Utilizing a video camera, learners will read a story while being recorded. Later, they analyze the footage. After identifying their strengths and weaknesses with the teacher, they discuss reading fluency techniques. Adaptation: Instead...

Conduct research on the Internet about labyrinths and mazes to learn about proportions and ratios. Inquisitive minds design their own maze, one maze is chosen and proportionately enlarged to 20 feet by 30 feet. This is a fun challenge...

Have your high schoolers practice their public speaking skills by writing an either/or speech. Individually, they complete an outline on what they want to discuss and give their speech to the class. To end the lesson, they complete a...

Even though readers investigate matters of the heart, this activity promotes the inner workings of learners' brains. The fifth lesson of six has the teacher first model the strategy to the class before having small groups practice. To...

Most twenty-first century pupils don't know how to interpret cuneiform. Examining images of cuneiform and papyrus writing and using a chart and Venn diagram, young historians extrapolate what life may have been like for people who lived...

World War I was known for its gruesome battlefields and horrific injuries. Using photographs from a battlefield surgeon's scrapbook, scholars see first-hand what life was like in the trenches. After creating a timeline of the war using...

A three-minute exercise warms-up scholars' writing abilities in order to follow a writing process that ends in an essay. The essay's topic is a barrier and the values used to break it. Four steps include choosing a topic,...

Did he die for a cause, or was he crazy? Although the resource discusses John Brown and West Virginia history, many historical figures have the same reputation. Teach learners about different perspectives and highlight the importance of...

Was Nat Turner a hero or a violent criminal? Using primary sources and images that discuss the rebellion of enslaved people he led in antebellum Virginia, scholars consider the question. Then, they create memorials to Turner and...

Commonplace today, the zipper and button construction of blue jeans was a major innovation. Using the patent for the J.W. Davis and Levi Strauss innovation, individuals comb an image of the fly for clues. Afterward, they discuss its...

Students write a story.  In this critical thinking and writing instructional activity, students read a fable, answer the provided thinking skills questions, and write their own fable.

During World War II propaganda was as important to the war effort as the soldiers in the field. Scholars consider how the government communicated messages of patriotism with propaganda by examining pieces from World War II. Then, they...

Eighth graders study and analyze the elements of color by creating an personalized color wheel. Emphasis is placed on constructive criticism of student work by others for assessment. Students create short poems for their color wheel...

Students create three dimensional shapes using concept maps. In this geometry lesson, students investigate the impact of mental schemas on humans. They collect data on this topic and plot their data on a coordinate plane.

Young scholars create web pages by using Microsoft FrontPage and HTML with Microsoft Notepad, and use a web-based template found on the Internet to create web sites for non-profit organizations or businesses with which students are...

Teach the five different types of media with the first of three in a media literacy unit. Learners create and propose a final newspaper project, which must address information covered throughout the unit. 

This is a wonderful exercise for learners to apply their critical thinking skills along with their knowledge of quadratic functions and parabolas. Young mathematicians investigate a real-world scenario about the height a baseball reaches...

The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...

Women gained the right to vote in the twentieth century, but the fight for equality dates back centuries. Using an invitation to an 1874 suffrage convention, eager historians consider the motivations behind supporters of the suffrage...

Your class may believe that geometry is a trial, but they don't know how right they are. A thorough math lesson combines the laws of logic with the laws of geometry. As high schoolers review the work of historical mathematicians and...

A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...

Right triangles from 2,000 years ago? Learners investigate different right triangles found in the earthworks of the Hopewell people, a Native American culture that populated the United States from 200BC to AD 500. Learners apply concepts...

Learners run a computer simulation. They collect data as they work and use the data to create an annual report for their business. Several different simulations could be used for this project. It is desirable for students to do this...

Identify the length, width, and height of prisms. Critical thinkers calculate the volume of prisms given small amounts of information. They derive the formula given the length, width and height.