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
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Uses puppets to introduce young children to the concept of escalating and deescalating conflict.
An experienced classroom teacher offers two 10-minute activities she has found useful in building community in her classroom, particularly at the start of the school year.
Students reflect on a time when they were angry. They describe the ways people communicate and physically react when they have strong feelings and consider what choices we can make
In this lesson, students practice active listening by paraphrasing what they hear.
Students work in groups to come up with a definition of 'democracy,' then read and discuss an article on Occupy Wall Street's decision-making process.
for grades 4-7 Students explore the meaning of democracy and how Occupy Wall Street is using elements of democracy in their protests. Then students think of and analyze ideas
Students learn about the protest and its message, and consider how the Occupy Wall Street protest is related to public protests in other countries in the past year.
Students explore the question of taxes, Obama's recent 'Buffett Rule' proposal, and Republican charges of 'class warfare.'
Students learn about the Occupy Wall Street protest, discuss wealth disparity, consider some statistics, make their own charts, and find out what some of the protesters want and
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Eight tips on what to do when students make hurtful remarks.
Students learn about and discuss the massive revelations included in the Panama Papers, the impact of tax avoidance on this scale, and how the story relates to the gap between rich
What is fracking and what is its impact? Students explore the issue and the political landscape around it, including efforts by activists to ban the practice.
In some states, voters have stood in line for hours to cast their ballot. Why? In this short Teachable Instant activity, students explore the controversy over voter suppression in
These guidelines, which we developed following last year's Paris attacks, may be helpful in the wake of the recent violence in Brussels.
What are the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement, and what progress has it made in bringing social change? Students explore these questions with readings and discussion.