The Native American symbol, The Circle of Life, represents life's spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional well being. By way of deep discussion, and two games, the lesson uses the Circle of Life to explore the stages of...

The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...

Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...

Learn about life in the Arctic while practicing how to graph and interpret data with this interdisciplinary lesson. Starting with a whole group data-gathering exercise, students are then given a worksheet on which they analyze and create...

Wait til your class gets their hands on this! Aspiring engineers design a working robotic arm in the fifth and final installment in a series of ocean exploration lessons. Pupils learn about the use of underwater robots in ocean...

How does consumerism affect global poverty? Upper graders find out about cost benefit, wants and needs, and making good consumer choices as they explore this global topic. They role-play an impulse spending experience and work through...

Three activities make up a solar system lesson that features the sun, its light, and the shadows it produces. Scholars step outside to discover the changes shadows make at different times of day, take part in a demonstration of...

Pupils discuss ways to research our multicultural communities, set personal goals for learning about others, and outline a plan with specific goals to achieve their goals.

The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...

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...

Help your students gain sensitivity and become aware of the implications of the words they see, hear, and use about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. After making lists of words or phrases they hear or use in school...

Winter in the cold Northwoods of Wisconsin can be hard on animals that aren't adapted to the climate. Investigate the animals that are out and about even in the coldest winter temperatures as you and your class examine animal...

After responding to a series of prompts on an anticipation guide, readers of Unwind craft five predictions about what will happen in Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel.    

Readers of Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel, Unwind, engage in a silent discussion, posting their responses to a series of statements about characters in the story.

Students research the history of Puerto Rico, its culture, and geography. In this Puerto Rico lesson plan, students find Puerto Rico on a map and find specific regions or cities. Students discuss Puerto Rico's statehood and listen to...

Students compare and contrast various species of birds. After participating in a brief discussion of the characteristics of birds, they view birds in their natural habitat and in pictures with a focus on the similarities and differences...

An in-class reading of Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece Meets the Big O introduces class members to the journey motif that forms the basis of The Hobbit.

Establishing classroom rules within the first two weeks of school is important. But what do you do with the rules after they've been created, and how can you establish them so that they have a lasting effect all year long? Use an...

Learners identify examples of private resources. In this philanthropy instructional activity, students read the book A Chair for My Mother and identify the private resources the characters used in the text. Learners name private...

Students explore ways to empathize with others. They read a story and discuss how it reminds them of real live events. students sing a song about love. In a group activity, students trace a picture of their hands. On each finger and...

Students participate in a teddy bear themed unit to improve their social and reading skills along with other core knowledge subjects. In this social and reading skills lesson, students complete 8 units of activities to learn about social...

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Having a hard time defining bullying with your seventh graders? Discuss the different types of behavior one would see in a bullying situation with a series of lessons, worksheets, and group activities.

Readers of Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel, Unwind, record what they know, what they want to know, how the will find answers to the questions, on a KWHL chart.