How can we heal our hearts through forgiveness?  The third activity in a series of six prompts readers to answer questions about Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen. Not only does it activate background knowledge on the...

After responding to a series of prompts on an anticipation guide, readers of Unwind craft five predictions about what will happen in Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel.    

Ideas like this are highly effective for helping build better reading comprehension. The class listens to an excerpt from a grade-appropriate text, and they discuss what clues or words helped them visualize the scene. They then read a...

Exploring the baroque era can be exciting and fun when it's done thorugh the arts. Middle schoolers examine the music and art history of the baroque era through research. They use their findings and class notes to create an expository...

Cats can't add, but they do multiply! Determine the number of descendants of a single cat given specific facts about cats and kittens. The instructional activity focuses on developing strategies for problem solving using both individual...

Discover an inverse variation pattern. A simple lesson plan design allows learners to explore a nonlinear pattern. Scholars analyze a distance, speed, and time relationship through tables and graphs. Eventually, they write an equation to...

Congruent figures: two figures that want to be just like each other. Individuals learn to distinguish between figures that are congruent and those that are not. Measuring the lengths of line segments and angles helps in this endeavor.

Young learners research and present information about a chosen subject to their peers, parents, instructors, and community. This instructional activity has a strong research and public speaking component, and would be ideal for your...

Notan is a Japanese word that expresses the interaction between light and dark. Learners explore Notan while creating dimensional art pieces that examine positive and negative spaces. They'll discuss the art of Notan, create...

How can you tell the difference between fact and opinion? Using newspapers, learners determine which articles contain statements of fact, and which articles reflect the writer's opinion. The lesson plan includes a discussion format and a...

Hold your horses! Young learners discover the history behind measuring the height of horses "by hands." They also study the history of Oklahoma, and how horses played such an important role in settling the state. An excellent worksheet...

Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.

Students investigate the history of Pompeii and its destruction. They take a virtual field trip to the ruins of Pompeii, create a travel brochure to attract tourists to the site, and write an account of their trip.

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

Beginning biologists learn the characteristics of the five classes in the arthropod phylum. A student handout lists characteristics to help them identify five specimens. You will need to collect an example of each: arachnida, crustacea,...

Who was Bill Picket? Interested readers work through an informational passage to find out about a famous "bulldogger" from the old West. They answer several reading comprehension questions and use a seven step process to decode new...

High schoolers research dating abuse, particularly as it affects teens in general and specifically when technology like cells phones and the Internet is involved. They develop and use a survey on dating abuse in thier school and use the...

First graders place some specific types of objects (e.g., shoes, favorite food) on concrete graphs and pictographs. They listen and respond to others in a variety of contexts (e.g., pay attention to the speaker; take turns speaking in a...

Chemistry and earth science meet in a lesson on carbon dioxide emissions. After reading about atmospheric problems caused by using fossil fuels, science stars balance equations for the burning of different alkanes. They compute the...

Middle schoolers use context clues to find the figurative meaning of similes and metaphors in writing. They practice using figurative language to help their writing come alive. Use this activity in a instructional activity about poetry,...

Your health class reads two biographical stories: one about a girl who has allergies and the other about a girl who has asthma. They watch a quick cartoon on the KidsHealth website about immunity and take the related online quiz. You...

Should Internet users who send data-heavy content pay higher fees than those who are involved in activities, like sending an email, that have less content? This question is at the heart of the Net Neutrality debate. After watching a PBS...

How can we create “a more respectful, inclusive school community?" What can an individual do to make a member of an excluded or disrespected group feel more respected and included? What can the community do? Class groups record their...

Post-It notes, highlighting, underlining. Sam Anderson’s New York Times Magazine article, “What I Really Want Is Someone Rolling Around in the Text,” launches a study of “marginalia,” or writing thoughts in the margins of a text. After...