What do a pair of stinky socks and a toy hamster have in common? The third lesson plan in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl uses silly objects to teach about figurative language. Zany pranks and role play...

What do spiders' legs and an octopus's eyeball have to do with metaphors? The fourth lesson plan in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl uses disgusting foods to teach about metaphoric writing.

Where does inspiration come from? Where do writers get their ideas? What about visual artists? A PowerPoint and a video introduce middle schoolers to children's author and illustrator Eric Carle and how he found inspiration in the work...

How do people manage to get everything done when there are so few hours in a day? Scholars explore the question as they participate in small group discussions about time management. They construct a daily schedule and complete a...

Talk about a reality check! High schoolers complete a lifestyle survey indicating their preference for housing, entertainment, etc., and then calculate the salary required to support those choices. Finally, they research the types of...

Your learners will write quadratic functions whose graphs include specific points and explore how these graphs are related to each other.

The battle over same-sex marriage is a prevalent issue in the United States, and a valuable topic to be discussed in your social studies classroom. Here is a basic outline of introductory questions, focus questions, vocabulary, and media...

Will Peter and Cole ever forgive one another? Anticipation guides contain questions such as this to help teach readers how to make predictions about a text. First out of a series of five resources, the guide is full of statements about...

Students demonstrate proper hand washing techniques. In this personal hygiene lesson plan, students listen to included rhymes about cleanliness and identify the rhyming words. Students share situations where hand washing is essential.

Young learners explore what it means to be respectful. This resource includes a two page chart depicting rules for different settings at school such, as the cafeteria and the playground. What does following the rules look like? What does...

Engage your class in art analysis of Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie. Using this work of art as inspiration, writers compose a poem or short story. After a peer review session, the teacher conveys information about the work of art as...

Learners explore the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture through the reading of "Help! My Father is Coming" and "The Visit to Vijay's". In this social culture lesson plan, students carousel brainstorm...

Here is a creative way to assess your geologists' grasp of the rock cycle: have them write and illustrate a children's book in which the main character journeys though his life, i.e. the rock cycle! A brief student instruction sheet and...

Students consider cultural differences. In this Peace Corps activity, students read "Help, My Father is Coming," by Jim Toner and then write journal entries about the culture of Sri Lanka.

Students write garden inspired poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students go out into the garden and write poems about how they feel, what they see, and what is going on in the garden.

Research the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks. Set up different centers and have learners rotate through the activities aimed at researching Rosa Parks. They read The Bus Ride that Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks, write a...

Beverly Cleary is the fabulous author focused on, in this author study. Students conduct Internet Research in order to find out as much as they can about Ms. Cleary. They then use their findings and the Garageband program to create a...

Upper graders write word problems and research the uses of multiplication. They start off by taking a pre-test on multiplication and then read the book, Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar. They make up word problems to go with their...

Students discuss the various jobs at a school. In this school jobs instructional activity, students recognize the way people in the school are helped by others. Students are assigned a job and write about the help of others. Students...

Students examine why certain historical figures get credit for their accomplishments while others are forgotten. They read and discuss two informational handouts, discuss why people remember Columbus even if he was not the first person...

Students recognize philanthropy and collect samples from the newspaper or other literary sources. In this newspaper writing lesson, students observe acts of kindness and write about them in a newsletter.

Students collect examples of local philanthropy and write a news article for a  local newspaper. In this philanthropy lesson, students read Helping Out by George Ancona to gain understanding of what philanthropic acts are. Students...

Fourth graders are introduced to famous works of art and begin to discuss the artist's work. Use art to explain and reflect their own emotions. The write about feelings in a work of art and make connections between art and other...

Seventh graders research Greek mythological characters. They write about problems faced by middle school-aged children and how the character would handle them. Students also create story boards to accompany their oral narratives.