Young sleuths don their trench coats, tip their fedoras, and grab their notepads to investigate one of four famous unsolved mysteries. After examining multiple primary and secondary sources related to their cold case, they propose a...

How did scientists determine the cause of illness before technology? Science scholars play the role of medical researcher in an engaging guided inquiry activity. Using observations, technical reading, and Punnett squares, learners...

Who Am I? Scholars go online to gather clues and evidence to uncover just who was involved in the American Civil War. They use hands-on Internet activities to come to an understanding of the roles soldiers and civilians played in the...

Sherlock Holmes may have been the greatest detective in literary history. A study guide for The Hound of the Baskervilles introduces a story featuring the famous detective before sharing activities related to the text. Readers...

Every living creature can leave a fossil record, yet most fossils belong to extinct organisms rather than ones currently living. Scholars learn about dating rock layers, fossils, and the environment of the past. Pupils understand that...

Was the medieval Black Death the same disease as the modern bubonic plague? Your class members become the top investigators in the case, examining a variety of exhibits (i.e. disease descriptions, sample historical letter, map, etc.) in...

Build vocabulary and get in the Halloween sprit with a collection of festive activities! Here, scholars take part in a holiday celebration, unearth the unknown in mystery feel-boxes, and create monster masks out of paper plates. 

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Rather than who done it, the mystery literary detectives have to solve as they examine the evidence found in Edgar Allan Poe's famous "The Tell-Tale Heart" is why did he do it?

Young geologists discover the important role that rocks and minerals play in our everyday lives through this series of hands-on activities. Starting off with a lesson that defines the difference between plants, animals, and...

Introduce young musicians to the history of and different styles of music with an inquiry-based learning activity that asks them to play detectives to determine the similarities and differences among the sheet music found at a series of...

Chaotic, perjury, tenacious, vague, predatory, idiosyncrasy. Using Marzano and Brown’s six steps of direct instruction for vocabulary (choose, restate, illustrate, use, discuss, play) readers of And Then There Were None engage in a...

Who done it? Class groups adopt the role of crime scene investigators and examine exhibits (primary source documents) to determine who attempted to assassinate the members of the Medici dynasty.

Help young learners practice drawing conclusions and using reasoning through this simple game idea. The teacher places a mystery object in a bag and  learners must ask yes/no questions until they guess what it is correctly. As...

Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary...

Students observe skulls of wild animals and determine their characteristics for survival. They evaluate the skuylls to discover the diets, and if the animals were predators or prey. They complete worksheets on mystery skulls.

Students examine mammals understanding what a mammal is and reviewing the eleven mammal groups. In this science lesson, students play a game known as Mystery Mammal Game. Yet, first students research about the mammal and then give...

Learners role play as history detectives. In this historical inquiry activity, students discuss what detectives do, analyze a trunk of "artifacts" and make conclusions about its fictional owner. Learners complete six pages of related...

As the title suggests, this packet is loaded with activities that can be used at any time. The common element in all the exercises is that they are connected to books by Dr. Seuss.

Extend the exhilarating learning experience of Dr. Seuss with five activities designed to reinforce literacy skills—site word reading, dialogue writing, story mapping, and more! Featured stories include The Lorax,...

Your students already know when they like a story and when they don't, but they may not know that the plots of these stories are shaping that opinion. Like all resources in this series, the two activities and quizzes provided here deal...

Cyanide, a coordination compound, is used in the extraction of gold and silver. Part 24 in the series of 36 delves into the world of coordination compounds. Classes learn, through readings, discussions, and answering questions, how to...

What does an examiner look for when analyzing a bank's financial condition? In addition to learning about the 5-Cs for reviewing loans and CAMELS (capital, assets, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to risk), your learners...

Get your hands dirty with an interactive instructional activity that showcases the process of decomposing and returning nutrients back into the soil. After building a compost pile, pupils regularly observe the...