Evaluate patterns of numbers through an engaging task. Scholars work collaboratively to determine a general rule reflecting the sum of consecutive positive integers. Multiple patterns emerge as learners explore different arrangements.

Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...

Does pride really goeth before the fall, or can it be essential to one's development? Second graders read two of Aesop's fables that refer to pride in their morals, and write a short essay about whether pride is good or bad, based on...

Three options offer young writers the opportunity to read a short story, answer questions, and write a response. A handy language arts resource focuses on reading comprehension and analyziing the story's lesson: look before you leap. 

Two informational texts feature community gardens of the past and present and how seeds grow. Scholars read, discuss what they have read, complete a timeline, define words, and compose a brief essay about the texts' main idea.

What happens when an online post gets the wrong kind of attention? Learners evaluate the good, the bad, and the occasionally ugly side of social media posting with a instructional activity from a vast digital citizenship series. After...

Creating a strong password is easy ... but remembering it is a different story! Cyber scholars analyze the methods used by hackers to gain access to private information through a digital citizenship lesson. After learning more about...

Women gained the right to vote in the twentieth century, but the fight for equality dates back centuries. Using an invitation to an 1874 suffrage convention, eager historians consider the motivations behind supporters of the suffrage...

What self-management techniques help scholars achieve their goals? Readers review a list of strategies for managing stress, increasing motivation, and setting goals. They discover how to monitor their emotions, create checklists to stay...

You can explain it, but can you do it? After learners view a sequence of transformations, the next logical step is creating the transformation. Challenge your classes to construct a composition of transformations and verify the...

Introducing inverse functions! The 20th installment of a 35-part lesson encourages scholars to learn the definition of inverse functions and how to find them. The lesson considers all types of functions, not just exponential and...

Develop a formula based upon numerical computations. The 31st part of a 33-part unit has the class determine the formula to convert a temperature in Celsius to a temperature in Fahrenheit. They do this by making comparisons between the...

Future mathematicians learn how to evaluate numerical expressions by applying the order of operations. They evaluate similar-looking expressions to see how the location of parentheses and exponents affects the value. 

Combine total quantities and equivalent ratios in problem solving. The fifth activity in a series of 29 presents problems that can be solved using equivalent ratios. Pupils use part-to-part ratios and either sums or differences of the...

What makes a society civil? High school freshmen search for examples of justice, kindness, peace, and tolerance in news media and brainstorm how they can promote these attributes in their schools, communities, and world. The well-rounded...

Capture the engagement of young readers with this collection of activities based on Jane Yolen's book, Owl Moon. Following a shared reading of this children's story, the class explores the geography of the American Northeast,...

Independent living can be fun, but also overwhelming if you don't know how to budget your income and expenses. Go over the ways that kids can manage their money as they take a huge step into adulthood with a project-based lesson about...

When is using someone else's copyrighted material appropriate? Learn about copyright and fair use with a lesson from PBS.org. Scholars read through a reference sheet about authors' rights and users' rights, and then create posters...

It's a bird! It's a bee! Actually, it's your learners flying from flower to flower smelling their scents! Using paper flowers and essential oils, pupils flutter between flowers to use their sense of smell to experience how animals use...

Presenting ... the gold standard for a lesson. Learners first investigate a task maximizing the area of a plot for gold prospecting. They then examine a set of sample student responses to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.

After completing an assessment task where they express numbers as the difference of squares (i.e., 9 = 5^2 – 4^2), class members note any patterns that they see in the problems.

Use a graph to tell a story! Given a graph, young scientists create a story to match. They must provide their own axes labels and description of the scenario. The graph has increasing, decreasing, and constant sections.

Bring history to life through literature. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 5: One Land, Many Trails does just that through unique projects connected to historical fiction and nonfiction...

A million things to do, a ton of homework ... hyperbole sure does help get the point across! With the novel study for Jerry Spinelli's Third Grade Angels, scholars practice writing their own exaggerated sentences. Additionally, they...