School lunches are the focus of two learning activities. Activity one challenges small groups to create a lunch menu for an imaginary cafe. Activity two sheds light on one's afternoon eating habits. Asking scholars to record what they...

Should school news publications use social media if their district is against the use of social media in school? Pupils ponder the policy, then examine their publication's plan in parts seven and eight of a 16-part Social Media Toolbox...

School budgets don't have a lot of extra money, so when students propose saving the district money, everyone jumps on board. The first lesson in the series of 21 introduces the concept of an energy audit. Scholars form an eco-action team...

A person in the US uses 20 times more energy than a person in India—that's a drastic difference! The final lesson plan in the 12-part series goes back to the initial energy audits, analyzes which room showed the most conservation of...

The Supreme Court case Lee v. Weisman is the focus of a lesson that examines religion in public schools. After reading a summary of the case and before reading the verdict, pupils use their knowledge of the First Amendment to discuss the...

Have you ever wondered where the money comes from to pay for your school, teachers, supplies, and building? The 1989 Supreme Court case Edgewood ISD v. Kirby lays a framework for open discussion on the funding of public schools. Using a...

Has the integration of U.S. schools proceeded "with all deliberate speed?" Has progress been made? Those are the questions young historians must consider as they examine the barriers to and opportunities revealed in a study of timelines...

Before your learners excuse themselves to get a drink at the water fountain, prompt them to think about where that water comes from. A middle school science lesson encourages groups to research their community's source of drinking water,...

Through discussion, role play, read-alouds, writing, and more, scholars explore the concept of bullying and practice having courage while responsibly reporting unfriendly behavior. Friendship and respect are practiced and...

Adopt a school-wide approach to bullying prevention guided by a program packet that is designed to engage the full school, families, and the entire community. Participants are asked to consider the roles power, control, and...

Collaboration is so important when planning out a school year. Working as a team, teachers can determine their purpose and goal for a yearly plan, map out the steps over each month, and schedule a time and place to meet throughout the year.

Should schools be permitted to punish young scholars for off-campus cyberbullying? After reading a passage that details statistics about cyberbullying and Supreme Court rulings about schools' ability to limit student speech,...

Alone, or as part of the intended unit on chemical reactions, this activity allows learners to experience an exothermic reaction. Here, learners add calcium chloride to a baking soda solution and watch the temperature rise! They will...

First graders journey to the school garden to examine the habitats of garden animals. Using the provided graphic organizer, kids locate and sketch a critter and its habitat before returning it to its home.

After conducting research on a given scientific animal name, group members take a walk around their school and look for the specified animals in that classification. Then, they come back to their worksheets and create five creative clues...

Lois Lowry's The Giver is one of the most engaging and thought-provoking works of literature in the middle school curriculum. Round out your novel unit with a collection of reading activities, comprehension questions, memoir and...

Action is the heart of change. Encourage class members to not only identify critical social justice issues in their school or community but to take action as well. As individuals or as groups, they research a situation, develop a...

Self reflection is an important skill to reinforce in our children, and it's especially helpful to help them realize who they are in the context of their environment. A collection of lessons about self image and community encourage...

Looking for some tools to help you incorporate social and emotional learning into your curriculum? Then check out this 79-page kit packed with ideas for developing social-emotional learning competencies. The first section provides...

High school learners compare economic outcomes for 3 racial groups under the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan by analyzing a series of graphs, answering questions from a worksheet, and participating in a discussion.

Engage and entertain young learners with this collection of readers theatre activities. With over 25 different scripts, a wide range of topics are covered from simple counting and rhyming exercises to adaptions of popular children's...

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.

Guide your learners step by step through the process of designing an original, independent student project. This resource includes a wealth of worksheets and materials, including student project checklists, timelines, primary and...

What is the problem? Why should I care? What can I do about it? These three questions are at the heart of a program designed to lead young people to understand that the way to prevent bullying is for their Attitude and Behavior to Change...