Timely resources to help K-12 educators encourage social responsibility and foster social & emotional learning. Find out more.
TeachableMoment Lessons
Featured Lessons
In honor of Teacher Appreciation week, Morningside Center offers this Circle-based lesson as an invitation for students and Circle keepers to reflect on the impactful teachers and “teachers” in their lives; what lessons were learned; and ways they’ve passed this learning forward.
Spring is a natural time for transformation, for embracing new beginnings while shedding those attitudes or mindsets that no longer serve us. It’s also an ideal time to consider the changes in our lives and their impact. In this lesson students reflect on change, grief, and loss through a scrawl wall, a circle, and building a collective playlist.
In this lesson students examine New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration speech to learn what a speech can reveal about a leader’s values, priorities and vision for democracy—and how a speech can shape how people see themselves and others in a community.
SEL & RP
Activities to support students' social and emotional learning and restorative practices
Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
Tips & Ideas
Guidance and inspiration to help build skills and community in your classroom and school
Filter TeachableMoment Lessons By:
An introduction and two student readings explore Obama's pledge to move toward nuclear abolition, obstacles to it, and current analysis from author Jonathan Schell. Discussion
Constance McMillen, who is lesbian, wanted to attend her senior prom with her girlfriend. A student reading describes the controversy and court ruling that ensued. Discussion
Student readings provide an overview of the new health insurance legislation and conflicting views about it. Discussion questions and a writing assignment follow.
A student reading describes the problem of college debt and provisions of the new reform law. A second reading presents arguments comparing college debt to indentured servitude and
Two student readings and discussion questions examine the safety of nuclear energy as well as the wider debate about the pros and cons of nuclear energy.
Alan Shapiro offers a process (including two student readings) to help students conduct a rigorous inquiry into the controversy over climate change.
In three readings, students explore the origins of the movement, its anti-government anger, its alliances, and consider its relationship to what historian Richard Hofstadter called
Three student readings examine the story of this British resident,who was recently released after being held by the U.S. for seven years as a suspected terrorist. Discussion
Two student readings consider the controversy over the Bush administration attorneys who counseled that 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were legal.
Filter TeachableMoment Lessons By:
This lesson uses Hispanic Heritage Month as a jumping off point for discussing how "history" is shaped and what we can do together to include a larger variety of voices and
Students use the case of Ray Rice — the professional football player seen physically abusing his fiancé — as a starting point to learn about domestic violence.
Students work in small groups and as a class to decide on what policies they would recommend to the President to deal with threats posed by ISIS.
The People's Climate March in New York City on September 21, 2014 was the largest climate march in history. In this lesson students learn about the march and the current scientific
What is justice? What is peace? And how are they related? Students consider these questions and the meaning of the chant "no justice, no peace," used by people protesting the
Should apartment buildings that have both luxury and affordable units have separate entrances for wealthy and non-wealthy residents? Students learn about a controversy over "poor