The U.S. Constitution states that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. The United Nations' Global Happiness Index ranks countries according to the happiness of its citizens. As part of a discussion of the nature of...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...

Your class experiences dozens of messages about beauty every day by reading magazines, watching movies, and listening to the radio. Have them analyze society's view of beauty in groups after discussing several resources, including...

Here is a wonderful lesson which has youngsters interview family and local elders about the seasonal history of their local area. They focus on climate change by asking questions about rainfall, temperature, the length of seasons, and...

Using a variety of novels about survival, such as Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, pupils create author's studies using wikis. First, learners are placed in groups to study a particular novel. Then, they create a page...

Through reading and writing, learners explore common elements found in fairy tales. After discussing traditional fairy tales, class members listen to The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by John Scieszka, a hilarious retelling of the...

Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.

Using ichat or Edmodo 4th -6th graders participate in an inter-school literature circle. Students from two different schools pair up online through ichat and use a blog to conduct a book circle. This lesson is wonderful; it fully...

Students identify likes and dislikes at home and school. Then they identify the relationship between training and the world of work. Students also discover and evaluate patterns and relationships in information, ideas and structures....

Although this lesson plan covers the rather obscure topic of the Japanese "I-novel", it also includes a great deal of historical information and material for an in-depth discussion of universal literary concepts. Specifically, young...

Students examine their own lives and how well they manage their time outside of school. In this this time management activity, students discover the amount of time they spend on other activities, and create a pie chart with that...

Students explore measurements by analyzing geometric shapes. In this surface area lesson, students identify the terms volume, weight, perimeter and area in order to find the requested measurements of specific polygons. Students utilize...

Students explore geography by participating in a mapping activity. In this concentric ring lesson, students utilize a poster board, string and markers to identify their current location within the entire world. Students write about their...

Hidden within these sentences are prepositions; think your students can find them? After first reading a brief explanation of this part of speech, young grammarians are asked to examine eight sentences,...

Study all things weather with a packet of weather vocabulary activities. The 12-page packet includes three crosswords varying in difficulty, a mixed letter sort, a sentence sort, weather word search, and fill-in-the-blank sentences with...

Lead young learners to understand new vocabulary with this series of word maps. The first of these organizers asks children to determine the definition and provide examples and descriptions of each word with the help of dictionaries,...

Visible Thinking Routines are designed to help learners deepen their understanding of what they are learning and enable them to communicate their understanding of concepts to others. Individuals adopt one of these routines to use to...

How can one person change the world? Scholars research and analyze the topic of world hunger. Using video clips, parodies, and primary source evidence, they uncover a current campaign to end world hunger. Collaborative groups openly...

Seventh graders participate in a literature circle regarding various novels of Holocaust literature. They read their selected novel and write a journal entry in response to the reading, and in small groups participate in a group...

How do you grow crops in a area with insufficient rainfall? Why you irrigate, of course. Class members investigate irrigation systems by designing a system of their own. After examining irrigation related concepts, vocabulary terms, and...

Students pair up and talk about a story, plot, or incident they are working on in writing workshop. Ask the listener to note when his interest is piqued and to share those moments with the storyteller. Those points of intrigue are all...

Students explore journals. In this Discovering the Journal of Augustus Pelletier lesson, students read the historical fiction book and conduct research activities to validate events in the plot that reflect the Lewis and Clark...

In this ESL use of the words most and more worksheet, students read 7 sentences. They circle true or false for each sentence as they check the use of the words most or more.

Students participate in a video conference literature circle to discuss assigned reading. They respond to discussion topics during the conferences. Students share their thoughts and ideas with their peers and improve comprehension...