People communicate in all sorts of ways. As part of a study of nonverbal communication, teams of three must complete a puzzle without speaking to one another. After debriefing the activity and analyzing the messages nonverbal cues...

Make learning the definitions of literary terms memorable with a fun and engaging activity. Teams of scholars are given several terms and create an acrostic poem with simplified definitions and examples.

Two stories by Roald Dahl, "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Landlady" provide readers an opportunity to compare stories by the same author. After a close reading of the stories, teams select a character from one of the tales, craft...

Introduce middle schoolers to Edward Bloor's novel Tangerine with a lesson that asks scholars to make predictions about events in the novel based on an article written by the Smoop Editorial team. Predictions are posted in the classroom...

Lines from popular songs are used to teach middle schoolers about conditional and subjunctive moods. Groups engage in a card sort activity to identify conditional and subjective sentences and then partners draft sentences of each type....

Groups of two to four work collaboratively to engineer a birdhouse that will stay cool in the summer heat. Teams examine several different-colored roofs, testing the efficiency of each with a heat lamp. Then, groups sketch their ideas,...

Each member of a four-student group takes on a specific aspect of an assigned planet to research. After gathering information, the team works together to create a travel brochure and a presentation intended to convince other classmates...

Simulate the Situation Room and analyze the US's relationship with North Korea. The plan starts off with a quick review and an examination of a online timeline that updates as the situation continues. Next, the class reads an article and...

Did you know horsepower is actually based on the power of a horse? 60 horse power is the equivalent of being pulled by a team of 60 horses! Viewers will learn other interesting facts like this from a presentation that begins with the...

Build a solid understanding of trigonometric transformations through exploration. Learners work in teams to analyze the effects of different algebraic components on the graph of a sine function. 

Help learners discover the unique characteristics of the tangent function. Working in teams, pupils create tables of values for different intervals of the tangent function. Through teamwork, they discover the periodicity, frequency, and...

Work together to find proportional relationships. The sixth portion of the 22-part unit is a collaborative exercise. Teams work with given representations of relationships and determine if they are proportional by creating tables and...

Random sampling is as easy as choosing numbers. Teams use random numbers to create a sample of book lengths from a population of 150 books. The groups continue by developing a technique to create samples to compare from two populations...

Determine whether there is a difference between two grades. Teams generate random samples of two grade levels of individuals. Groups use the mean absolute deviation to determine whether there is a meaningful difference between the...

How do statistics help people understand the universal refugee experience? Using the resource, scholars engage in an activity called a Chalk Talk, working in teams to analyze statistics from informational texts about refugees. Also, they...

Let's get to the gist! Pupils work in research teams to gather information about specific refugee experiences from Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Kurdistan. Scholars then try to find the gist of informational texts about their topics,...

Organic versus conventional farming: which option is best? Pupils use Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma to determine the cascading consequences of the industrial organic food chain. They work in research teams to create an...

Young researchers create a class Cascading Consequences chart to see how the industrial food chain affects people, animals, and the environment. They also work in teams to complete a Stakeholders chart for the industrial food chain model...

Researchers continue determining the effects of the industrial organic food chain that Michael Pollan describes in The Omnivore's Dilemma. In teams, pupils add to their Cascading Consequences charts and complete Stakeholders charts based...

Focusing on the consequences of the hunter-gatherer food chain that Michael Pollan discusses in The Omnivore's Dilemma, teams work together to create hunter-gatherer food chain consequences charts. Next, scholars view other groups'...

If only life came with an owner's manual. Pupils assemble with their research teams to discuss which of Steve Jobs' rules to live by most resonates with them. Scholars also read informational texts in pursuit of finding the gist and...

The gist should be short and sweet! Pupils practice finding the gist of an informational text and then write a summary of the text. Next, they gather with their research teams to discuss a focus question based on the novel Bud, Not Buddy...

Here is a wonderful presentation, perfect for setting the stage for the Revolutionary War. Containing great information and images, it acts as a timeline of events starting with the French Indian War and ending with the dawn of the...

Working in teams, groups of learners must collaborate to make their way across an imaginary lava field using foam tiles, carpet pieces, hula hoops, etc. This activity would be best if adapted to a larger facility or outdoors!