In this episode of NJEA’s Classroom Close-up, Fort Lee’s School No. 1 is using music to extend concentration among general and special education students in kindergarten through second grade. In addition, working one-on-one using dials to analyze a student’s response to various genres of music, educators are studying the impact the music has on a student’s ability to focus, which will help to improve and enhance student learning.

Students will learn about elections and voting. They register to vote, learn about the candidates, create campaign posters, and head to the polls. Then they tally the results and declare a winner!

Students brainstorm ways that they use — and waste — natural resources. Also, they respond to some facts about population growth and how people use petroleum. Lastly, students consider the different ways that engineers interact with and use our natural resources. Also meet Dustin Madden, an Iñupiaq and assistant science teacher in the Anchorage, Alaska, school district, in this video profile produced by WGBH. Madden explains the importance of developing a strong background in science and math in order to help preserve and protect the environment. He also discusses how his cultural upbringing has influenced him, and how he tries to reach out to students who have grown up in rural Alaska.

November 11th is Veteran's Day! Do you know any veterans? How do you honor them? This video segment provides a quick overview of the holiday for elementary-age students.

Follow individual trajectories of America’s diverse community of veterans as they join the military, experience deployments, and then return and adjust to civilian life. Analyze oral histories that describe the camaraderie of the veteran community, the struggles of engaging in combat, and the experiences—positive and negative—of returning to civilian life. Use their personal stories to engage in a discussion of how American veterans are treated by civilians during their service and on returning home from various conflicts.

In this interactive lesson supporting literacy skills in U.S. history, students learn about the three branches of the United States government. Students explore the powers that the Constitution assigns to each branch—legislative, executive, and judicial—and how the three branches work together. During this process, they read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and engagement activities.

In The Legend of the Lost Emerald, learners in grades 4-6 will use the same tools, practices, and skills that maritime archaeologists use to locate and dive for shipwrecks on the Great Lakes and uncover the real treasure—the stories inspired by actual shipwrecks and Great Lakes history.

Meet the GIRL!: Lizzy is 18 years old and an athlete and a leader. She was born with spina bifida and has embraced herself and her GIRL Power. She is an archer as well as a basketball player. She played as a point guard for the Rollin Rockets in Charlotte NC. She has the goal of playing for the U.S. National team one day in the Paralympics and she has the tenacity to get there!

"Asking students to grapple with an issue as horrible as genocide, termed 'the crime without a name' by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, is a daunting, wrenching, and, above all, sad challenge. Yet, as the film "Ghosts of Rwanda" shows, while people and governments turned their backs on what was happening in Rwanda in the spring of 1994, some individuals stood up to the horror and acted effectively, often with breathtaking heroism. Students can witness both the depths to which humans can sink and the heights to which they can soar. This guide offers classroom teachers an array of opportunities to teach history and to explore the notion of individual and collective responsibility."

This video discusses how methane digesters turn waste from dairy cows, food garbage, and other organic matter into usable gases and other fuels.

In this lesson, students explore issues of accessibility as they step into their immediate communities to determine a range of physical barriers to those living with disabilities and conceptualize ways to remove some of those obstacles. The video clips provided with this lesson are from When I Walk, a film by and featuring Jason DaSilva, who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). The documentary chronicles Jason's struggle to adapt to the realities of living with MS while holding on to his personal and creative life. With Jason's body growing weaker, his spirits, and his film, get a boost from his mother's tough love and the support of Alice Cook, who becomes his wife and filmmaking partner. POV offers a lending library of DVDs that you can borrow anytime during the school year — FOR FREE! Get started by joining our Community Network.

Plastic bottles are everywhere! About 70% of the plastic water bottles bought in the U.S. are not recycled, and end up in the oceans. It seems obvious that using fewer plastic water bottles would be a good thing for our environment, but sometimes the alternatives can have negative consequences. Do the costs of banning plastic bottles outweigh the benefits?