Great minds think aloud! Pupils participate in the Fishbowl protocol, discussing their opinions about the Mary River mine proposal. As they share their thoughts, peers provide feedback about their thesis and supporting ideas.  

Encourage young writers to edit text based on conventions. After reviewing the conventions, fourth graders watch a teacher demonstrate how to revise a paragraph for correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, or dialogue. Then, pairs...

Day 5 of the puberty/adolescence lessons is about touch: sexual, affectionate, nurturing, and violent. There are many activities and scenarios to write about, talk about, and discuss. The main idea behind this topic on decision making is...

Using Google SketchUp, learners draw a model of their bedroom. They begin by measuring the dimensions of their bedroom, inputting this information into the software program, and calculating perimeter and area. This is an interesting and...

Even though this lesson is just a basic way to review verb usage, it takes a novel approach. First, pupils identify verbs that they use too often in their writing, and then they create a Wordle. Wordle is a website that provides graphic...

Cyber bullying is an important topic to address with middleschoolers. Here, learners take an active role in identifying and discussing this issue. Reviewing this resource with your class will help to equip them to be a part of the...

Have your learners review what they know about camouflage using this lesson. Learners fill out a graphic organizer listing what they know or have questions about. This could be enhanced with the addition of a writing assignment in which...

Class members publish a letter describing their Virtual Field Trip incorporating data from previously developed charts, graphs, and data tables. The final lesson in a series devoted to collecting information and publishing data.

Direct your class’s attention to the elements that make their community unique. After examining sample travel brochures, groups select something from their community to use as the subject, and then research, create, and publish a...

What cultural concepts must readers understand in order to connect to Things Fall Apart? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe’s novel, class members research Nigeria and the Igbo culture to create a collaborative, web-based,...

Have your class learn the essentials of public speaking. They compose a speech for their fifth grade celebration using iPods and presentation software. This would be a great end of the year activity for any grade level.