LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

CEU courses open for enrollment

The Civil Rights Movement in Context
Investigate the precursors to the Civil Rights Movement, its leadership, its opposition, and its legacy, including lesser-studied events of the movement and primary sources.
Take this course: Begins February 2.

From the education reference

discovery learning
Learning that takes place, not through instruction, but through examination, analysis, or experimentation.
service learning
Intentional combination of community service objectives and learning opportunities that benefits both the recipient and provider of the service. Student service learning projects should be structured to link learning tasks to self-reflection so that they enrich learning, strengthen communities, and teach civic responsibility.
cooperative learning
Instructional method in which students work together in small, heterogeneous groups to complete a problem, project, or other instructional goal, while teachers act as guides or facilitators. This method works to reinforce a student’s own learning as well as the learning of his or her fellow group members.
collaborative learning
An umbrella term for the variety of approaches and models in education that involve the shared intellectual efforts by students working in small groups to accomplish a goal or complete a task.
learning contract
An agreement between a teacher and a student regarding how that student will achieve specified learning goals or objectives.
learning disability
A discrepancy between expected achievement and observed achievement, also known as "unexpected underachievement."
Dimensions of Learning model
Model of learning developed by Marzano et al (1988) that links content area knowledge, metacognition, and critical and creative thinking with a taxonomy of thinking skills and thinking processes.
project-based learning
Teaching approach that engages students in sustained, collaborative real-world investigations. Projects are organized around a driving question, and students participate in a variety of tasks that seek to meaningfully address this question.
problem-based learning
Model of instruction in which the teacher poses an authentic problem for student resolution. PBL may be one among many strategies in a classroom or an entire curricular and instructional approach. In the course of problem-solving, students work cooperatively in groups to learn content and skills related to real world problems. The teacher acts as a facilitator to learning.
digital game-based learning
Instructional method that incorporates educational content or learning principles into video games with the goal of engaging learners. Applications of digital game-based learning draw upon the constructivist theory of education.

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Problem centered math
Why students must build their own understanding of mathematics if they are to be able to use it in the real world, and how teachers can guide them in doing so.
Format: series (multiple pages)
Math for multiple intelligences
How a middle-school math teacher realized she was boring and jump-started her career — and her students — by using thematic planning, emphasizing problem solving, and teaching to multiple intelligences.
Format: series (multiple pages)
Discovery learning
This reference article explains the theory of discovery learning and discusses its history and its use in the classroom.
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Why inquiry?
The rationale for using discovery learning methods in teaching science.
Discovering Pi
This lesson introduces students to Pi through the discovery method of instruction. Students practice simple measuring skills to discover the relationship between the circumference and diameter of circular objects (Pi).They will be able to use this concept to find the circumference of any circle when the diameter is given.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
By Betty Shell.
North Carolina A&T University Farm
Discover Agriculture provides an interactive experience for students to learn about agricultural science including farming with the environment in mind.
Format: article/field trip opportunity
Geometry and art: Art museum pre-visit
This lesson is the first of a three-part unit integrating math, writing and visual arts. In this discovery learning activity, students look at and compare two works of art. The paintings are quite different, but they contain many examples of geometric shapes. Students then complete a comment sheet, explaining what is similar and different about the works of art. This lesson can be used alone or used to prepare students for an art museum visit.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)
By Loretta Hopper.
Rethinking Reports
Creative research-based assignments provide alternatives to the President Report, Animal Report, and Famous Person Report that ask students to think about old topics in new ways, work collaboratively, and develop products that support a variety of learning styles.
Format: series (multiple pages)
The learning cycle
A three-part model of scientific inquiry that encourages students to develop their own understanding of a scientific concept, explore and deepen that understanding, and then apply the concept to new situations.
Format: article/best practice
By David Walbert.
Animal environments: Day one
Students will group animals using common characteristics. Students will develop an understanding of animal adaptations. This lesson was designed to be used with the lesson "Diamante Poetry Using Environments: Day two."
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Science)
By Cheri Cole.
Fire in Pythagorville: Problem-centered lessons
Students will work on problem-centered lessons which use the application of the Pythagorean theorem to put out a fire in the fictional town of Pythagorville.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Mathematics)
By Kelly Crisp.
Let's make it simple (pre-visit)
This lesson focuses on the student's ability to recognize objects in nature that could become tools to make work easier (simple machines). It is the first in a series of three lessons, the others being Lesson 2: Make it simple: Now find it (museum visit) and Lesson 3: Simple: Now compound (post-visit).
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Science)
By Becky Robinson.
To know them is to teach them
We must maintain high standards and expectations, incorporate students' experiences into the curriculum, and use culturally relevant materials.
By Barbara Rush.
History of atomic theory
This lesson is developed for a regular low level physical science class. In small groups, students will use media and written script to learn and teach each other about major contributions to the development of the atomic theory.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Development and Science)
By Anya Childs and Rhonda Garrett.
Giving meaning to volume and surface area
This lesson is designed to help students give meaning to volume and surface area by solving problems using a meaningful situation rather than formulas.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Mathematics)
By Grayson Wheatley.
Quick Draw
In Problem centered math, page 4
An engaging math activity that helps students develop and talk about spatial reasoning.
By Grayson Wheatley.
Why problem-centered learning?
In Problem centered math, page 2
The world our students will live and work in will require them to gather, organize, and interpret data in the process of finding solutions to complex problems. Problem-centered learning creates a model where the student becomes the thinker.
By Mike Kestner.
Simple: Now compound (post-visit)
This lesson focuses on the process of combining two or more simple machines to form a compound machine. It is the third in a sequence of lessons on machines. The others are Lesson 1: Let's make it simple (pre-visit) and Lesson 2: Make it simple: Now find it(museum visit).
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Science)
By Becky Robinson.
Solar energy hot box
This hands-on science lesson is great because it allows students to get out of their seats and move about, as well as allows students to work in cooperative groups. The teacher is more of a facilitator and students are more in charge of their own learning processes.
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Mathematics and Science)
By Nicole Albright.
Mirror, mirror on the ground!
In this lesson, students will use their knowledge of similar triangles and indirect measurement to measure the heights of various objects.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Mathematics)
By Denise Corbett.