While it may seem incredibly obvious to the geometry student that congruent sides make congruent triangles, the proving of this by definition actually takes a bit of work. This exercise steps the class through this kind of proof by...

What's fair is fair! Using the resource, scholars discuss the key differences between fair use and copyright. Next, in small groups, pupils create and present projects that demonstrate fair use of copyrighted material, such as a song,...

The Magic Pot by Patricia Coombs is the theme of this multidisciplinary lesson plan. Early readers first take part in a read aloud and grand conversation about the story's details. Then, they get to work practicing their skills in...

It's time for a celebration! Scholars go on a gallery walk around the classroom to view their peers' completed illustrated children's stories. Using sticky notes, pupils provide feedback about the powerful elements they find in their...

"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

At what point does the right of privacy end and the government begin? Scholars research rights under the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution. Using the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case as a starting point, along with small group work...

How can the circulatory system compare to a city map? Pupils distinguish the "roadways" and "vehicles" of the cardiovascular system, compare the anatomy and function of veins and arteries, and review different types of blood cells with...

The memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, is the focus of a unit designed for fourth graders. Scholars begin each lesson with a warm-up, then listen to a read-aloud of a section of the book. Pupils complete word work,...

Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...

Expose young children to the wonderful works of author and illustrator Jan Brett using a few of her stories such as Armadillo Rodeo, The Mitten, or Daisy Comes Home through a unit study. 

Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...

A resource that makes for excellent group work as learners explore the area and perimeter of different complex designs made up of squares and circles. The commentary gives a clear definition of perimeter, but suggests that group members...

How many unifix cubes tall are you? If you're not sure, then perform this math activity with your class and find out. Working in pairs, young mathematicians make measuring sticks out of unifix cubes in order to determine the length of...

A second attack at figuring out the number of leaves on a tree, this activity makes both an excellent follow-up to version 1 and a stand-alone activity. Learners practice setting parameters and deciding acceptable estimate precision, and...

Evaluate patterns of numbers through an engaging task. Scholars work collaboratively to determine a general rule reflecting the sum of consecutive positive integers. Multiple patterns emerge as learners explore different arrangements.

Accompany a reading of First Come the Zebra written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch with a teacher's guide equipped with before reading, vocabulary, and after reading activities. Additional social studies,...

Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.

Budding poets create two acrostic poems, one for their name and another using a word of their choice. Over the course of five days, scholars compose, revise, publish, and share their work with their peers.

Ensure that your kids don't even consider saying "Not me!" when it comes time to read by engaging them in this set of lesson plans based around "The Little Red Hen." The class reads the story together before starting in on additional...

Ready to interpret the Declaration of Independence and understand its meaning? The resource divides scholars into pairs, where they work as a team to match translations with excerpts from the declaration. The class then engages in...

The winds of change are blowing in our very own solar system!  But what makes some heavenly bodies more affected by solar winds than others?  Pupils discover the concept of magnetic forces at work in space in this...

Your geometry learners explore Angle-Side-Angle congruence in this collaborative task. The sum of the interior angles of all triangles being one hundred eighty degrees, is the key learners will discover as they explain their reasoning...