Middle schoolers explore different types of music. In this music diversity lesson, students are divided into groups to listen to an assigned type of music. Middle schoolers list characterisitcs of each type of music then assign...

Students explore how poems represent the social, historical, and cultural times that they were written in. In this poetry lesson plan, students compare and contrast poems with music of the time and explore implications of writing poems...

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....

High schoolers experience and enjoy the sounds of poetry. They erform sound experiments with sonnets and closely read and analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare. Students write an analysis of how sound affects meaning in a sonnet chosen from...

Students, through the use of examining video clips and Websites, become familiar with the reasons that the settlers wanted the land, broke treaties, and initiated the Indian Removal Act leading to the Trail of Tears.

Students scrutinize the story, "The chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for examples of nonconformity in the face of power. The nature of the relationship between students in the story is compared to the associations of the reader.

Fourth graders explore West Virginia. In this Unites States geography lesson, 4th graders discuss the type of land and the cities in West Virginia. Students create two overlays, with transparencies, that show the natural land and the...

One way to assess improvement in writing is to conduct a district-wide assessment program. This resource details the Wisconsin Dells approach to assessing freshmen 6+1 Traits writing. The format could be adapted to any district or used...

Learners study how political movements involve students as well as adults. They discover that learners of all ages have the power to make a difference in the world.

Young scholars explore, analyze and study the concept of the homeless. They cover a wide range of classroom, community and career activities that define, develop, encourage, support and defend the homeless as well as what we can do as...

Students identify and interpret the idea that apples grow on trees and that these apple trees change as the seasons change. Then they gain knowledge of seasonal changes through a creative art experience for the students. Students also...

Students read In The Small Small Pond by Denise Fleming. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of the pond ecosystem. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library...

Students create an experiment. In this friction lesson plan, students review the concept of friction and complete a bottle roll activity. Students work in groups to create their own friction experiment.

Students illustrate a First Nations' legend.  In this legend of bears instructional activity, students read several legends which involve bears and groups of stars or constellations. After reading, students illustrate portions of...

Students explore the genre of journalism. In this journalism lesson, students examine newspaper articles and identify reporting techniques. Students collaborate to identify excellent pieces of newspaper writing.

Students create puppets to teach concepts such as history and weather. In this Puppetmania lesson, students manipulate their puppets to show a range of emotions, facial expressions, and actions. Students design puppets and learn about...

Fifth graders read "My Side of the Mountain." They create a pantomime using vocabulary words from the story. Students create three questions about the reading. They discuss the passage they read and act out words to help them better...

Students study Bearden's style of collage and create their own collage that reflects their neighborhood. They are read "The Block" and poems about neighborhoods and write one about theirs.

Eighth graders answer a riddle to explore multiple meanings in words. After discussing the riddle, they match the definition on their card with another student who has the word. Students use their words with different meanings in...

Students focus on sentence structure, and how to construct the necessary elements for a sentence to be considered complete. They practice diagramming sentences, focusing on the independent and dependent clauses.

Students learn about the Chinese culture via literature. They read the poetry of Cathy Song, considering national pride as Americans and Chinese.

Fifth graders discover how figurative language is used in poetry. They read selected poems and identify the figurative language with handouts and worksheets included in the lesson. They write poems of their own using figurative language.

Students create their own patterns. They discuss the reasons why Easter eggs are used in Easter celebrations. They also identify the elements of literature.

Sixth graders study and identify the elements of a story such as. setting, character, plot, and theme, using two versions of the folktale Little Red-Riding Hood. They use the Internet to locate more information on the author Ed Young.