Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day instructional...

Twelfth graders get to know each other in an energetic, interactive learning space.

Students calculate elapsed time and look for patterns.

Students use the Internet to read about an explorer's survival in the Antarctic. They try to find a better route for him to have taken.

Students research art and write about how a certain art piece relates to their own life. For this art lesson plan, students go to Brooks museum and discuss the art they find there.

Students compare paintings to make conclusions about American History in the Revolutionary War time period. Students share opinions concerning visual art. Other artwork can be used to entice inquiry as needed.

Read Mary Ann Hoberman's book A House is a House for Me to introduce the idea that a library is a house for shelves of books. Young readers practice alphabetizing in the picture book (easy fiction) section of the library. They learn how...

Students identify African American and their contributions to American Society. They describe what African Americans did and explain how it positively changed our way of life. In essence, this lesson plan increases children's self-esteem...

In this pond theme learning exercise students research facts on pond life. Students complete comprehension questions, crosswords, word search, and math puzzles. Students write a short report.

Young scholars investigate their local creeks and forests and practice identifying trees.  For this ecology identification lesson, students utilize a pad and pencil while on a field trip near their school and describe their trip...

Students discover various mammals. In this biology lesson plan, students recognize characteristics of mammals and categorize mammal groupings. Students describe how mammals grow inside the mother's body and resemble their parents at birth.

Students identify the major folk regions of Louisiana and the relationship between folklife, geography, and ecology. They give deeper thought to what makes their own community unique, what their sense of place actually is. Students...

Fifth graders investigate biomes of the earth. In this biomes instructional activity, 5th graders explore eight different biomes which include the tropical rain forest, deciduous forest, grasslands, and taiga. They design an artistic...

Students conduct research on dinosaurs and graph the information gathered using a spreadsheet program. In pairs they complete an Internet scavenger hunt, and record five facts about dinosaurs in their science journal.

Third graders explore the importance of art in Haitian culture by analyzing the cause and effect within the story, "Allie's Basketball Dream." They examine all the aspects of the story and characters including their goals, dreams,...

Students identify attributes of different geometric shapes. For this geometry lesson, students view a  PowerPoint presentation on shapes and use attribute blocks to examine the corners and edges of each shape. Students work together...

Students participate in a layered curriculum unit for a novel study. The teaching method allows for a student centered classroom that includes different methods of instruction and assessment.

Students recognize shapes, designs and numbers that form patterns. Using their surroundings, they identify common patterns. They create their own patterns in various software programs and share them with the class.

Fifth graders share statements about themselves, seeing who else in their groups could write that statement, and then coming up with a true statement about the entire group. In this true and false lesson plan, 5th graders discuss the...

First graders recognize the difference between fact and fiction, real and fantasy. After listening to Rip Van Winkle, retold by Lara Bergen and a version of Jack and the Beanstalk, 1st graders demonstrates their understanding of fiction...

Students research tornadoes. For this weather instructional activity, students construct a KWL chart on tornadoes and view the video National Geographic-Tornadoes. Students discuss the facts they learned from the film and complete the...

Students engage in a study about the life of young girl in the book "Bums In The Attic". They read the narrative story while considering the first person point of view. Students write a journal that analyzes the author's style of writing.