What is philanthropy? To find out learners explore the concept through class discussion. They survey, make decisions, implement, and reflect on a service project intended to benefit their community.

George Bailey learns that it truly is a wonderful life when he discovered how many lives he has touched—not to mention how many new generations of lives the story touches every year. A study guide on It's a Wonderful Life ...

A unique writing lesson, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...

Follow up a reading of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl with this collaborative lesson on teamwork. Starting with a fun team game, learners go on to investigate examples of teamwork in the story before...

Students discuss the effects of isolating areas in a park to make "islands" for nature. For this nature lesson, students role play park rangers who are developing a new section of the park. Students work in groups to plan a park, after...

Young geographers collect samples of different kinds of soil to match to the soil terms in Barry Rudner's rhyming book Filet of Soil: dirt, mud, dust, soot, etc. They start a glossary for the project on index cards or large sheets...

What is a community? Explore the idea of community by investigating countries that have experienced severe damage. Learners discuss the horrible aftermath the 2011 earthquake had on Japan's infrastructure after the tsunami it caused....

Learners complete conflict resolution skills training as a part of creating a caring school community. In this conflict resolution lesson, students work with a group of peer student leaders to resolve conflicts. Learners visit freshman...

Get young learners involved in the development of classroom rules! Students and the teacher discuss the purpose of having rules, including how rules provide order, security and safety. Then learners design pictures to accompany the...

A project-based lesson has pupils create a bulletin board to share artwork, nonfiction articles, and messages based on social justice themes. The finished board is displayed in the community to create a place for discussion. 

Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...

Nothing says 21st century learning skills like an Internet-based collaborative learning lesson plan focused on using technology to compile and synthesize information. An embedded video shows you what collaborative learning in high school...

An art showcase encourages class members to explore the themes of social justice and tolerance. They create an original artwork, engage in group discussions, and journal writing. The art gallery also provides a chance for families and...

Create an open environment of discussion and collaboration with several exercises in a thought-provoking resource. Pupils conduct a gallery walk and lead a discussion before filling out a question sheet and chart during the learning...

Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...

Students create a collaborative drawing. In this cooperation skills lesson, students are divided into small groups and are given art supplies. Students decide on a topic for their illustration and create the drawing on large paper....

Create a blog spot for your classroom and promote online discussions. There are several blogging websites listed here, and you can create one specific to each class or one collective site. Teach your learners how to post on the blog, and...

Fabulous! Your 5th graders should love this project. As an ongoing lesson throughout the year students use temperature probes to record outside temperature and then document their data using spreadsheets. They use their weather data and...

What are the best foods to eat, and how much is too much? Kids discuss the importance of eating the right amount of each of the four food groups. They discuss the food pyramid and make meals by cutting and pasting foods from a magazine...

Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...

Khaled Hosseini’s video “Using Real People and Events” motivates learners to reflect on their own experiences and to use those experiences as the basis of a graphic novel that expresses a universal truth. The richly detailed plan...

Imagine that golf balls are radioactive and that they must be moved without touching or dropping them! This is what collaborative groups experience in this challenge. Each group is given a variety of materials with which to construct a...

Encourage pupils to design an election plan for the entire school. They participate in a Board of Elections, create polling rules, discuss election controversies, write questions about the issues, run the election through an online...

Thirds graders reinforce that a map is a drawing that shows what a place looks like from above. They use a map key and symbols to create a map of the school and its neighborhood.