News Spotlight: What We Forget When We Remember 9/11
More than 100 million Americans have been born since September 11, 2001 — meaning for a growing share of the country, 9/11 isn’t a memory but a history lesson. As…
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Read Aloud: 14 Cows for America
14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy, written in collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah and illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez, is a picture book for grades 2-5 that tells the…
Wormly’s Back to School Sentence Practice
Kick off the new school year with Wormly’s Back to School Sentence Practice! Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade read a sentence with a missing word and use context clues…
Read Aloud: An Ode to Underwear
Ode to Underwear by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Abigail Burch, turns a taboo classroom topic into a laugh-out-loud read aloud for Pre-K through Grade 2. The rhyming picture book leans…
Proof by Underpants: The Ig Nobel Soil Science Story
This soil science for kids activity is part of our ongoing News Spotlight series, where real research, like this 2026 Ig Nobel Prize-winning citizen science project, gets turned into leveled…
Teacher’s Guide to the Jewish High Holidays
Bring the Jewish High Holidays into your classroom with reflection-centered activities, respectful discussion questions, and guidance for family guest visits — for K-5 educators.
Back to School Word Search
Get ready for the new school year with Wormly’s back-to-school word search! Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade search a letter grid to find vocabulary words tied to the classroom…
Wormly’s World Back to School Crossword Puzzle
Welcome back to school with Wormly the tortoise! This interactive crossword puzzle helps students in Kindergarten through 5th grade practice essential back-to-school vocabulary — from simple words like sun and…
Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle: A Life Science Lab
Watch a monarch butterfly grow from a single egg into a migrating adult in this interactive life cycle lesson for grades K through 8. Students click through each stage on…
Rock Paper Scissors Instant Lesson for PreK–5
Rock Paper Scissors takes ten minutes, needs nothing but a smartboard and a child’s own hands, and works three developmental processes at once. The countdown builds impulse regulation as children…
Rock Paper Scissors Game for PreK-5th Classrooms
Play Rock, Paper, Scissors on Your Smartboard World Rock Paper Scissors Day lands on August 27, and this free smartboard game turns it into a whole-class activity. One child stands…
Back to School Math Game | Shopping Cart Budgeting Challenge
Head back to school with this standards-aligned budgeting game for grades K–5. In the Back-to-School Shopping Challenge, students shop for school supplies within a set budget — $20, $50, or…
Close-up with Carl Nelson Gorman: Navajo Code Talker, Artist, and Teacher
Pfc. Carl Gorman at his observation post above Garapan, Saipan, June 27, 1944. U.S. Marine Corps photograph, National Archives Catalog, NAID 100378149; public domain. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/100378149 Carl Nelson Gorman was punished as…
STEAM Maker Lab: Paper Airplane Challenge Instant Lesson
Fold it, fly it, measure it, then change one thing and fly it again. This STEAM Maker Lab™ turns a paper airplane into a real engineering investigation for National Aviation…
Paper Airplane Folding Craft — National Aviation Week
STEAM Maker Lab™ · August 2026 Paper Airplane Folding Craft Fold four different paper aircraft with our resident artist, then print the reference sheet and build your own. K–5th Grade…
Wormly: Beach Week Edition — Classroom Implementation Guide & Mini Lesson Plans
Wormly: Beach Week Edition is a Science of Reading–aligned spelling game for beginning readers through grade 5, built on a curated coastal word bank where every word is tagged by…
Insect Anatomy Lesson: A Life Science Lab
This Instant Lesson Offers a Step into Insect Anatomy for Pre-K–5th grade plus a section for Middle Schooler and up to do deeper exploration. Explore insect anatomy with an interactive…
What’s Bugging You? Sort the Insects a K-8 Life Sciences Activity
This is a Fun, MUST-have Standards-Aligned Insect Classification Activity for K–8 STEM Classrooms, that’s great for easing into the Back to School Period What’s Bugging You? Sort the Insects! This…
News Spotlight: The Science of the World Cup Ball
A giant replica of the Adidas Trionda soccer ball in Coyoacán, Mexico’s Jardín Hidalgo. Photo by ProtoplasmaKid, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0
Beach Toys vs. School Supplies: A Punny Read Aloud Book Review
Kick of the school year with your classroom read aloud time or to send the book home for family reading Read Aloud: Beach Toys vs. School Supplies | This Month…
Where do seashells come from?
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
LIVE: NASA Astronaut Anil Menon Soyuz MS-29 Docking
This child-friendly feed (privacy enforced) is a live stream from NASA on July 14th 2026
Celebrate America: The Ultimate Guide to America’s Potluck!
The Ultimate Guide to America’s Potluck! Unforgettable Camp & Classroom Activities for the 250th Anniversary Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with an unforgettable community potluck designed for elementary classrooms, summer camps,…
Close-up with Betty Reid Soskin | Ranger, Songwriter & Keeper of History
This close-up guide introduces K–5 students to Betty Reid Soskin — songwriter, gospel music entrepreneur, civil rights advocate, and the oldest active National Park Service ranger in United States history.…
Nature Through the Lens: Instant Lesson for Nature Photography Day
This Month™ Instant Lesson: Nature Through the Lens is a K–5 smartboard lesson for Nature Photography Day (June 15) built around four real photographs. Each photo anchors a core science…
Fatherhood in the Animal Kingdom
This Father’s Day, pair quality time with purposeful learning by watching “Fatherhood in the Animal Kingdom”, a 2024 BBC Earth short documentary that follows wildlife fathers — from seahorses to…
Instant Lesson: Jazz Instrument Matching Game
This Month™ Jazz Instruments Instant Lesson is a teacher-supported, smartboard-ready learning experience for grades K–5, designed to accompany the Jazz Instrument Matching Game during African American Music Month. Students open…
End-of-Year Favorites: The Classroom Activities Teachers Loved Most in 2026
End-of-Year Classroom Activities: Favorites in 2026 This school year, teachers turned to This Month™ for interactive, curriculum-aligned activities that make the final stretch, and the whole year, worth celebrating. These…
National Insect Appreciation Day: Clay Insect Sculpting Craft
Why 900,000 insect species need one day of appreciation more than ever Clay Insect Sculpting Craft National Insect Appreciation Day · June 2026 Sculpt North American Insects Out of Clay…
I Have Two Moms | Read Aloud Spotlight
“I Have Two Moms” by Colleen LeMaire, illustrated by Marina Saumell, is a picture book for preschool through 2nd grade that introduces children to the reality of two-mom families within…
World Environment Day Crossword Puzzle
World Environment Day Crossword Puzzle What Is the World Environment Day Crossword Puzzle? This free World Environment Day crossword game for kids gives K–5 teachers a ready-to-play interactive activity for…
13 of Our Favorite Dinosaur Exhibits in the USA
From the Smithsonian to the Rockies: The Ultimate Guide to 13 of the Best Dinosaur Exhibits and Museums for Families This Summer Planning a summer adventure? Whether you’re road-tripping through…
Close-up with Pura Belpré: How one Brave Librarian Transformed Puerto Rican Culture in America
How one Puerto Rican librarian transformed the New York Public Library and children’s literature forever Pura Belpré arrived in New York City in 1921 intending to stay for a wedding.…
Garden Workshop: Seeds, Soil & Sustainability
Garden Workshop is an interactive, standards-aligned planting game for grades K–5. Students move through five guided steps — choosing a planting season, selecting a biodegradable container, identifying the right seeds,…
Discover the Secret Bee! Honeycomb Hex Pattern for Kindergarten
🍯 Honeycomb Hex Math 🍯 Honeycomb Hex Math Kindergarten · Color by Number ↺ Reset 🐝 Color by Number — Reveal the Secret! Pick a color below, then tap or…
Sports Gear Shopping Challenge | Budget Math Game for K–5
Celebrate National Physical Fitness & Sports Month with this standards-aligned interactive budget math game for grades K–5! Students shop for real sports gear — soccer balls, skateboards, fishing rods, hockey…
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Unleash the Power of Latino Literature Book Recommender
Find Perfect Pura Belpré Book Award Winners Instantly Through our Book Recommender Discover the magic of award-winning Latino literature with our free interactive Book Recommender! Our Pura Belpré Book Recommender…
Africa Day: Match African Nations & Their Capitals
Celebrate Africa Day on May 25th with this interactive nations and capitals matching game for grades K–5! Students study real country flags and geographic region clues before matching 54-nation Africa’s…
Galápagos Giant Tortoises: From Extinction to Recovery | K-5 Life Science Lesson
Why have we chosen a classroom focus on these Giant Tortoises? As a biologist who loved studying these magnificent creatures through the lens of Darwin’s research, I’ve poured my fascination…
Effortless Lesson Planning: How Teachers Save Time, and Get Engagement with This Dashboard
This Month™ – Seasonal Learning Made Simple “Everything I need is right there when I need it. The dashboard makes planning so much easier.” See How It Works 🎮 300+…
Surprising Summer Fractions Fun: Hands-On Lemonade Stand Division Activity for Early Learners
Surprising Summer Fractions Fun: Hands-On Lemonade Stand Division Activity for Early Learners Discover an amazing interactive math game that transforms equal partitioning into a delightful summer adventure. This free lemonade…
Spring Baby Animals Revealed | Interactive Smartboard-Ready Instant Lesson!
Celebrate International Day of Biodiversity (May 22) with Spring Babies – Interactive Lesson & Sorting Game Discover the amazing biodiversity of spring with this comprehensive instant lesson and interactive sorting…
Close-up with Naomi Osaka: Tennis Champion, Activist, and a Story of Two Cultures
This K–5 educator guide explores the life and legacy of Naomi Osaka — professional tennis champion, social justice activist, and a proud representative of both Japanese and Haitian heritage. Aligned…
Field Day Word Search
Get your students moving and thinking with this Field Day Word Search — a standards-aligned vocabulary activity for grades K–5. Three differentiated versions keep every learner challenged: Kindergarten and 1st…
Close-up with David Attenborough: Nature’s Greatest Storyteller Turns 100
Name the Animal Activity Sheets: Pair this Close-Up with a printable activity sheet for your grade level. Students identify animals David Attenborough has filmed, record animal facts, and complete a…
Explosive, Eye-Opening and Standards-Aligned: Our Volcano Lava Flow Simulator is Here!
A volcano erupting, showing lava and plums footage is made into a video gif. Volcano unknown
What it would have been like to experience the dinosaur‑killing asteroid armageddon?
A blow‑by‑blow account from the Conversation. Michael J. Benton, University of Bristol and Monica Grady, The Open University A great Tyrannosaurus rex strides through the conifer trees of her territory,…
The Perfect Poetry Month TEJ Reader to Welcome Spring!
My team curated this Poetry Month edition because we wanted young learners to hear three distinct Black voices — spanning more than a century of American poetry — brought to…
Book Review: “Listening to the Quiet”
Listening to the Quiet is a tender, beautifully illustrated picture book that centers Deaf culture, family connection and the joy of learning sign language together. A must-read for early childhood classrooms…
Teacher Appreciation Word Search
Tips for Using Teacher Appreciation Week Word Search | K–5 Vocabulary Activity (Free Interactive Game) Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week with this free, standards-aligned word search for K–5 students. Three grade-differentiated…
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Teacher’s Guide to Cinco de Mayo
This teacher’s guide gives K–5 educators the tools to teach Cinco de Mayo accurately and meaningfully. At its core is the 1862 Battle of Puebla — a stunning military upset…
Sort Out the Spring Babies! Life Science K-5th!
Spring Babies! is an interactive sorting game where K–5 students classify animals — mammals, birds, and amphibians — by how they come into the world. Players drag and drop real…
Geometry on the Tanagram Farm Challenge (K-3)
The Tangram Farm is an interactive K–3 geometry game built around the tangram, a 200-year-old Chinese puzzle that is one of the most beloved contributions of Asian mathematical tradition —…
Teacher Appreciation Gratitude Cards
Teacher Appreciation Week is the perfect opportunity to help your child say thank you in a meaningful way, as an alternative to a store-bought card. This free printable pack makes…
Instant Lesson: Lei Pattern Games
Download the printable lesson plan: a two-page guide for the Lei Day Pattern Builder and Lei Day Unit Counter games. It covers game mechanics, grade-band guidance for K–3, lesson flow,…
Lei Day Pattern Builder
This interactive Lei Day pattern game invites K–3 students to string repeating lei patterns using hibiscus 🌺, shell beads 🐚, and maile leaves 🌿. With five difficulty levels spanning AB…
Lei Day Unit Counter
In this Lei Day math activity, K–2 students build exactly three complete units of three different repeating patterns — Easy (AB), Medium (AAB), and Hard (ABC) — using hibiscus 🌺,…
Book Review: “A Love Letter to My Library”
A Read Aloud Spotlight review of A Love Letter to My Library by Lisa Katzenberger illustrated by Rob Sayegh Jr., featuring educator insights on why this warm, inclusive picture book…
ASL Matching Game
Celebrate National ASL Day with this free interactive sign language matching game for grades K–5! Students match real American Sign Language signs to their English meanings across three differentiated grade…
Field Day Running Race Math Game K-5!
Field Day Running Race is a standards-aligned, interactive math game for grades K–5 that turns end-of-year field day excitement into real learning — students name their teams, pick mascots, and…
Woven Bookmark & Rug Craft
🌙 Arab American Heritage Month · May 2026 🌙 Al-SaduWeaving Craft A traditional textile art from the Bedouin people of the Arabian Peninsula — brought to life for K–5th grade…
A Close-Up of Sundus Saad: Weaving Color, Texture, and Memory
Sundus Saad is a South African-Arab fiber artist and weaver based in Cape Town whose work encodes personal memory, cultural heritage, and a commitment to sustainable materials. After more than…
Storm Simulator: Instant Lesson
This Month™ Storm Simulator Instant Lesson pairs a free, browser-based hurricane simulator with grade-banded instruction for K–5 classrooms. Students in grades K–1 observe how weather conditions change storm strength; grades…
Storm Simulator: Interactive Hurricane Science
This interactive Storm Simulator gives K–5 students a first-person look at how hurricanes form, intensify, and cause destruction. Built as an aerial-view simulation, students adjust five real meteorological parameters —…
Early Learners
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Elementary
Family well being
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Honoring Spanish Language Day with “The Interpreter”
“The Interpreter” tells the story of Cecilia. A young girl from a Spanish-speaking family who takes on an important but often unseen role: translating for her parents in everyday life.…
Empanada Math Fiesta: Instant Lesson
This Instant Lesson guide gives teachers everything needed to run Empanada Math Fiesta as a structured, standards-aligned math activity in 15–20 minutes. The guide covers step-by-step setup instructions, a grade-band…
Empanada Math Fiesta
Empanada Math Fiesta builds multiplication and equal groups skills across all three elementary grade bands — K–1, 2nd–3rd, and 4th–5th. Students step into the role of empanada chefs scaling a…
Earth Day Coloring & Memory Match
Small actions can make a big difference for our planet. When we recycle, we help reduce waste in our landfills, conserve natural resources, and protect the planet for future generations.…
Learn About the Thai New Year Songkran: Educator’s Guide
Songkran — Thailand’s traditional New Year festival, inscribed by UNESCO in 2023 — offers K–5 educators a culturally rich entry point into Thai culture, Theravada Buddhism, and Southeast Asian traditions…
Honoring Disability Book Week: “Extraordinary Jordyn and her Bionic Ears”
Within Deaf culture, “Deaf” with an uppercase D often refers to sign language users who view their Deafness as a cultural identity, while a lowercase “d” describes a level of…
Early Learners
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Color the Magic: A Unicorn Coloring Pack
Celebrate National Unicorn Day with whimsical coloring pages designed to spark imagination, creativity, and a little bit of wonder. Each page comes with a fun fact about unicorn history and…
Breaking News: Orion Re-entry and Splashdown
Explore how Orion came home — News and a K–5 interactive guide covering the return journey, skip reentry, heat shield science, parachutes, and Pacific Ocean splashdown, with a live animation…
Wormly: Moon Exploration Edition — SoR Spelling
The Classroom Implementation Guide & Mini Lesson Plans below includes grade differentiated SoR-tagged word lists and tips for whole-class, small group, and independent use. Wormly: Moon Exploration Edition is a…
Meet Wormly at the Children’s Book Fair in Bologna Italy!
Who is Wormly? And What Does Wormly Do for Elementary Students? Wormly is an interactive letter-collecting spelling game built on Science of Reading (SoR) principles, developed by This Month™ Educational…
An Instant Guide to the Artemis II Moon Photos
Meta description: Explore six stunning photos taken by astronauts during the Artemis II lunar flyby — the first images captured by humans near the Moon in over 50 years. From…
NASA Live Stream for Your Classroom (Official)
With so many “SPACE influencers” out there it may be difficult to find the official NASA Artemis II Lunar FlyBy with cookies removed in compliance with School Privacy Policy. Look…
Breaking News: Moon Flyby Physics Explained
This interactive Moon Flyby Simulator from This Month™ brings gravity, trajectory, and free-return physics to life for elementary students in grades K–5. Students trace a figure-8 path from Earth to…
Background about the Artemis II from the Conversation
Artemis II’s long countdown – a space historian explains why it has taken over 50 years to return to the Moon The Artemis I crew and service modules with the Moon…
Physics Friday – Rocket to the Moon Mission Simulator
Free Rocket to the Moon Simulator – Physics for K–5 🚀 Tip: Select your grade level, adjust the sliders, then press Ignite Engines to launch! What Is the Rocket to…
In the Spring Day and Night are Equal: Lesson Plan & Interactive
The Spring Equinox: How Much Sun Does Your City Get? | This Month™ Instant Guide This Month™ · Instant Guide · Spring Science How Much Sun DoesYour City Get? On…
Easter Egg Word Problems: Practice Addition
Spring into math practice with Easter Egg Addition, a standards-aligned K–5 word problem game featuring Easter eggs, baby chicks, chocolate bunnies, and more. Students choose their grade band (K–1, 2–3,…
Early Learners
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Culturally informed
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Teacher’s Guide to Good Friday & Easter: Traditions Around the World
Explore Good Friday and Easter through a global lens with this interactive K–5 educator’s guide. From Ukrainian pysanky eggs and Filipino Senakulo passion plays to Bermuda kite flying and Ethiopia’s…
A Teacher’s Guide to Passover: History, Seder, & Jewish Diversity
Explore Passover with your K–5 students through the lens of cultural diversity and living tradition. This guide covers the Exodus story, the Seder plate, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Ethiopian Jewish…
Sneak Peek: Our New Storm Simulator
Be the first in your school to see it! Send us an email and we’ll send you the Storm Simulator + a special access to Lesson Plans instantly.
Make a Greek Salad With Yummy Veggies
Build the Dish: Greek Salad is a standards-aligned, interactive math game for K–5 students celebrating Greek Heritage Month. In this hands-on digital activity, students build a traditional Greek Horiatiki salad…
Educators’ Guide to Cherry Blossom Festivals
Teacher’s Guide to Cherry Blossom Festivals — Tokyo & Washington DC Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), 36 Views of Mount Fuji series — cherry blossoms were among the most celebrated subjects in…
Instant Lesson: March Madness for Math
March Madness for Math is a teacher-driven Instant Lesson from This Month™ that brings tournament excitement to K–5 math fluency practice. Students compete head-to-head in four Buzzer Beater games covering…
Close Up with Rita Levi-Montalcini: A Scientist Who Refused Every Boundary
Rita Levi-Montalcini defied every obstacle put in her path — gender discrimination, antisemitic laws, wartime occupation — and never stopped doing science. Born in Turin, Italy in 1909, she went…
Quoits: Ancient Greece Ring-Toss
Celebrate Greek Heritage Month with this standards-aligned interactive game for grades K–5. In Play It, Learn It: Quoits, students throw a ring toward a target peg called a hob —…
French Language Day Matching Game
Celebrate French Language Day with this interactive French-English vocabulary matching game designed for K–5 students! Players click a French word and find its English match across three differentiated grade levels…
Your Amazing Brain Series: Senses
Explore how the human brain processes sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell with this interactive multimedia guide for grades K–5. Students tap flip cards to trace each sensory pathway from…
Nutritious Food Coloring Pack
Reinforce the five food groups with this printable coloring pack, perfect for National Nutrition Month! Each page features a food from our Sort Your Food! sorting game, with a fun…
All Buzzer Beater Math Games
Step onto the court and let the math begin — Buzzer Beater brings the thrill of March Madness right into your classroom with four fast-paced games covering addition, subtraction, multiplication,…
Buzzer Beater Division! Mad Halves and More!
Buzzer Beater Division brings the intensity of March Madness to the classroom, where students race the clock to conquer division facts from equal sharing all the way to full fluency!…
Buzzer Beater Multiplication: Play Now!
Michael Jordan dunks the ball in the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest Author: Charles Cherney Buzzer Beater Multiplication brings the thrill of March Madness to skip counting and multiplication practice for…
