Students explore Puerto Rico.  In this Puerto Rico current events lesson, students conduct a Webquest to answer questions about Puerto Rico's culture.  Students discuss whether Puerto Rico is a country or a state, and defend...

Students research the animals of Brazil. In this animal science lesson, students locate Brazil on a map and discuss the types of animals that can live in its tropical climate. They research a Brazilian Carnaval and see the roll the...

Explore the benefits of physical activity and how it will affect your students' health. Students track their physical activities for one week and then compare their results.  Collaboration with a math teacher woould be useful as it...

Students recognize how chromatic scales create tension and pentatonic scales create relaxation as compositional techniques used to create tonality. Also, students aurally recognize the use of mixed or alternating meter as a means of...

Learners explore African spirituals. In this slavery instructional activity, students listen to and analyze the spiritual song "Wade in the Water" line by line. Learners share their interpretations with their classmates.

Students read an article about the new interest in Harry S. Truman. In groups, they review his foreign policy decisions and how situations might have been different if he had made a different decision. They also examine the problems he...

Students examine and discuss government-imposed censorship of art and artists' methods for counteracting censorship. They view censored artwork, write a persuasive essay, and create an art piece.

Learners become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.

Fifth graders portray one of the actual framers of the Constitution. They summarize each class period with a journal entry and culminate the experience with the actual framing and signing (or not signing) of the Constitution.

Students analyze the work of Diego Rivera. They participate in a class discussion, critique various paintings, write a short story based on a Rivera mural, and create a class mural.

The students create a personal narrative on their experiences with immigration. In this lesson, students are asked to read and understand examples of narrative writing as well as evaluate lyrics from Ben Folds Five to determine elements...

Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...

Students examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students discuss...

Students perform a folk dance and discuss its cultural and historical meanings. They review the dance and perform it, beginning with four individuals who dance with confidence right from the start.

Young scholars create an art piece that expresses their opinions while circumventing hypothetical government restrictions in this lesson on art and government censorship. Emphasis is placed upon historical instances of censorship around...

Third graders explore art that reflects their cultural background. In this writing and research lesson students compare and contrast the Halloween with El Dia de los Muertos. Students study the visual art of these holidays. Then students...

Learners discover facts about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. In this compare and contrast lesson, students explore Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Learners create an alter to memorialize a family member or friend that has...

First graders read a book about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. In this underground railroad instructional activity, 1st graders learn songs and code words that the slaves used to communicate with one another. Students...

Learners are able to synthesize information on increasing regulatory reforms during the Progressive Era through individual research and presentation of material. They are responsible for a list of regulatory reforms with dates and...

Students replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.

Young scholars use their visualizing and interpreting skills to produce original writings and artwork.

Pupils observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.

Pupils, by drawing on their own experiences, discuss and examine the basic physics of flight. They participate in a variety of activities regarding flight.

Students examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.