Explore the Great Depression! Discover the challenges people experienced during the time period. Learners investigate photographs from the Dust Bowl and WWII era and create a story line about the photographs, writing a newspaper article...

Would you rather be right, or would you rather be kind? A novel unit based on R.J. Palacio's Wonder focuses on the need to be kind to others and to accept their differences. As learners read the book, they discuss the themes of...

Students explore variety of plants & cacti in their Arizona community by collecting samples and taking photographs. Can be adapted to other areas.

Using the book Bandits, Bears, and Backaches, learners develop an understanding of the pre-history of Arkansas. They follow the trail ofthe giants mastodons and paleo Indians who lived there long ago. The emphasis on this lesson is on...

Students are introduced to the classification system of animals. In groups, they set up an aquarium in which they must maintain throughout the year. They also observe earthworms and how they react to various stimuli and research the...

This lesson is intended as preparation for a school health fair but could be used anytime. Learners discuss and compare the nutrition found in typical snack foods. They compose investigative questions, collect data, and research a...

Students explore how to construct and interpret maps and globes and find information about people, places, regions, and environments.

Students explore how to describe the Gulf Stream, how Benjamin Franklin charted it, and correctly plot it on a map.

Young historians research the Southwest Trail, which ran through Arkansas back in the 19th century. Pupils are divided into four groups. Each group researches a pioneer who blazed the Southwest Trail. Then, the group presents an oral or...

Practice makes perfect when it comes to learning grammar with this ESL resource. Offering a great way to teach about relative clauses, this lesson engages learners with a series of partner, small group, and whole class speaking and...

Explore websites, complete research, and use technological tools to create a final multimedia presentation on what makes a community special. Learners of all ages work with a partner to research an interesting aspect of their community,...

Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome. 

Students design historical quilts. In this presidential history instructional activity, students research past presidents and landmarks named for them. Students create quilt squares to represent the landmarks and piece all of them...

Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...

ASL instructional activity 16 covers adverbs of time, sentence structure, and asking questions. Each blue link takes you to an image, instructions, or video of the word/s being signed. Great resource!

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...

Monsters take center stage! Elementary schoolers are assigned to write a descriptive paragraph by a toy company to help in designing a new monster for their toy line. One student composes the paragraph, another uses that to create a...

Students examine the art of storytelling. In groups, they write their own African folktales, design costumes, props and scenery, and videotape folktale presented in dramatic form.

Fifth graders research American landmarks and symbols. In this United States history lesson plan, 5th graders create a KWL chart about the symbols of America and take notes during a PowerPoint presentation. Students complete the rest of...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Direct instruction on punctuation rules for titles is followed by collaborative practice in class. Two worksheets with aesthetically engaging graphic design provide practice. For 12 examples, small groups either underline, italicize, or...

How do painters use and manipulate light in their artwork to give emphasis and establish mood and emotion? Pupils will analyze a few examples of landscape and portrait painting in order to explore the how light is used in art,...

The Clotilde was the last known ship to bring slaves from Africa to the United States - good riddance! Dive into the details of the ship, its cargo, origin, and route, and learn about the future of the Africans on board...

After completing the first five lessons from the series, scholars assemble their quilt pieces to create a family history quilt. They then rate their experience of learning about their families by conducting interviews, creating family...