After watching a brief video on making metric conversions to standard units, pupils complete tables to describe certain items with the appropriate unit of measurement. Then, they convert liters to millimeters, millimeters to...

Have your class conduct research to learn all they can about simple machines. They use the web, take notes from a video, write a script, then make a film describing various simple machines found in real life. These videos are then...

November is National Novel Writing Month, so if your young authors are embarking on this journey, be sure they understand plot elements. This collaborative lesson fits into the context of the larger NaNoWriMo project; however, the ideas...

Learners compare and contrast sine and cosine graphs in order to describe their characteristics in a collaborative activity. As they explain their reasoning, learners strengthen their writing and vocabulary skills associated with...

Say precisely what you mean. Scholars analyze the importance of Washington's precise language in paragraphs eight and nine of the "Atlanta Compromise" speech. They interpret his figurative language and add it to their Idea Tracking...

If you're teaching your class about the cycle of life and want to include a poetry element, consider this exercise. It provides a link to a Found Poem (a poem created from others' words, but an original idea) that includes words...

Help your pupils examine their feelings with the materials here. The class can first read the included poem about a shy person and then respond to one or more of the six included writing prompts.

Throughout history, many people have run for president. But, what is that like for the children of those individuals? Kids read a bit about Mitt Romney and his five children, then respond to a writing prompt in a blog post. They describe...

Learning Greek and Latin roots is an important way to develop vocabulary, but it does get quite boring. Use this list of ideas to add some fun to your daily lessons. Lots of games are suggested to get your kids up and moving. Note: no...

Students read the article, answer true and false questions, complete synonym matching, complete phrase matching, complete a gap fill, answer short answer questions, answer discussion questions, write, and more about Facebook Depression....

Cut magazine pictures into three sections, having your youngsters piece the pictures back together. With this fun activity, they discover the importance of sequencing a story. Then they use a fun template (shaped like a burger) to write...

Some absolutely stunning photographs of mountains around the world are included in this eight-slide presentation on creative writing. The focus is on writing a story as if you are actually climbing to the top of one of these mountains....

It is always a rush to drop objects from great heights, and with this physics experiment, class members will not be disappointed! They drop a single coffee filter from a balcony or table top, record the time it takes to reach the ground,...

In a cross-curricular measurement and literacy lesson, your class will identify and compare cooking measurement instruments. They read a recipe and sequence a set of similar instructions in which the steps have been mixed up....

Playing with values in this fruit salad problem allows learners to find out how many cherries were mixed in. Your middle schoolers can organize their thoughts in a chart before going into the equation. Eigth graders can skip the chart...

Start off your day with a quick reading comprehension quiz about chapter three of Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. After they complete the quiz, pupils participate in a discussion and look closely at the text. A strong Common Core...

A portrait The Radcliffe Family circa 1742 is inspiration for creative writing and empathetic reasoning. Your class discusses the period in which the piece was painted, then imagines what life was like for one of the people seen in the...

Keep track of constitutional principles with a graphic organizer. Pupils define, describe the origins of, and note down the location of the following terms: checks and balances, federalism, individual rights, limited government, popular...

Identifying the tone in a piece of writing can be tricky. Readers don't have the advantage of studying the images and colors used in a painting or the instruments and sounds of a song. The second lesson in this poetry unit teaches tweens...

After viewing an informational video that introduces Bernard Madoff and the concept of a Ponzi scheme, class members begin reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It," Liaquat Ahamed's New York Times book review that explains Madoff's crime, and...

While preparing for the end-of-unit assessment, scholars look at Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" speech and identify the terms he used in the argument. They also identify the relationship between the claims presented in the speech and...

Students analyze what it is like to live in an African village. They locate Tanzania on a map and compare life there to life here in the United States. They write about the health issues in East Africa.

What a fun way to explore new vocabulary words! Marjorie Priceman's book Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride offers plenty of new words for scholars to learn in context: amateur, assembled,...

Computers need precise directions to complete a task. Class members experience what it is like to program a computer with an activity that asks one pupil to describe an image while classmates follow the directions to duplicate the picture.