How can people do their part to help protect the environment? Learners participate in an engaging jigsaw activity to discuss the causes and effects of pollution. Next, pupils develop their own innovative ideas to address an environmental...

Where would society be without the innovations of Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs? Scholars explore what it means to have an innovative mindset. Working in small groups, pupils design a product or service to help solve a social,...

Words of appreciation make great gifts for special occasions, but people can't tie them up with a bow ... until now! Using the lesson plan, learners write gratitude messages to a chosen recipient. Next, they fill a box or paper bag with...

What are some of life's most tried-and-true lessons? Pupils listen to examples from the book Live and Learn and Pass It On by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. They write down their own life lessons to later compile in a class booklet. As...

Gertrude Stein once said, "Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone." Learners break their silence by engaging in discussion and making lists of what makes them grateful. Next, pupils write and illustrate a thank you letter to a chosen...

What would the world be like if everyone expressed gratitude? Pupils explore the concept by watching a motivating time-lapse video. Scholars express appreciation by handing out tokens of gratitude, and then write about their...

Not all trolls hide under bridges; some of them hide behind computer screens! Learners explore the causes and effects of people leaving mean comments online. After learning vocabulary, watching and discussing a video, and responding to...

Cinderella wants to go to the ball and marry the prince. At the end of the story, she does! But how does the plot move from the exposition to the resolution? Teach language arts learners and fairy tale fans about the basics of plot...

How can having too little of something impact your life? Scholars investigate the concept of scarcity in their own lives and in the overall picture of the economy. Brainstorming activities as well as student-parent work bring to light...

Redesign your holiday celebrations with the aid of a lesson plan booklet packed with facts, images, maps, activities, and readings about the three-day feast that marked the English settlers' first successful harvest.

How do the five themes of geography relate to the country of Iceland? Pupils learn about everything from the differences between relative and absolute location to how humans both adapt and change the environment. The presentation...

Remember the Alamo! Scholars investigate the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. Using models, maps, quotes, biographies, and the Oath of Allegiance, the Alamo comes to life as the stories of those who fought and died in...

What does it take to make a town run smoothly each and every day? Scholars create their own Biztown with hands-on interactive activities. Using games, demonstrations, and decision-making skills, they learn what resources they need for a...

A colorful PowerPoint is a great way to introduce the topic of visual literacy. The eye-catching presentation begins with an overview of visual literacy and then provides some specific strategies to help enhance reading comprehension. As...

Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review...

Two hands-on activities celebrate the sun and moon autumnal equinox. First, scholars create a cairn using a shoebox, flashlight, and drawing tools to view the sun's progression. Second, learners take to the kitchen to bake mooncakes...

Scholars warm-up their map skills with a discussion using location words to describe familiar places. An engaging video informs class members about latitude and longitude. Three leveled activities extend the learning experience for...

Have you ever wondered how your town was placed where it is? Scholars research the impact the advancement of the railroad due to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act had on the formation of civilization in the Great Plains. Map...

Just how long was the Long Drive? Learners investigate the movement of cattle in the Great Plains during the mid-1800s. They incorporate photographic, newspaper, video, and primary source evidence into their posters, artwork, and written...

Life in the great, wide-open spaces of the West! Scholars analyze the reasons behind the vast movement to the Great Plains after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Homestead Act. Using photographic, document, map, video, and...

Go West, young man! Scholars investigate the impact of African American settlers moving to the Nebraska territory, following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the mid 1800s. Using primary sources, timelines, maps, and...

What are the characteristics of an outstanding citizen? Nebraskan J. Sterling Morton contributed to the formation of societal and family values in his state. Learners gather information on Morton's life accomplishments from primary...

Did Western settlers receiving free land from the Homestead Act realize it wasn't really free at all? Scholars investigate the impact Western expansion had on Native American culture in the mid-1800s. They use documents, timelines, and...

How the Kansas-Nebraska Act created Bleeding Kansas is complicated—until scholars research and examine documents from the time. After completing activities that include mapping, photo, document analysis, and discussion, learners...