Why is the end of a spoon hot when it's not all the way in the hot water? A great question deserves a great answer, and learners with visual impairments will use their auditory and tactile senses to get that answer. A talking...

What you tell yourself about an event can have a profound effect on what you actually do about it. Encourage learners to examine their thoughts, and how these thoughts eventually translate into feelings and actions, with a...

Turn simple pencil sketches into colorful engravings. After first creating hand-drawn pictures, young artists then trace over them will ball point pens, etching the images into cold press illustration boards, before rubbing...

Interviewing skills are important, even outside of a news reporter's desk or employer's office. Take your class through the process of interviewing people they don't know with a set of case studies featuring journalists and various...

You can explain it, but can you do it? After learners view a sequence of transformations, the next logical step is creating the transformation. Challenge your classes to construct a composition of transformations and verify the...

There's an app for that! Pupils learn to build an app that will store data on an Android. The lesson introduces class members to the tiny database, TinyDB, for Android devices. A video tutorial provides an example that uses the...

Whatever floats your boat—with some additional weight. The first activity in a five-part series challenges pupils to design a boat to hold pennies. Using the design process, learners design, build, and test their boats, making sure they...

A picture's worth a thousand words—and even more inspiration! A visual activity uses photographs to inspire writers. The process teaches aspects of narrative writing, such as point of view and characterization.

Imagine a race to complete a puzzle where each person has the same 50 pieces, knows they are missing other pieces, and must figure out how everything fits together. The winner gets fame, listed in books for years to come, and a financial...

How does electricity work? Budding scientists explore the concepts of electrical currents and open and closed circuits with class discussion and a hands-on activity using a battery to turn on a light bulb. Learners also make predictions...

An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...

Seventh graders create and perform a skit that demonstrates their conflict resolution skills. They begin by examining the process of crafting a performance and review what they have learned about conflict resolution. Next, they...

Four lessons make up a unit focused on writing persuasive essays. Each unit builds on the last, ultimately taking pupils through the writing process. Scholars make a claim, create an argument, debate both sides, then state their opinion....

Introduce young poets to Blackout Poetry. Much like Found Poems, Blackout Poetry challenges scholars to rethink the process writers may use to craft their poems. After watching a short video in which poet Austin Kleon describes his...

Set up your writers for writing strong introductions with a formula for putting together supported thesis statements. This reference page breaks the process down and provides an example of how to compose a thesis statement, develop a...

Begin the drafting phase of the writing process with a lesson plan focused on logically writing three body paragraphs. Then, revise the writing to make it more formal after a teacher-directed mini-lesson plan. Each paragraph highlights...

After completing three body paragraphs of an argument essay about life's rules to live by from Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis, it's time to begin writing the introduction and conclusion. Independently, pupils draft the final two...

Take the next step in the writing process with a lesson plan geared towards the completion of writing an evidence-based essay about a rule to live by, as Bud did in Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Pupils collaborate with their...

Enhance narrative writing instruction with engaging and interactive planning pages. Eight lessons take authors through the process of writing a narrative story, two lessons prompt writers to create a personal narrative, and a...

The opening exercise in this instructional unit introduces class members to the writing process they will follow to craft an informative, expository research paper that addresses their research question. To begin, writers are asked to...

Create a sense of accountability among scholars with a lesson that focuses on making and keeping New Year's resolutions. Writers compose a five paragraph essay focused on three resolutions—promises to self improvement, to...

Ever wish writing was as easy as 1,2,3? About Writing: A Guide outlines the steps to successful writing. The guide begins by explaining the types of writing and then takes readers through the process. The guide even includes a section...

A courtroom can be a scary place for the uninitiated. Get familiar with the process using a helpful overview of the activities that take place prior to both civil and criminal cases.  The lesson explains the differences between...

Positive feedback is a great way to improve writers' skills. Scholars receive their draft essays back with teacher comments and start the revision process. Next, they prepare to begin their final drafts at home.