Here's a collection of unit plans for middle school musicians. Topics include the mbira, opera, rhythm and culture, music in Africa, music in the movies, music theory and notation, blues and jazz, and the ocarina. Definitely worth a look.

Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...

Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...

The play's the thing that puts the play in a summer learning drama program designed to combat summer slide and encourage family literacy. Participants learn about drama as an art form, engage in dramatic presentations, write scripts, and...

Summer slide. Alas, not a term synonymous with a type of sliding board, summer slide refers to the fact that learning slips during summer break, especially in the areas of spelling and math facts. Enrich summer break with a...

Students study the United States flag. In this American history and government activity, students define and give examples of familiar symbols.  Students design a classroom flag.  Students identify and describe the American flag.

Students discover the United Nations through the use of musical examples and performance. This two day lesson requires two forty-five minute sections and delivers information about different cultures around the world. Emphasis is on...

Here is a measurement lesson focusing on length. Learners use their feet as the unit of measurement for furniture in the classroom and at home, and sketch the pieces of furniture they measured.

"Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..." Those words begin one of the most persuasive speeches in literature. Explore the elements of persuasion in a series of lessons related to William Shakespeare's Julius...

Budding historians research the trip immigrants to the United States take and the reasons behind their willingness to start over in a new place. Groups create their own video lessons outlining the story of human migration from departure...

Students study the history of ginger and its uses. They discuss traditions of building gingerbread houses in Germany, England, and the United States. Using modeling material, students create their own gingerbread houses. Gingerbread...

Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying...

Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...

What's the difference between story reading and story telling? Participants in a summer enrichment program learn all about the difference as they listen to famous speeches, engage in dramatic readings, and craft their own short stories...

In this following directives vocabulary learning exercise, students match up the phonetic pronunciation to twelve English words and picture the idea behind each one. Students then draw a picture of each one in the twelve frames provided.

Students take virtual trip back in time to 1924 when a Dada manifesto sparked the Surrealist movement in Europe and the United States. They explore about the history of Surrealism and visit online galleries of notable artists of the past...

Fifth graders identify the regions of the United States. They gain general knowledge of Regions of the U.S., create a spreadsheet and use word processing to create a report.

As learners read each chapter of Eric Schwartz's Crossing the Seas, they analyze the actions of United States in Venezuela, Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the intent of the Monroe Doctrine. They then compare...

Learners participate in a variety of activities surrounding the book, Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett. They can create a house, a map, ornaments, and their own books. Additionally, they can draw, paint, or write out attributes for each...

Engage your learners by playing Water Music Suite by Handel. Different types of weather sounds play on the recording, and it's an easy lead into talking about the weather! What is weather? What kinds of weather exist? What is it called...

Young learners explore nutrition and the food groups in these two mini-lesson plan ideas. First, kindergarteners have a discussion about their health and how different foods contribute to it before making their own personal food pyramid....

With the Common Core State Standards' growing focus on informational text, it's the perfect time to showcase this PowerPoint to your team of teachers. It's 59 slides focus on seven best practice structures: reading-as-thinking,...

Students engage in a school project help unite the feelings and make each student feel a very special part of their school. This project would be a great beginning of the school "opener" for students and their teachers.

Get out that sewing machine it's time for a textile project. The class learns how to use a sewing machine, read a pattern, and create a simple article of clothing. They identify the sewing machine parts, use an iron, and think about...