A lesson spotlights the story, The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi. After a read-aloud, the class retells the story using puppets or dress-up. They participate in a thoughtful discussion about the story, answer questions relating the...

As Don Quixote asserts in the musical Man of La Mancha, it is possible to achieve your dreams. For the last lesson plan in the Getting Started Module, participants learn the importance of having dreams and setting goals that...

History enthusiasts participate in an interactive website that brings Abraham Lincoln to life as he shares his personal experiences between 1854-1864. Scholars listen and read carefully to form their own opinions and discover if they...

Supercharge beginning readers phonics skills with this extensive collection of worksheets. With exercises on long and short vowels, consonant blends, rhyming words, word endings, and much more, this resource is a primary grade teacher's...

To get the word out about the realities of teens and tweens drinking alcohol, class members engage in two activities. For the first, groups design highway billboards about the dangers of alcohol drinking. Class members then create a...

Middle schoolers weigh in on dress codes, specifically those that apply to hair and make-up, with a lesson that uses a 2017 case from a charter school in Massachusetts. Class members read about two girls suspended for violating the...

The Navajo would disagree with Shakespeare that the naming of things is irrelevant. Navajo people have to earn their names. Middle schoolers learn about the cultural significance of Navajo names in a lesson that uses a video and reading...

Invite your youngsters to learn about a state or region through their choice of a creative project. The resource lists 15 project options that range from a 3-D map of the area, to a puppet show about the region. Pupils can also propose...

In this multi-faceted introduction to pi, participants perform a bevy of pi-related activities. Ranging from measuring household items to singing pi songs and reading pi stories, this fun and non-intimidating resource serves to bring up...

It's easy to miss the beauty of nature when one's focus is on technology. Don't make that mistake with help from a two-page reference sheet that provides eight tips for staying present when exploring the world around you.  

Young scholars play a simple game designed to reinforce letter names, sounds or sight words. They walk in a circle as music plays, and stop in front of a chair when the music stops. Each chair has a letter or sight word that the child...

Anthony Mann's 1953 film biography, The Glenn Miller Story, is the focus of a series of activities that introduce class members to Miller's life and music. Of particular interest to music students will be the cameos by many famous...

Create musical myths in this West African tales lesson. Middle schoolers read myths from African Myths and Legends as well as West African Trickster Tales. They note when music could be used to enhance the tales, and then write their own...

Duke Ellington, jazz, and jive kick-off a fun and creative lesson on responding emotionally to music. The class will learn about jive talk used in the 1920s and the life and music of Duke Ellington. They'll listen to a selection of his...

Explore the dancing prodigy and Depression-era African-American icon Bill Robinson as scholars learn new vocabulary words in context. As you read Leo Dillon's Rap a Tap Tap they listen for six new words: clatter, greet,...

This was written for ESOL learners, but could work for any elementary class. Learners read about the American dance style known as Square Dancing. They explore its use in literature, write a friendly letter about it, and then use their...

If you need a lesson plan for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through...

Students write, draw pictures and talk about their trip to a zoo identifying the animals that they saw. They create an iMovie that incorporates all of these elements.

Combine math and language arts in the same lesson with a reading passage about number prefixes in geometric shapes. After reading several short paragraphs about the different prefixes used in shape names, kids answer five comprehension...

Was Napoleon a tyrant or a hero? Answers could vary depending on the political point of view. Learners listen to Beethoven's Symphony #3 while considering Napoleon's undemocratic tyranny. They listen to the piece in five parts, each time...

The flu or food poisoning? Middle schoolers learn how to safely prepare, cook, clean up, and store food with a lesson that has them first read articles about food safety. Partners create a video that shows them modeling these steps and...

Students listen to tango music and research the country it came from. In this music activity, students find that tango music comes from Argentina. They listen and dance to the music and then write stories. 

After reading the New York Times article "Virtuosos Becoming a Dime a Dozen," learners answer eight who, what, when, where, and why questions. They post their answers on the New York Times Education Blog. A fun way to get learners...

Young learners sing the song "I Know an Old Who Swallowed a Fly." They learn to track the words on a pocket chart and identify rhymes in the song as they are learning. Using illustrations, a flip chart, and the song, the teacher will...