After reading and discussing a news article from the New York Times regarding gay and lesbian issues of the last thirty years, young scholars engage in several activities to explore current events. They create a timeline, either...

Build your learners' self-esteem with a series of lessons that focuses on their identity and observation of the world around them. Applicable to many different subjects and lessons, the resources guide kids through the process of...

How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...

A fabulous lesson which combines mathematics with space science. Middle schoolers work in cooperative groups in order to research early astronauts and their accomplishments. They look at a variety of rocket and space shuttle designs, and...

Young historians examine the gestures of human subjects represented in Mannerist, Baroque and Renaissance paintings. After they play charades and attempt to match dialogue with body language, learners create a drawing that...

Exactly how fair are the board games children grow up playing? Young mathematicians investigate this questions as they work their way through this five-lesson series on basic probability. 

Introduce the background of design and designers and their role in communicating their thoughts to others. In groups, you can assign participation in a writing cluster on various designers and write paragraphs to submit to magazines. To...

Personality traits and physical appearance traits within families are the focus here. Learners make a poster which lists the shared physical traits they have with their family. Peers look at each poster and write down the traits they see...

Can't travel to Richmond for your Civil War unit? This plan creates an authentic experience, using primary sources and the essential question: Over What Was the Civil War Fought? Historians examine the Appomattox Marker, the site of Gen....

Students work in groups to create a storyboard about their video. They shoot a video designed to teach others to connect the computer and camcorder and how to capture video in Adobe Premiere Elements editing program.

What a creative and engaging project to incorporate into your studies of the 1920s! Your young historians will work in groups to design a magazine discussing the political and cultural topics of the decade, each member writing one...

Fifth graders will enhance their typing skills and practice using Pages, a software for Mac computers, by writing their own children's book. Note: This lesson plan refers to a template that is not included, however, you can adapt this...

Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...

Students 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. Students visit freshman...

Are we there yet?  Young trip planners learn about their state and plan a trip. They will select sites to see in three cities in their state, and record associated costs in a spreadsheet. While this was originally designed as a...

If you want an interesting way to teach about the Caribbean that incorporates technology, this might be your answer. Class members conduct a WebQuest to gather information about Caribbean islands and create a travel brochure using...

Students become familiar with the art and architecture and history of the Chicago World's Fair.  In this public arts project lesson, students compare and contrast fine art and public art through a study of the exhibits at the...

Students reflect on the events, people and attitudes of 2001 and create posters focusing on political, economic and social topics of the past year. They look ahead to what they hope the next year bring.

Eighth graders study and analyze the elements of color by creating an personalized color wheel. Emphasis is placed on constructive criticism of student work by others for assessment. Students create short poems for their color wheel...

The Gold Medal Attitudes Running Club was created to promote healthy living for your elementary school pupils. Use a pedometer and a computer program to keep track of progress. A few other suggestions are available, but it's really up to...

High schoolers discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times.  For this Louisa May Alcott lesson, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist movement,...

Students analyze paintings to determine characteristics of women and attitudes toward them in different time periods. They create a portrait of a woman and discuss their views of women through their own artwork.

Seventh graders explore the basics of composition, acrylic painting techniques, and color theory, examine works of the American painter Wayne Thiebaud, and create still lifes using three pieces of candy.

Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...