Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

Explore a basic pattern to practice writing expressions. In collaborative groups, learners examine a contextual pattern and write an expression to model it. The task encourages groups to describe the pattern in multiple ways.

Students investigate storytelling by creating their own dialogue. In this writing development lesson, students read the story Jeremy Thatch, Dragon Hatcher in class and discuss their own magical object they wish to write a story about....

Spend a few days discussing cyberbullying with an engaging lesson plan. Opening discussion questions get the conversation started while quotes and articles continue thoughtful dialogue. Small group activities and role-play scenarios...

Discover relationships between linear and nonlinear functions. Initially, a set of data seems linear, but upon further exploration, pupils realize the data can model an infinite number of functions. Scholars use multiple representations...

While examining slavery's impact on women, historians compare and contrast the perspectives of a plantation mistress and an enslaved woman, both reflecting on the system of forced prostitution. Text analysis and written responses create...

What do Ben Franklin and Wolfgang Mozart have in common? Find out about the musical invention, the armonica or glassy-chord. Learners will read about how Ben Franklin invented this new instrument and how Wolfgang Mozart came to play it....

Fifth graders practice expressing themselves through writing. In this language arts instructional activity, 5th graders study the parts of speech and apply to writing sentences.

Should land be redistributed to former slaves after the Civil War? This essential question guides a lesson on the Reconstruction Era, as learners analyze primary sources (linked), recording responses on a worksheet (linked). To model the...

Students discuss the difference between designed and natural elements. After reading an article, they discover information about current controversies in evolutionary science. In groups, they research and write dialogues between two...

Ninth graders explore the concept that education is related to freedom. In this human rights lesson plan, 9th graders read The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. Students dialogue about their readings and education as it relates to human...

Learners research and compare/contrast how routine tasks on Earth would be without gravity. They read and discuss the article "The Life Galactic: A Lot of Work, a Little Play, Plenty of E-Mail." In groups they write a pitch for a TV...

Students write in their journals about the role of music in their lives. They discuss the media's use of music and watch a video clip about someone who prohibited the use of music. They create an illustration to show the folklife in...

Students view a video about the border between the United States and Mexico. They discuss the forces that influence human migration. They write a paper from the point of view of the main character in the film.

Students view a film about the fall of Peru's president. They develop possible solutions for governments to follow when dealing with terrorism. They work together to research civil liberty limitations put in place during war. They...

Students brainstorm a list of stereotypes associated with the Hispanic or Latin culture. In groups, they use the internet to research issues of importance to the Puerto Rican community. They focus on the cultures that speak Spanish and...

Learners identify the abiotic factors that influence a river or stream and the organisms that live in it. They measure several abiotic and biotic parameters to gauge water quality. Students examine the biotic environment by identifying...

Explore the effect of outliers through an analysis of mean, median, and standard deviation. Your classes examine and compare these measures for two groups. They must make sense of a group that has a higher mean but lower median compared...

Number patterns can seem mysterious. Help your learners unravel these mysteries as they complete an intriguing task. Through examination, collaborative groups determine that they are able to produce all integers above a certain...

Is it possible for a rectangle to have the same area and perimeter? If you disregard units, it happens! In a challenging task, groups work to determine the rectangles that meet these criterion. The hope is that learners will naturally...

If the fractions don't have a common denominator, make them have one. Learners first read and analyze a conversation of pupils trying to add 2/5 and 1/2. They compare the process of adding fractions to the process of adding quantities...

Students explore English by participating in a role-playing activity. In this food ordering lesson, students utilize new vocabulary terms to conduct short dialogues with fictitious servers in a Cafe role-play activity. Students analyze...

Ninth graders explore the definition of integrity through a class discussion. They provide positive/negative examples from the story and their own experiences. Students determine character traits by analyzing the dialogue in a short...

Pupils practice describing their symptoms to a health care worker. They follow certain statements and practice answering them as well. They practice dialogues they might find in an emergency room.