What a wonderful way to follow up on the reading of, Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry! The lesson has pupils split up into small groups of two to four students. Each group must work collaboratively to create a multimedia project that relates...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

Identifying an author’s choice, especially choices that concern craft and literary devices, is a difficult skill to teach. Here's an activity that will make your job easier. The resource breaks down how to teach the skill to novice,...

Chris Van Allsburg's Two Bad Ants provides third graders with an opportunity to examine point of view and how the point of view of others may differ from their own.

Students create questions to pose to adults working in Middle School. In groups, students create a video interviewing the Middle School staff. They edit the video and format present it as an introduction to Middle School for perspective...

The lesson starts out with a brain drain, which is a great way to get students to activate prior knowledge and build lasting connections. They tell everything they know about prime factorization, use their knowledge to...

A historic site marks a place where a relevant historical event occurred, no matter how many people know about it. Small groups choose their own historical sites, including a place where a class member was born, or even a...

Students examine parts of a microscope and how to use a microscope at five lab stations. They identify parts of a microscope by describing the differences between low power and high power. They visit Internet sites (included in the...

Class members become reporters, photographers, and movie producers to interview each other as they become "Famous First Graders." Learners work as a team to interview the famous person and then produce a short movie. They create...

Have your class create original modern art sculptures. Learners analyze and discuss "The Profile," a sculpture by Martin Puryear. They work in teams to develop a proposal for a large outdoor sculpture in the community. Presentations...

"You are pigs." With those three simple words, the lives of the Piggott family were changed forever. Read aloud the children's story Piggybook by Anthony Browne and teach your class the importance of personal responsibility,...

Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...

Introduce young musicians to the history of and different styles of music with an inquiry-based learning activity that asks them to play detectives to determine the similarities and differences among the sheet music found at a series of...

Fifth graders photograph examples of the five elements of art: line, shape, color, pattern, and composition.

Learners interview a veteren of any of the major U.S. wars. They must identify one quote from the veteren that sums up their experience.

Students explore the story of the Gingerbread Man, and compare the story's neighbors and neighborhoods with those of their school. They bake Gingerbread Friends cookies, retell the story, take a neighborhood walk, and create a class book.

The students listen to a book about being different and investigate that everyone is different, but special in their own unique way. The students draw a picture of themselves using multi-cultural markers. Along with the drawing, the...

Learners discuss the elements of art and design found in a series of flower paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. They explore art, shading, and color as they create mirrored representations of the master's art, using oil pastel. 

Students identify and label acute, obtuse, and right angles within a picture. Using Kid Pix software and digital photos, they manipulate, identify, and label the angles and describe the angles to a classmate.

Help middle schoolers conduct Internet research and develop a working definition for the discipline of social studies. From a list of websites, they develop classification skills and differentiate between primary and secondary sources....

Are the anti-smoking ads put out by the federal government effective? This question is posed to your critical thinkers. They'll read excerpts from a New York Times article and then compose thoughtful blog responses to four related...

A project-based learning plan focuses on landscapes in the community. After identifying problems, such as dead trees or misplaced automatic sprinklers, learners design solutions, contact local organizations to fix the problems, and do...

To broaden their understanding of both the short term and long terms effects of the Civil War, class groups examine primary source materials and then assume the role of a family member and draft a letter to a soldier describing life at...

Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....