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Health Conscious?
What is your attitude on health and illness? By considering their own experiences, students will reflect on and discuss their attitudes toward health and illness while educating each other by researching illnesses in small groups,...
Desert Discoveries
Invent - A - Saurus
Fourth graders get to invent their own dinosaur! This is done by using a very clever worksheet embedded in the plan. The worksheet leads them through naming their dinosaur by having explanations of the Latin terminology that is used with...
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Playing Hot and Cold
Students read about homeothermy. Through research and poster projects, they gain insight into the diversity among mammals and the ways specific mammals survive in their native climates.
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E.T., Are You Out There?
Research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, middle and high schoolers...
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Giant Smelly Plant Attracts Thousands
Read and discuss a news article about a rare corpse plant that bloomed in Washington D.C. Because this native Indonesian plant blooms so rarely, people flock to see it. After reading the article, your class answers comprehension...
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Art Reflecting Life
Have your young television viewers discuss popular shows among their peers. After choosing one show to analyze, middle and high schoolers read about the 2007-2008 network television lineup with the New York Times article "Gauging Viewer...
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Monster Plants Storia Teaching Guide
Who wouldn't want to read a book about monster plants? Get those kids into informational texts with an engaging topic, like meat eating plants! You'll use the teaching guide to provide structured practice as your class reads to...
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The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Wow! Here is a most-impressive series of lessons and activities that revolve around the classic story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The purpose of the lessons are to provide an agricultural theme in the reading, writing, and science...
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Colossal Squid Caught in Antarctic
Students define the word colossal, then read a news article about an enormous squid caught off Antarctica. In this animal studies and current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article with dictionary and...
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Time Capsule Essay
Discuss your class' vision of the future. Learners create materials for use in a time capsule. They write letters to explain their contribution and provide photos. Afterwards, they use higher-level thinking skills to reflect on why they...
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Appreciate Those Who Teach!
Discover a wealth of activities for teachers, pupils, and administrators to savor during Teacher Appreciation Week.
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
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Raise Awareness for National Learning Disabilities Month
Raise awareness of learning disabilities through reading, writing, research, and collaboration.
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Facing the Ghosts of Our Past
A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...
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Creature Seekers
Does it actually exist? Consider the sighting of a giant squid, much like the one that appears in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Middle and high schoolers read the article One Legend Found, Many Still to Go, and research other mysterious...
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Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum
Seven pages of fascinating reading on marine debris preface the activities in this lesson plan. Four different activities are employed to simulate how the debris is distributed in the ocean and along beaches. Early ecology learners...
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Tracing Genetic Ancestry Using DNA Microarrays
High school learners read and discuss an article about genetic ancestry and genetic ancestry testing. They complete a paper and pencil activity that mimics the function of a DNA microarray and consider the ethics of genetic testing in...
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Pop Tops
Get your class primed for a comparative analysis lesson with this activity. They compare and contrast their music preferences to those of their classmates. After reading an article, they identify current trends in popular music, analyze...
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Smart Design
Share pupil responses to an interactive slide show about a design initiative intended to help the world's poor. The class works in groups to brainstorm ideas, and then prepares sketches of their own design solutions. Each rendering...
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Oh, I Believe in Yesterday
Who is Aimee Mann? Read the New York Times article "P.S. I Loved You," included here, and have your readers answer a series of reading comprehension questions. Afterward, encourage your class to brainstorm ways in which they were...
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The Ants Go Marching
Integrate art, math, life science, music, and fun in this beginning addition and subtraction activity. Children kinesthetically represent adding and subtracting numbers to 10; they stand up one at a time as you count forward and sit down...
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Real Ice Ages Longer Than Movie Ice Ages
If your class's knowledge of the Ice Age is limited to animated movies, use this lesson plan to strengthen their knowledge. After sharing what they know about the Ice Age, young readers explore a news article seeking to dispel...
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Greed is Good?
From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...
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Plants and Animals: Alike and Not Alike
After reading an informative paragraph that outlines some of the differences between plants and animals, fifth graders attempt to correctly categorize 12 words in a word bank. They must put them in the plant, or animal category. This...