Eighth graders might be intimidated about going to high school and they may not think they'll ever go to college. Ease those fears while making college readiness an eighth grade reality. In teams, pupils fill out several worksheets while...

Travel back to 1787 as young scholars investigate the creation of the US Constitution. After first working in small groups to create sets of classroom rules, students go on to read a summary of the Constitution and watch a short video...

The lives of middle-class Victorian women were circumscribed by strict standards that governed all aspects of behavior. To gain a better understanding of the Victorian Ideals for women, class members research the life of a middle-class...

Learning to work together respectfully is one of those life skills learned through practice. The second lesson in the series has groups attempt to complete an activity and then discuss the obstacles they faced. Using what they learned in...

Looking for a fresh take on traditional food/energy pyramids? Conduct an innovative activity where pupils build their own! The lesson uses research data from Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique for a real-life safari touch. Scholars...

As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement, class members examine documents associated with the Little Rock Nine, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution, and chapters from Melba...

If everyone is on Facebook, should the school's news publication be as well? Scholars study a social media giant in the 11th instructional activity from The Social Media Toolbox's 16-part series. The activity combines individual study...

All rise! Scholars put their skills to the test in a mock trial. Using evidence, photographs, and testimony, they role play the trial in the classroom. Rules of law—and the court room—come to life as the class becomes a place of law! 

Prepare your class for a life of financial literacy and stability with a unit about making money. Three lessons guides learners through the process of preparing a resume, interviewing for a job, and reading a pay stub.

Walking in nature is the theme of a unit designed to support English language development lessons. Scholars look, write, speak, and move to explore topics such as camping, woodland animals, instruments,...

Guide high schoolers through the process of buying a house with a simulation lesson. As pupils learn about mortgages, renting versus buying, and home inspections, they discuss ways to make informed financial decisions and sound...

Make a big splash with a lesson about water safety. After reading three articles related to water safety, high schoolers first choose one water safety rule to research and write a report summarizing their findings. They then use an...

Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...

Some conversations are easy and enjoyable, while others are horrific! To begin a instructional activity on communicating constructively, class members list examples of conversations that are easy, average, and those that are difficult...

Enhance your class' ability to understand solubility. Science scholars examine how temperature and concentration affect solubility using an interesting lab experiment. The introduction and procedure also discuss the relationship between...

Propaganda is an important topic that most high school social studies teachers address. Here, young scholars compare and contrast methods of public persuasion during WWII with those used in the contemporary War on Terror. Research,...

Foster's Rule? Allopatric speciation? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class members use Venn diagrams to compare endemic species on the Channel Islands with mainland related species. They then create a...

Avoiding lab safety rules will not give you super powers. The lesson opens with a demonstration of not following safety rules. Then, young chemists practice their lab safety while finding the mass of each item in a mixture and trying to...

How far have we come and how far do we still need to go to achieve equality and full civil rights in the United States? Include a packet of materials collected in your observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

High school social studies teachers addressing the crisis in Darfur could use elements of this plan to increase social studies vocabulary and research skills. It includes a page of lecture/discussion notes, instructions for creating...

Before coaching or beginning your next PE unit on volleyball, take a look at this 30-lesson unit that offers instructional techniques for each lesson, as well as warm-up activities, set inductions, and suggested coaching refinements.

Surprise! is the theme of this series of ESL lessons. Cover an array of topics such as where we live, different times of day, shapes, the city and the country, what we do for fun, jobs, and games, all while practicing how...

If your youngsters are new to numbers, here are several interactive strategies to get them thinking about even and odd numbers. For example, they can count the number of desks, people, etc. in the room and determine if it is even or odd....

Over the course of the lesson, your pupils read and analyze a translated eight-line poem from the Tang Dynasty written by Du Fu, a poet caught behind enemy lines during the An Lu-Shan rebellion (755-763). Literary/historical context is...