Oral storytelling has been an important part of every culture. The time-honored practice uses stories as a conduit for a culture's values and customs from one generation to the next. Keep the tradition going with a family interview...

What was the most significant tool used by the Chumash? How did the environment make the tool possible? What group behaviors allowed the Chumash be be successful for thousands of years? After watching West of the West's documentary Once...

Students design their own playground equipment. In this design lesson, students take pictures of equipment they like and make a class pictograph of their favorite ones. They investigate the design, research equipment around the world,...

Pupils create various types of graphs. They go to suggested websites to collect data and create graphs to organize the data. Then they answer questions according to their graph.

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...

As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history....

Shapes are so fun! Little ones explore, identify, and create shapes using tangrams or pattern blocks. The activity is intended to stimulate critical thinking while engaging learners through play and shape identification. Each child will...

Eighth graders conduct research on various careers that are of interest to them. They conduct Internet research on a selected career choice, and create a nine card stack using HyperStudio to describe their career's salary, required...

Second graders complete a survey as class answering the question: "Did you eat breakfast this morning?". They place a tally mark in the column that best represents their answer. They then discuss the results in the graph.

Second graders examine and discuss different goals that lead to learner success. They discuss the story of "The Tortoise and the Hare," and discuss different goals and scenarios on a handout. Students then write a personal learning goal...

Read the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and complete activities from multiple subjects. Make a mural, create a class graph, discuss the life cycle of a butterfly, research information about butterflies on the Internet and make...

Did you know that the Chinese Court Gazette is the longest continuing news paper in history? In addition to some great background information, this resource includes suggestions for activities across grade levels and across the curriculum.

Imagine being stranded all alone on an island for 18 years. How would you survive? Class members are challenged to makes necessities out of natural materials that would likely be found on an island.

Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might...

Students explore the physical phenomenon of shadows through movement improvisation and dance. They create an original dance phrase based on this imagery. All students then reproduce accurately the movement choices of another dancer.

Second graders create cardboard dulcimers. They discover that sound is produced by vibrating strings and analyze the pitch produced by changing the sizes and length of the strings of the instrument. They also discuss the history of the...

Fifth graders create a picture book of local landforms using digital cameras. They also illustrate two vocabulary terms by hand and locate pictures of other geography vocabulary terms in magazines. Students take picture-taking field...

Having good hygiene skills is a very important part of living an independent life. Learners with special needs follow sequencing cards to practice washing their faces. They follow each step in the process and discuss the importance of...

Youngsters study the history and uses of the blueberry. There are actually six different lessons linked into this plan! The lessons can be useful within a variety of curricular areas, and are particularly appropriate around the...

High schoolers begin by completing a survey asking them to rank their concerns about commercially prepared foods. They develop a definition of relative risk, and complete the "Pro or Con" worksheet. Students work in groups to make a...

Young adventurers embark on a journey, setting sail along the blue ocean with Christopher Columbus. Teachers will find that this unit makes their lesson planning smooth sailing!

Learners follow the journey of Henry Hudson down the river with his name. Using journal entries and maps, they learn about its exploration. They use maps to identify stages of the journey, and practice converting distances into miles.

Third graders explore a variety of breakfast foods and beverages and write a creative story about their favorite. They then present their stories to the class and are encouraged to try different foods during the story time.

Students identify the food group of various culturally diverse breakfast foods and discuss the importance of eating a healthy, well-balanced breakfast every morning. They then try different foods that begin with the letter A, B and C and...