Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might...

After viewing the West of the West's documentary Cache, individuals craft either a newspaper article chronicling the discovery of the cache on San Nicolas Island, a historical narrative of the placement of the cache in the cliff side, or...

Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...

Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Cambodia, is the focus of a lesson that asks class members to consider factors that could result in the destruction of these archeological treasures. Pupils listen to a...

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...

Learners compare and mine two prints by Canadian artist Robert Harris for clues about the story depicted. They brainstorm ancient cultures that tell similar stories and download images to portray them. They also research how the ancient...

Help learners construct relationships between written narratives and book illustrations, and between the narratives in formal visual art and the subject of the visual art. Look at Caldecott winning books and focus on the pictures drawn....

Seventh graders examine the components and structure of magazines. In groups they develop a magazine based on the novel of their choice. Comic strips and promotional advertisements about the novels are included in the magazine. Students...

Middle schoolers listen to four styles of Mexican music, and create percussion instruments which they use to play each style. Additionally, learners create Lucha Libre masks which are also a part of the colorful culture of Mexico. These...

Students use primary resources to examine the context the writings of Mark Twain. They criticize the resources for reliability, accuracy, perspective, relevancy, and authoritativeness.

Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...

Students examine the experience of the middle passage of slaves. They review slave songs and discuss their common themes. They develop a monologue in which they integrate a fragment of an actual slave song into a poem they have written.

High schoolers write set of written directions from their craft area in either chart or paragraph form, and give the directions orally to a third party who will listen to the directions and complete the task.

Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...

Students distinguish various books by David Shannon from other authors, compare three of Shannon's books for similarities, list various possible settings for stories, integrate Shannon's pattern of writing into their own, and formulate...

Introduce S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders with a bell work journal that asks class members to define loyalty. Key words (patience, unity, honesty, caring, etc.), drawn from their musings, are posted around the room, and groups search for...

Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...

Older high schoolers use maps to study changes in society like migration, population loss, and economic shifts, and then connect events from historical events to present day mapping of their region (The resource focuses on Canada, but...

Students explore the fundamental principles involved in completing a research project. Several handheld technical pieces of equipment are utilized to complete this lesson.

Here's a formal plan for what many effective teachers already do: Provide a week's worth of aphorisms and have learners choose one to write about in their journals each day. They reflect on the meaning of each aphorism and project how it...

What do families around the world have in common? Explore this theme through the popular animated film My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. Over the course of two days, pupils view the film, pausing to discuss their own families and the...

Students explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.

High schoolers create sketchbooks, explore the uses of journals, write (across the curriculum) from others' points of view, and compare forms of communication from the 1800s to today. A nice blend of individual, whole class,...

Students design mythical creatures and write poems about them. They take digital pictures of their artwork and create a digital picture book. They record their readings of the poetry to be added a class recording.