In this 2-day activity focused on exponents, middle schoolers will cross the curriculum by engaging in science, history and language arts activities. Exponential growth will be explored using grains of rice on a chess board. Exponential...

Engage your class in a series of activities, each related to the use or analysis of symbols used to convey patriotic or national concepts. They identify different national symbols and explain their meanings, discussing the importance of...

Analyze characters and stories to identify stereotyping. Learners will examine the concept of character gender to evaluate bias in classroom story books. They are asked to read a story or play and change the gender of the character to...

Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson plan from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible...

Have your class construct an adverb wheel. Learners brainstorm adverbs to modify the verbs they use to describe how they will eat a doughnut hole. They then use the wheel to help them write creative sentences.

Students use paper cups and colored chips to observe properties of operations with real numbers. As a class, students brainstorm and use manipulatives to demonstrate associative, commutative, distributive identity and inverse properties....

Students define "natural disaster" by offering examples and charting them to discover what a concept definition map is. Then students create their own maps using the word "city".

Young adults consider the application of technology and communication in the business and management career cluster. They research careers in the cluster and discuss what skills are required to be successful. They use their findings to...

Get the word out about friendship, support, and a safe school community with a media literacy lesson about bullying. Young journalists investigate instances of bullying and take descriptive pictures as they compile a magazine to fight...

Students brainstorm the types of food they eat at home, discussing and comparing with the class. Students brainstorm and make a chart of questions that came out of the activity and their discussions. Students interview someone who...

Young scholars create a 2-D and 3-D work of art depicting qualities and experiences from their own lives. This innovative lesson uses hollowed out, recycled books as the "art canvas" for the project.

Learners explore the concept of landmarks.  In this landmark instructional activity, students brainstorm different landmarks around their community and nationally.  Learners then identify the patterns in Georgia O'Keeffe's...

Sixth graders explore the concept of biodiversity.  In this biodiversity lesson, 6th graders discover a variety of planets and animals that live in forests, and how a rotting log benefits that environment.  Students also locate...

Learners explore the relationship between nature and architecture. In this cross curriculum history, culture, and architecture instructional activity, students observe and discuss structures visible in nature. Learners view websites in...

Students gain an understanding of time. For this time lesson, students work together to recognize the difference between yesterday, today, and tomorrow, As well as months, hours, minutes, and seconds. Students brainstorm ideas of ways...

Students are introduced to the concept of photosynthesis. As a class, they brainstorm a list of what they already know about plants and individually grow a plant on their own in the classroom. They record their observations daily and...

Students explore how water conservation is influenced by the four sectors of economy. In this social studies economics instructional activity, students brainstorm problems and solutions related to water conservation. Collages are...

Fifth graders apply math to real-world situations. For this mathematics lesson, 5th graders are read the book, "Math Curse," which discusses ways in which math is used each day. Students then write a sequel to the book in groups,...

Students brainstorm images and themes associated with the American Fourth of July holiday. They create illustrated posters to explain the processes or history behind these themes.

Students discover how air pressure effects flight.  In this physics lesson, students create two types of airplane wings so they can observe the way air pressure creates lift.  Students utilize a printout to create the airplane...

Second graders write a poem using words from a list and practice poetic forms. In this lesson on writing a peace poem, 2nd graders brainstorm words or phrases associated with "peace." Students choose a poetic form to express their...

Students learn the meaning of prepositions through movement. In this dance lesson plan, students choreograph a piece showing that they understand the meaning of various prepositions. 

Beat the heat using sensors. Scholars research normal body temperatures for humans and a specific animal. In groups, they create sensors that monitor body temperature, as well as the weather. The goal is to reduce the occurrence of heat...