Art and architecture go hand-in-hand. Kids watch clips from the Hayo Miyazaki film Spirited Away to better understand Japanese customs and architecture. The discussion questions included are very good, and will help you lead the class in...

Math and science come alive in this career-related lesson on sanitation. Along the way, learners explore bacterial growth rates using exponential notation and graphs. A link to a very brief, but vivid video shows just how quickly these...

The lesson plan provides a richly detailed narrative and sample problems for teaching or reinforcing how to work with percentages. In particular, your audience will compute the costs per serving of food and simulate setting menu prices...

Is bigger really better? By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to apply formulas for computing the diameter of tires and wheel assemblies. Begin by showing a slide presentation that will review definitions for radius and...

Most scholars associate density with floating, but how do scientists determine the exact density of an unknown liquid? The third lesson in a seven-part series challenges scholars to find the mass and volume of two unknown liquids. Each...

Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...

Students write a descriptive letter about life in ancient Mesopotamia. Through video streaming, students discover the history of Mesopotamia. They assume the role of a scribe and compose a three paragraph essay using main ideas and...

Airline mechanics must be precise, or the consequences could be deadly. Their target ranges alter with changes in temperature and pressure. When preparing an airplane for flight, you must read a maintenance graph. The second lesson of...

Assign an interactive poster activity to assess your class's knowledge and skill concerning data analysis. The teacher reference provides solid questions to ask individuals or groups as they complete their posters.

Biology stars extract DNA samples from beef thymus and then examine its properties. They use enzymes to digest the DNA samples, and then use electrophoresis to separate fragments. Finally, they discuss methods and principles of...

Get creative juices flowing when you allow groups to figure out a procedure for how to find the area of squares and rectangles. They may use the individual patchwork blocks, or they may design one using the Design Template.

From seed to jack-o-lantern, young scholars walk step-by-step through the life cycle of pumpkins with this fun art and science activity. After first participating in a shared reading of the children's book Pumpkin,...

Do your learners like dinosaurs and theme parks? An ambitious lesson invites learners to put together a plan for supplying dinosaurs for a new theme park. Pupils work together in groups to come up with their plan, which must include a...

High school learners review the six major reading comprehension strategies. They demonstrate the strategies by putting them into action using more complex reading. They finish by discussing a seventh strategy, monitoring comprehension.

High school physicists demonstrate Bernoulli's Principle by blowing on different items and finding that they do not move in the expected direction! They apply Bernoulli's equation to the flight of an airplane. This well-organized lesson...

Fourth graders participate in a stock investment activity in which they research stocks to place in an imaginary portfolio. They invest $10,000 in a variety of stocks and track their progress using the Internet or newspapers.

Poll your scholars about their choices on food they eat, or don't eat, and on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Topic statements such as "I ate breakfast this morning" start a discussion on what are healthy choices and what are unhealthy...

Students explore contemporary lifestyles, cultures, traditions are influenced by the contributions of the German settlers of that region. They research these influences and design a brochure to entice potential immigrants to the Upper...

In a single, soundly-designed class period, high schoolers define good character, think-pair-share about thought-provoking quotes on character (More options would enhance the discussion, worth searching online for other quotes to add.),...

Set a purpose for reading informational texts with this reading lesson. To find the central idea of a text, young readers turn titles and subtitles into questions to help them understand the text. They complete a T-chart for the lesson,...

Reciting poetry is a great way to build oral language skills and build classroom community. Pupils look at the text elements of poetry and choose a poem to read aloud. They focus on rhythm, fluency, and expression. This is a great way to...

The contributions of African-Americans to the American Revolution are the focus of this Social Studies and language arts instructional activity. After reading and discussing Linda Crotta Brennan’s The Black Regiment of the American...

Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events. 

The anticipation guide for Words by Heart is the first of a series of six, contains lesson plans for the activity as well as a handout to be completed individually, in pairs, or as a class. It sparks interest for the text...