LEARN NC

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

CEU courses open for enrollment

e-Learning for Educators - Learning and Teaching with Web 2.0 Tools
In this workshop, participants will be exposed to many of the tools of the Read/Write Web and will get the chance to experiment with new tools each week.
Take this course: Begins January 26.

From the education reference

school choice
Legal structure allowing families and children to select a school other than the one assigned by their district. Schools of choice may be established by private firms or organized groups of families or educators; these groups receive public funding on a per-pupil basis.
magnet school
Public school of choice that emphasizes a special curricular program designed to attract students from outside an attendance zone in order to enhance desegregation efforts and diversify student populations.
charter school
A public school of choice, usually created by parents or educators seeking an alternative to traditional public schools. Developers create a contract, or charter, with a sponsoring agency (either state or local school board). In exchange for autonomy from many state and district requirements, charter schools are expected to offer financial responsibility, academic accountability for student performance, as well as innovative and challenging educational practices.
site-based management
Organizational structure that decentralizes authority and increases the autonomy of individual schools. Responsibility and accountability are at the school level, and the decision-making process includes teachers, administrators, parents, and community members.
school improvement plan
Comprehensive school-based plan outlining goals and objectives for ongoing school improvement. Specific measures are determined on a state-by-state basis.

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A women's college
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.3
The State Normal and Industrial School, founded in 1891, was the first public institution of higher education in North Carolina to admit women. It was established primarily to train teachers for the state's public schools. Today it is the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Format: article
Attributes by kids
This activity requires the student to demonstrate an understanding of classification, patterning, and seriation. The students will complete the project based on personal characteristics.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Guidance and Social Studies)
By Bunnie R. Brewer.
Instructional assessment: Finding teaching points
In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 1.8
Over time, running records can show patterns in student use of cuing systems and self corrections. But individual running records can also be useful in instruction. After each running record, a teacher can choose a teaching point, using the student's...
By Jeanne Gunther.
Character education: What would you do?
This lesson is designed to teach character development, problem solving, and teamwork. It can also be used with exceptional students in a high school setting.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Guidance)
Recipe for Success
Students will use an electronic card catalog to find books by subject using the call number. This lesson was used in collaboration with a third grade thanksgiving unit. As part of the unit students were to find a recipe to prepare and bring to class.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Information Skills)
By Elizabeth Gibson and Melissa Withers.
Connecting with colleagues: No tricks, all treat!
In The First Year, page 2.4
You're busy, but making time for conversation with colleagues will pay off in the long run.
Format: article
By Kristi Johnson Smith.
Habitat happenings (Lesson five)
This is lesson five in the series. During this lesson students will put the things they have learned from previous lessons into a creative writing assignment. The students will choose an animal to be and will describe themselves and their living environment.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)
By Kelly Stewart.
Where do I begin?
Picking a good beginning helps you to focus your story on just one main event. In this lesson students will learn how to pick a good beginning for their personal narratives.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
By DPI Writing Strategies.
Mapping life in a colonial town
In Colonial North Carolina, page 6.14
From a detailed map of colonial Edenton, North Carolina, we can learn a great deal about daily life and community life on the eve of the Revolution.
Format: activity
By L. Maren Wood.
Seeds of change
This lesson plan offers middle school students an overview of the physical and emotional changes of adolescence. Students will explore emotions experienced each day and how these emotions can impact behavior. Students will examine their school behaviors and identify ways to change negative behaviors into positive behaviors.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Guidance)
Gardens all around
Students learn to appreciate the plants and animals that make their homes in the gardens of North Carolina.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Science)
By Bambi Heavner.
Synonym word bags
The purpose of Word Bags is to give students a resource for finding synonyms for overused words that they use in their writing on a daily basis. Students will fill Word Bags with synonyms for frequently used words.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)
By DPI Writing Strategies.
Food choice in our everyday lives
Focuses on everyday foods and how these foods relate to the food pyramid. Students will recognize food vocabulary in the target language (Spanish) and will make healthy food choices by creating thinking maps, a school menu in the target language, and exploring food choices from around the world.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Healthful Living and Second Languages)
By Gina Benson and Laura Epting.
The Federalist Papers: No. 68. The mode of electing the president
In Election 2008, page 4.5
In this essay, written as a letter to the New York Packet in 1788, Alexander Hamilton argues for the method of electing the President spelled out in the original United States Constitution.
Format: letter
Using different versions of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"
This lesson allows the teacher to read different versions of this classic in accents indigenous to certain cultures and then provides a writing lesson for students to write their own version of "'Twas the Night" for their school!
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)
By Dirk Robertson.
Spring cinquain poems
Students will review parts of speech by learning what a cinquain poem is and then writing and typing a Spring cinquain.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Computer/Technology Skills and English Language Arts)
By Jennifer Williams.
"Mice" in the Media Center
This lesson plan will foster literature appreciation in the Elementary School through sharing a variety of books(fiction and non-fiction) poems, puppets or models, focusing on a mouse or mice as a main character or characters.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Information Skills)
What does it mean?
In Teaching about North Carolina American Indians, page 3.5
Introduction Visual symbols can be important ways of communicating ideas. Individuals, corporations, communities, and organizations use logos, seals, flags, icons, and other visual symbols to represent their values, share their histories, and send...
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Gazelia Carter.
"We the People"
Students will gain a better understanding of the U.S. Constitution by exploring the language of the Constitution.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Karen Creech, Terri Hodges, Megan Lawson, and Mary Ostwalt.
Comparing governments - International
This lesson focuses on comparing and contrasting national governments in North America and/or Central America. It is the second in a sequence, the first being "Comparing Governments - Local, State, and National" by Tami Weaver and Wendy Pineda, also on the Learn NC website. This plan could be easily adapted for eighth grade or high school ESL students.
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Social Studies)
By Tami Weaver and Wendy Pineda.