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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A student reading explores why gas prices are rising. A Document-Based Question has students consider competing views on what to do about it.
After a brief reading and a sampling of news reports, students consider the role of bias and opinion in the news.
An overview of income tax laws and the accompanying chart provide the basis for student inquiry into who benefited most from the Bush tax cuts. The questions and assignment that
As controversy grows over military recruitment in high schools, we offer a set of rigorous, inquiry-oriented and student-friendly readings and activities that explore many aspects
An opening exercise and two readings offer students an opportunity to learn about the Patriot Act and to grapple with some of its controversial provisions.
Now is a teachable moment for study and discussion of the First Amendment and the religiously tinged politics of our time. Here, a quiz, a short history of the First Amendment
What right, if any, "to keep and bear" arms does the Constitution guarantee individuals? What right, if any, does Congress have to regulate them?
Readings and activities on WorldCom, the profitable world of stock options, and other financial shenanigans and what Congress & the President are doing about it.
What should the U.S. do in Iraq? A student reading offers an overview of the five most discussed strategies, issues associated with each, and suggestions for class activities and
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Through readings, video and discussion, students learn about the Paris climate conference, underlying issues, and popular efforts to address climate change.
Students learn about and discuss what is at stake at the Paris Climate Summit and consider the growing international movement for action on climate change.
This activity uses tweets to help cultivate caring and compassion in the wake of terrorist attacks on Paris and elsewhere. Please also see these general guidelines for discussing
These guidelines may help you in conducting discussions with students who may be upset about the Paris attacks.
In this brief Teachable Instant activity, students learn about how organizing by Black students and their allies at the University of Missouri led to the resignation of the
What is 'democratic socialism'? Bernie Sanders' presidential bid is raising a question many Americans have never considered. In two readings, students explore Sanders' version of