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...

As part of their study of the Progressive Era, class groups examine a 20th century version of "The Three Little Pigs" through a New Era lens and identify how ideals such as the value of hard work, creativity, and problem solving,...

Hot off the presses! A perfect instructional activity idea for a journalism class or even a language arts class looking to incorporate some informational texts. Young writers analyze the front pages of various newspapers to determine the...

Adolescents compare and assess the efficacy of tobacco product health warning labels from around the world. In groups, they invent warnings and create labels that would be effective for teens and children. Discussion covers advertising...

Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives,...

Jonathan Safran Foer's phrase, "heavy boots," becomes the focus of a class discussion of grief and sadness. During the reading of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, individuals place examples of their own experiences with these topics...

Your plane has crashed in the Sahara desert. What do you do? Explore the possibilities with a role-playing activity based on Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince. In groups, kids decide whether they would walk to find help...

"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has...

What was life like as a settler in the 1800s? Get a glimpse of settlers' experiences in Alabama and their relationships with the Native American tribes using an interesting instructional activity. Scholars complete a hands-on activity,...

What was it like to be a kid growing up during the Great Depression? Academics study primary sources to analyze the effect of school closures on children during the Great Depression. They then participate in group discussions and writing...

Many know of Rosa Parks involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, but who were other female leaders? The lesson focuses on female Civil Rights leaders and their achievements. Scholars complete research, participate in group discussions,...

Examine three speeches while teaching Aristotle's appeals. Over the course of three days, class members fill out a graphic organizer about ethos, pathos, and logos, complete an anticipatory guide, read speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.,...

How does gravity affect the life cycle of a butterfly? Learn first-hand what types of investigations astronauts perform in space by following along with one of NASA's experiments. Create butterfly habitats in the classroom with specific...

Assess your pupils' ability to identify healthy food choices in the final lesson of this series on food science. Given five different food labels, young nutritionists will rank them from most to least healthy, supporting their choices...

Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...

Stop the raindrops from getting into the house! Eager engineers learn about roofing history and waterproofing by nanotechnology. They get into groups and work on designing a waterproof roof for a small model house. The accompanying...