Students use video and the Internet to make predictions, draw conclusions, determine conflict and point of view while reading a short story. In this short story analysis lesson, students watch a related video and complete a prediction...

First graders discuss and predict if a given object sinks or floats. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Pupils test the objects and organize them into floating/sinking groups. Students observe the floating and sinking of a...

Fourth graders study women's involvement in Texas politics. In this US history lesson, 4th graders discuss woman suffrage, examine three Texas female pioneer legislators by reading biographies, and explore women's issues by generating a...

Middle schoolers get hip to the jive with a lesson about slang. They closely examine examples of slang and use context clues to infer the meaning of the terms. Groups read and summarize an article about a teacher who created a Gen Z...

To generate interest in reading Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel Unwind, class members engage in a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) that asks them to examine the front and back covers, the blurbs, and "The...

Before your high schoolers read Julius Caesar, have them complete this thought-provoking activity! To familiarize them with some of the play's most important lines, break the class into pairs and have them create a skit around...

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. 

When astronauts get hungry in outer space, they can't just call and have a pizza delivered. In order to gain an appreciation for the challenges associated with space travel, young learners are given the task of selecting,...

Young scholars interview Native Indians to learn their ways for predicting and measuring snowfall. In this weather measurement lesson, students invite a Native Elder to their classroom to tell them about how they predicted weather. Young...

Fifth graders describe the changes in King George III's policy toward the American colonies by sequencing key events between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. They explain the colonial reactions to command decisions...

Seventh graders graph ordered pairs on a coordinate plane. They create a scatterplot. Additionally, they determine the line of best fit and investigate the slope of the line. Multiple resources are provided. An excellent resource!

Young scholars study weather patterns and learn to make decisions based on the weather. In this weather lesson plan, students plan a potluck based on the weather. Young scholars use a decision tree to brainstorm about the activity....

Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...

At over 450 pages, John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Grapes of Wrath can be a challenging choice for full-class, book circle, or independent reading. The activities in a 10-page sample The Grapes of Wrath...

Go on a moon mining expedition from the safety of your classroom with this space exploration simulation. Using simple models of the moon's surface prepared ahead of time by the teacher, young scientists are challenged with locating and...

Fourth graders investigate visual imagery to aid reading comprehension. In this reading strategies lesson plan, 4th graders discover how visual imagery helps in comprehending a story. Students use a reader's notebook to record connections.

As the great and hilarious Tim Minchin once said, "Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organizing our curiosity." Science is more than just a guess; it is based on questions, observations, and evidence. High...

Students use reading strategies for Night of the Twister. For this reading strategies lesson, students name five major catastrophes and books about each. Students complete a vocabulary section, make inferences and predictions, read the...

Fourth graders describe the various kinds of soils and how plants and animals are affected by them. They describe the baic needs of plants, scoring at least a 3 or 4 on a 4-point rubic. Students are able to predict and/or infer what...

Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...

Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...

Students use the strategy turn and talk to discuss inferences they have while reading the book The Fear Place. For this inferences lesson plan, students answer discussion questions and read independently as well.

Fourth graders are introduced to the concept of the seasonal round and how folklife traditions vary from season to season. They begin charting dates of personal interest on seasonal round calendars by starting with birthdays. Students...

Young scholars complete activities to learn about the common land features in Alaska. In this land study lesson, students study an overhead for permafrost features. Young scholars define ice wedge polygons, thermokarst, and pingos....