It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history lesson prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...

Can posting art or music online lead to the career of your dreams? Inquisitive individuals consider their social media presence with a lesson from a series focusing on identity exploration and digital citizenship. Pairs put their heads...

Few aspects of life make better fodder for a comedic play than politics. A study guide introduces George Bernard's Shaw comedy Arms and the Man. Along with summaries of each scene and brief biographies of the main characters, two lesson...

Was there a baby boom? Using census data, class members take a look at the number of 8-11 year olds and determine their birth years. Scholars create a double line graph to compare the number of births for two states for several years....

Appreciate the chance to get out of the classroom. Scholars take a field trip to a solar cell or solar panel facility to learn about the manufacturing aspect of the business. They also hear from a guest speaker and ask questions about...

Tap into the desire to learn about computer codes. Pupils apply the Tap Code and the Polybius Square to send secret codes using sound. They design a code that tells a robot what movements to make and then test out their code using one of...

Students design an investigation using yeast. For this environmental engineering lesson, students design an investigation to determine how environmental factors affect the growth of yeast. They will collect quantitative data and discuss...

Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...

Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...

For the final step of the performance task for this unit, class members will create an illustration to go with the paragraph on their bookmark. After looking at models, guide pupils toward recognizing the criteria for an effective...

Speak your mind. Scholars present their claims in groups of three. They use a presentation checklist as each member takes a turn. At the end of the lesson plan, pupils complete an End of Unit 2 Assessment: Presenting a Claim and Findings...

Take note. Scholars receive their claim drafts back to revise and write their claims and three pieces of evidence on notecards. They save the notecards to use when the verbally present their claims to the class. At the end, individuals...

Can you put that in writing? Scholars work with a partner to write a practice claim before writing their own claims. After writing their claims, learners share with class using a Concentric Circles activity.

Present the facts. Scholars create presentations of their research on DDT using their Cascading Consequences chart and a Stakeholders Impacts chart as visuals. They discuss the term stakeholders and create a Stakeholders Impacts chart...

Look carefully. Scholars practice observing and recording the natural world around them by looking out a window or viewing an image. Learners discuss how their experience compares to that of Meg Lowman in The Most Beautiful Roof in the...

I spy with my little eye! Learners observe page 23 in The Most Beautiful Roof in the World and practice what they would add to a field journal. They discuss how details from the text help add to their thoughts. To finish,...

Help the class put a plan in place. With the detailed resource, pupils plan the first section of their graphic novelettes about an invention, creating and labeling their pages. Next, they work with partners to give and receive feedback...

Mastering techniques from the resource, pupils give life to their writing, revising their storyboards to include sensory details and transitions. To finish, they participate in a peer critique process and use the feedback to further...

Eyes on the finish line. Serving as the first part of the end of unit assessment, learners answer questions based on a text about how to write a graphic novel. Using what they've learned, they then create a storyboard about the invention...

Let's get creative! With the fun resource, pupils continue working on their graphic novelettes about an invention, adding text and images to each section. When finished, they engage in a peer critique process, giving and receiving...

See it through my eyes. Scholars complete mid-unit assessment part II by writing an essay describing how the narrator's point of view influences how the story is told in the text In the Middle of the Storm. Pupils also complete a...

Students draw on their knowledge of Impressionist and Asian landscapes to reflect on the differences found in the two genres of landscape painting.

Students develop an action plan to prevent trash from becoming a problem in the future.