What are some of life's most tried-and-true lessons? Pupils listen to examples from the book Live and Learn and Pass It On by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. They write down their own life lessons to later compile in a class booklet. As...

Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...

What does the government have to do with getting a driver's license? Including the calorie count for a meal on a restaurant menu? By discussing these kinds of questions and researching how concepts behind federal, state, and local...

Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic...

Got milk? Only two cultures have had it long enough to develop the tolerance of lactose as an adult. Learn how the responsible genes evolved along with the cultures that have been consuming milk. This rich film is supplied with a few...

Fun St. Patrick's Day facts abound. The lesson plan tells the story of the most famous icons associated with the holiday: the shamrock, snakes, Celtic religion, Irish history, and St. Patrick himself. 

Create a cross-curricular learning experience based on the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat with this collection of learning activities. Starting with a class reading of the story, children go on to learn about the...

Here's a topic classes can really dig—the fossil record. Use the well-organized and thoughtful road map to take eighth graders back in time to unearth the answer. Learn how our climate has changed, and how organisms have...

There's nothing like the Wild Wild West! Scholars investigate the American Frontier through the eyes of Kit Carson. To complete the first installment of a three-part series, they use presentations, a short video, and primary and...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Rich in images and information, a teacher's guide to the traditions of Lunar New Year's celebrations in various cultures addresses celebrations of Buddhism and Daoism. It includes background information about the origins of the...

How diverse are living things? Individuals explore topics such as cells as the foundation for life, cell division and genetics, molecular biology, and animal reproduction using an open resource Biology textbook. They learn key terms...

Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.

Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his...

Packed with a wealth of information about African-Americans of note, this packet, and the links it provides to other resources, could be used as is for a month-long study of Black history or to supplement lessons already in your curriculum.

Young scientists find out what makes amphibians such unique and interesting animals in this simple life science lesson. After looking at pictures and discussing the characteristics of amphibians, learners complete a series...

Making banana pudding despite misplacing your one-cup measuring cup is easy as long as you can find your quarter-cup measuring cup! This real-life activity provides a good opportunity for learners to interpret division of a whole...

Tumbling tumbleweeds! Scholars work with video clips, primary and secondary documents, and song lyrics to uncover life in the Old West. They examine song's lyrics to uncover myths told in the 1930s about life in the Wild West. 

Every culture has a set of social skills one must learn to establish and maintain relationships. Some of these skills are particular to a culture and some are universal. Class members practice using appropriate language,...

Young geometers become pool sharks in this analysis of the angles and lengths of a trick shot. By using angles of incidence and reflection to develop similar triangles, learners plan the exact placement of balls to make the shot....

Here learners get to flex some serious algebraic muscles through an investigation of logistic growth. The properties of the constant terms in the logistic growth formula are unraveled in a short but content-dense...

Some say cooking is an art—and a science! Scholars scope out the savory subject of molecular gastronomy with a series of related activities. The teacher's guide contains printable worksheets and helpful tips for implementing the lesson.

What does the French and Indian War have to do with the American Revolution? Following the war, Britain issued the Proclamation of 1763 in an attempt to limit the colonists' western expansion. To understand how the proclamation, the...

Imagine what it was like to be a slave in the United States in 1845. Eighth graders are given an opportunity to experience life from the point of view of Frederick Douglass as they read and discuss an annotated passage from Narrative of...