Here's a collection of unit plans for middle school musicians. Topics include the mbira, opera, rhythm and culture, music in Africa, music in the movies, music theory and notation, blues and jazz, and the ocarina. Definitely worth a look.

Middle schoolers will sing the praises of this music program. The resource, designed as an overview for music instructors, is loaded with ideas, activities, and links. Not a sour note in the packet. 

Ever think about combining the art forms of painting and embroidery? Then this art lesson is right up your alley! Given a piece of white cloth, young artists first create a grayscale painting and then highlight certain...

Roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty with this elementary and middle school compost lesson. All you need is a large plastic container, a couple old newspapers, some organic waste, and a few hundred worms and you're ready...

"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this lesson allows children to invent their own...

Pointillism is the focus of a lesson that asks young artists to compare Vance Kirkland's painting style with aboriginal dot art, and then to produce their own piece of dot art.

One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...

Introduce young thespians to all aspects of the theater. A syllabus for a one-semester drama course provides lessons that take learners from the history of drama to the many facets of play production.

Everything old is new again. The Los Angeles J. Paul Getty Museum presents a lesson plan on how Greek black-figure painting influenced eighteenth century Neoclassical artists. After looking at a series of examples, class members create...

Can art play tricks on your eyes, and can a still painting really appear to vibrate? The second lesson in a four-part series discusses the way our beautiful brains translate visual images. It highlights the style of optical art and...

After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...

Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language...

Middle schoolers are encourage to try their hand at traditional Oceania tapa art by crafting their own cloth using brown paper bags. Included in the resource is background information about the cultures of Oceania and their art. 

There's no need to run around trying to plan a unit for the book Maniac Magee, the work has already been done for you. Through a series of whole class, small group, and independent lessons and activities, students practice...

Aspiring journalists learn about media literacy, journalism, and the press. Units come complete with handouts, assignment rubrics, notes, and extension suggestions. Each unit also comes with a list of vocabulary words and learning...

Learners explore potential learning, earning, and living goals that align with their personal goals and interests in a comprehensive unit that includes complete lesson plans, interactive notebooks, worksheets, overheads, rubrics,...

Turn simple pencil sketches into colorful engravings. After first creating hand-drawn pictures, young artists then trace over them will ball point pens, etching the images into cold press illustration boards, before rubbing...

One of the great things about technology is that it lets youngsters visit museums that may be many miles away. With this resource, middle and high schoolers can visit the portrait galleries at J. Paul Getty Museum, located in Los...

Learning stations aren't just for little ones; middle schoolers can have fun while learning about the main character in the book, The Kid in the Red Jacket. Outlined are three different activities that are completed as each small...

Connect science, math, and art for a true interdisciplinary lesson! Learners explore simple machines in art. Through analysis with a physics app, they identify positions of kinetic and potential energy and make conclusions about work.

Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...

Through this set of three lessons about Ellis Island, class members will learn about why immigrants came to the United States, find out about the difficulties that went along with coming to America, become familiar with the immigration...

Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...

It's every health and science teacher's favorite subject to cover: the reproductive system. This comprehensive lesson introduces adolescents to the reproductive anatomy of men and women with the help of a series of diagrams,...