and her conservation programs in Africa that were developed to protect the chimpanzees. Not only does the site focus on the chimpanzees, but also on the people in the surrounding communities. Students read the story "Where’s Willy Whalley?" and then choose one of the activity choices. Examples of activities include both research and writing (electronic stories, audio presentations, clay animations, and many others). There are countless sites provided, all about the work of Jane Goodall. Some of the links require Flash or Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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This site may appear simple, but offers some great ideas to enhance Shakespeare and character education lessons. There are 8 interactive word puzzles, a word bank of 21 words, an alphalary of terms for character/leadership, information about what makes someone a good character (or not), and more.
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This is a teacher and professional resource containing lesson plans and links for promoting diversity and addressing racial divides. This site contains excellent lesson plans on diversity, discrimination, multiculturalism, and tolerance. Each plan focuses on a person or event of a specific racial group, or a problem common to all multicultural groups. The plans do not specify a grade level, though many could be adapted for use from middle elementary level to high school. From Japanese internment to celebrating Thanksgiving in an American school, the plans and activities are excellent, varied, and fresh. The lesson plans are VERY detailed and provide objectives, but no correlation to standards. Many of the individual stories are available in MP3 format. You can listen to the stories using Windows Media Player or on any MP3 player, as well. Some of the lesson plans require Adobe Acrobat. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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Need a bookcase or rug for your classroom or home office area? Perhaps you have extra, personally-purchased classroom supplies that you no longer use. There is a solution to both dilemmas—Freecycle! Check this site to see if there is a local Freecycle group in your area. With 4,336 groups and growing, there’s a good chance one is in your neighborhood. Twenty five states currently have participants. This grassroots, non-profit network’s aim is to get unused ‘stuff’ into the hands of someone who can use it, and most importantly, they want to keep it out of our clogged landfills. Teachers are the most resourceful people on earth, and Freecycle is here to help fuel that creditable reputation. Membership is free –check it out!
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For Lincoln's birthday or any time of year, here are ideas to better acquaint students with the life, times, and work of the 16th president of the United States. These ideas feature both technology-enhanced lessons and non-tech experiences. Choose from the lesson titles (sorted by level) to find lesson ideas best suited to your students and the subjects you teach.
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Social studies, history, and government teachers - be warned - this site may be the best FREE gift you receive this year. To sum it up in one word - WOW! The highlight of this site is ready-to-go lesson plans (with standards) divided by age level (elementary, middle, and high school). These FREE lesson plans are available online via a PDF file or you may order a FREE CD (they say it is a $150 value).

The elementary topics range from Colonial America to U.S. Presidents (with a focus on George Washington) to the History of Thanksgiving to The Pledge of Allegiance and MANY others. The middle school topics include the Declaration of Independence, Our National Documents, The Gettysburg Address, Religious Expression in School, and several others. The high school topics vary from the Mayflower, to Federalists 47, the First Amendment, and more. Each grade level also includes lessons on character education.

In addition to the wonderful lesson plans, the site also highlights the four themes of the foundation: Unity, Progress, Freedom, and Responsibility. There are also links to some fantastic social studies sites and a wealth of research information about America. Some of the lesson plans and printables require Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
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