Students study the issues and stakeholders involved in a beach replenishment project. In this beach replenishment instructional activity, students study the point of views for the various stakeholders in a beach replenishment issue....

Fifth graders participate in a discussion about the Declaration of Independence.  In this Declaration of Independence lesson, 5th graders write imaginary stories in the voice of a member of the committee at Independence hall....

Fourth graders assume the roles of characters in familiar fairy tales and participate in a panel discussion using a talk show format.

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

The fabulous four. Scholars learn the four key components for creating an excellent journal entry. They then work to create a journal entry rubric and participate in a mini lesson about organizing and outlining journal entries. 

Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.

How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event. 

An investigation of the 1911 New York City Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire leads class members to examine primary and secondary source materials related to the event and apply what they learn about the working conditions at the time to...

After viewing the documentary The Last Roundup, a documentary about the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately own island to a National Park, class members debate the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that permits the...

The final lesson in an 11-session study of immigration asks class members to engage in either a panel discussion or a civil conversation of the controversial legal and policy issues they have investigated as part of the unit.

Third graders identify story elements. In this story elements lesson, 3rd graders look at main idea, characters, point of view, theme and setting. They create a five paneled comic strip from a book.

Students research World War II primary source documents and write first person historical point of view stories.

Young scholars take a medical issue and explore it, debate it, and convince others of their point of view. They improve research skills and writing skills. Students are able to define a problem, debate it, and identify which is the best...

Learners discover effective writing techniques to create persuasive essays. In this writing lesson, students investigate ways to express facts and points of view through persuasive essays. Finally, the learners write their own persuasive...

Use political cartoons for a multiple-perspectives strategy, as pupils learn about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After an anticipatory discussion, they are split into 2 groups. The class reads a primary source account...

After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...

Enough stuffed crust to go around. Pupils calculate the area and perimeter of a variety of pizza shapes, including rectangular and circular. Individuals design rectangular pizzas with a given area to maximize the amount of crust and do...

Encourage learners to think critically about common myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in Colonial America. They discover that behind every myth are many possible explanations—and that learning more about American history helps them...

Pupils demonstrate their understanding of nets by designing a net of a box that contains 12 bottles. Given the full size top and side views of the bottle, they determine the dimensions needed for the finished box. The directions do...

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

It's assessment time! Determine your young mathematicians' understanding of elapsed time with this brief, five-question quiz.

Get a line on the snakes. The assessment task requires the class to determine the species of unknown snakes based upon collected data. Individuals analyze two scatter plots and determine the most likely species for five...

There are lots of details that make you who you are! Illustrate what those details are with a personal concept map project. After learners view a step-by-step presentation, the follow a rubric to complete a concept map about themselves.