A picture is worth a thousand words, but a comic strip combines both images and words for the ultimate narrative effect. After reading The Three Little Pigs and deciphering the plot elements, elementary readers work through four...

Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure is the core text in a interdisciplinary unit study of immigration at the turn of the century.

Students examine Indian corn. In this autumn art lesson, students observe Indian corn, noting the different shades of color. Students sketch and color or paint an ear of Indian corn, adding actual corn kernels to outline their picture.

Eleventh graders analyze Ahimsa and complete activities for nonviolence. In this nonviolence lesson, 11th graders define violence and relate it to their lives. Students adapt prose into a dialogue to act out and analyze the violence in...

High schoolers explore African American history by researching the Jim Crow laws. In this Civil Rights lesson plan, students define the Jim Crow laws, the reasons they were put into place, and how they were ultimately defeated. High...

Seventh graders explore the current tensions in Asia by completing a graphic organizer.  In this Asian politics lesson, 7th graders examine a Powerpoint slide and news article which gives them the information needed to fill in their...

Discover the effectiveness of wind, water, and steam as energy sources. The hands-on activity has young scientists create a turbine from common materials. After constructing the turbines, they use wind, water, and steam to turn them and...

Let your creativity run wild. Scholars build a sculpture out of basic materials. These sculptures must be able to move in the wind (from an electric fan). However, they must also withstand the wind enough to not fall over—it's quite the...

Where does the water we use come from? To understand the concept of a watershed, class members study the water cycle and then engage in an activity that simulates a watershed.

To conclude a unit on the concept of diversity in world literature, class members conduct a symposium on "African Literature in Global Perspectives." In order to earn a spot on the panel, individuals craft an original thesis that...

Students visit a pumpkin farm and discuss the characteristics of a pumpkin and how they grow. They create a class story about the trip to the farm with each student supplying a sequence for the story.

Make works of art using a vintage yet effective etching strategy. The surface of a semiconductor chip has specific patterns formed through a process called etching. Through a lab investigation, young scholars recreate that process...

Three apples—green, red, and rotten—exemplify character traits, negative and positive. Following a discussion about the classroom community, scholars complete an apple-themed worksheet that challenges them to read each trait, color it...

Examine the weather of the four seasons, look at seasonal activities, and tell which months are part of each season with this lesson. Your class will play a game, sing a song, and write additional stanzas to seasonal poetry.

Young scholars analyze the archetype of 'the fall' in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In this literary analysis lesson, students work in tiered learning groups to analyze the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Young scholars use the book of...

Help your pupils track the plot of a short story with this SMART Board activity. Using the short story "The Dinner Party" by Mona Gardner (though the lesson would work with any other short story), they define the exposition, rising...

It's time to write! First, lead your emerging writers in a power writing activity. It takes six minutes and focuses on creative brainstorming. The class is given two words (duck and apple are suggested, but alter the words for different...

Students collect financial statements from the district and find out what, if anything,is cut from athletics. Students investigate how many hope to use athletic scholarships next fall. Students interview students, their parents and...

Students practice subject predicate agreement through the activities of this instructional activity. Selecting the correct verb to agree with the subject of the sentence is used in the preparation of documents, resumes, memos, letters,...

Students examine the use of dialogue while writing stories. They decide what two different characters would say to each other based on their character traits of being nasty and nice. They complete an activity page.

What is special about summer (fall, winter, or spring)? Using a bag filled with season-related items (for summer items like sunglasses, a swimming suit, etc.) the class take turns taking out one item. A discussion of how each item might...

Prior to reading chapter 17 of Dandelion Wine, partners look up and illustrate level three words found in Colonel Freeleigh’s many allusions. Pairs then share with the whole class. Detailed instructions for the activity are included. 

A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...

Students discover facts about leaves. In this early childhood lesson plan, students identify different types of leaves, and make predictions about which types of leaves they think they will find in their community. Students collect...