The second lesson plan in a five-part poetry unit asks seventh graders to construct a metaphor poem. First, pupils examine Emily Dickinson's "The Railway Train" and identify the metaphor. They then select an object and an animal and...

Revision is an important part of the writing process. Focus on revising topic sentences and details with the plan described here. This is part of a unit, so pupils have already filled out a graphic organizer about traveling...

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

Talk about intrinsic motivation! Begin where your students' natural interests lie  -- with themselves -- and launch a variety of projects with this activity. Class members research important events that took place on their...

A biography writing lesson plan with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how...

Fifth graders research American landmarks and symbols. In this United States history lesson, 5th graders create a KWL chart about the symbols of America and take notes during a PowerPoint presentation. Students complete the rest of the...

Youngsters review nouns, adjectives and verbs. In this poetry lesson, readers choose a set of antonyms and create a list of synonyms, verbs and adjective for each. Learners use the words to write a Diamante poem.

Food insecurity, whether as a result of food scarcity or a lack of nutritious food, is a growing and serious problem in the world today. After discussing the concept of food insecurity, learners listen to an NPR radio broadcast on the...

Artists imitate the symbols used by tribes of the Southwest or use their own word pictures that communicate something about themselves. This lesson is a perfect blend of visual art and social studies. Students create a beautiful piece of...

Young artists of many ages apply yarn painting techniques in combining their ideas and their art. After viewing actual examples of yarn paintings created by the Huichol people, learners choose an important scene from their own lives...

Students practice food safety and hand washing. In this health lesson, students discuss the presence of germs and how to keep yourself safe. Students wash their hands after applying Glo-Germ to see what spots they missed. 

Get ready for a musical story time! First your young musicians review musical dynamics as they listen to and discuss the pitch and sound of each instrument you play for them. Then they talk about special words (mostly verbs) in the book,...

The example of two travelers meeting somewhere along the road has been a stereotypical joke about algebra as long as algebra has existed. Here in this detailed presentation, this old trope gets a careful and approachable treatment....

The blue king crab and the red king crab live in the same range but never in the same region. The third instructional activity in the series of five focuses on the blue king crab and the impact the changes in water temperature is...

Young biologists identify the basic structures of a saguaro cactus. They study the functions of each of the structures, and label them on a picture of a saguaro cactus embedded in the plan. This simple, and easy-to-implement...

Encourage your pupils to set and meet goals by incorporating regular goal setting sessions. They can fill out this chart, which provides space for writing in six goals, dates by which learners would like to achieve these goals, a...

How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...

Study everything about plants! The 12-part series of lessons continues with an examination of many aspects of plants. Components of the laboratory activity address the growth and structure of plants by evaluating familiar plants. The...

Scale up your lessons with a performance task. Young data analysts work through an assessment task on scaled bar graphs. They answer questions about a given scaled bar graph on favorite colors, analyze a bar graph to see if it matches...

Blow classes away with a hands-on lesson investigating wind speed. Learners use common materials to design and construct anemometers. They then test their anemometers and collect data on the wind speed created by a fan.

Pupils explore how movies are made and what equipment is involved in making a movie.  In this movie lesson students view video on film making and brainstorm ways to make a film.

Students identify their own basic needs for food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement. They generalize that wolves and people have similar basic needs.

Fourth graders examine a list of idioms and pick one to focus on for this lesson. They use an illustration program to illustrate their idiom. They guess what other students idioms were based on their drawings.

Students analyze and read historic photographs. In this historic photographs lesson, students explore history and writing by looking at photographs. Students discuss the photographs and produce a written record of the historical photograph.