Students, assessing a variety of formatting tools with Microsoft Word, utilize a bank of vocabulary words to make a personal dictionary of nouns. They classify nouns for people, places, things and ideas and separate them into common and...

Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...

The book Fortunately provides an excellent opportunity to discuss prefixes and suffixes as they appear in context. The class goes over a list of prefixes and suffixes with the teacher. They then write two sentences; the first...

Students describe some common pests. They study three levels of pest control from the IPM pyramid.

Students explore dinosaurs. In this dinosaur identification lesson, students watch video clips for different dinosaurs from the Discovery Kids website. Students discuss the clips with their teacher. Students may then role play the...

A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...

Students apply computer skills to gain further insight into early exploration. They analyze the role of each explorer and evaluate their importance. Students comprehend the Chronology of Discovery and Trade of early explorers. They...

Money, money, money. A complete lesson that makes use of different representations of simple and compound interest, including written scenarios, tables, graphs, and equations to highlight similarities and differences between linear and...

Fabulous! Your 5th graders should love this project. As an ongoing lesson throughout the year students use temperature probes to record outside temperature and then document their data using spreadsheets. They use their weather data and...

Students explore the world of African masks and storytelling. They create masks that tell stories of their own.

Fifth graders will enhance their typing skills and practice using Pages, a software for Mac computers, by writing their own children's book. Note: This lesson plan refers to a template that is not included, however, you can adapt this...

Art is a great way to convey or express an idea. Learners choose an idiom, draw it, and use transfer paper to create photograms. They discuss how why they chose the phrase they did, and how they expressed that idea through their...

Students create a logo design to express their own identity. In this logo design lesson, students list ten words to describe who they are and choose two of them to use in a logo. Students draw images and choose various forms of...

Learners are introduced to product design. In this social studies and technology lesson plan, students examine the historical role of mass production in the development of American business and industry and then apply their knowledge in...

For this activity students pretend that they have been hired by a candy manufacturer to design a box for a new product they are beginning to market. The manufacturer has pre-determined the volume of the candy box. It is the students' job...

Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text.  In this novel creation lesson, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups.  Students collaborate on an alternate ending...

Fourth graders write and perform an original song about Indiana. After learning the lyrics of the song "On the Banks of the Wabash," students write lyrics to their own song about Indiana with assistance from the instructor. They...

Students design emergency shelters.  In this designing emergency shelters lesson, students discuss living conditions of people after a natural disaster.  Students discuss the tsunami that struck East Asia.  Students design...

Students create paper bridges. In this geometry and architecture lesson plan, groups use legal paper and paper clips to design a bridge that will hold 100 pennies. Links to mini-lessons exploring stability of different geometric figures...

Students explore the concept of triangles.  In this triangles lesson, students are to propose a plan for a ramp at their school.  Students use the Pythagorean Theorem and trigonometry to determine the length, height, and angle...

Students view a PowerPoint presentation about pregnancy. They work in groups to complete activities at each of six stations. Students create a baby from clay dough. They use construction paper to design a quilt square. Students complete...

Students practice converting measurements into metrics. In groups, they translate a recipe from English into German and convert all measurements into metrics for the recipe. They examine the difference between United States and metric...