Eighth graders work together to come up with a topic for a service learning project that engages all members of the school community. Groups then develop a dialogue and visit other classrooms to encourage other students to participate....

Inspire kindness in and out of school with a lesson that challenges scholars to perform 100 acts of kindness during the time between Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Valentine's day. Leading up to a celebration of friendship, learners...

Take your 4-H teens to the next level! Help them learn how to be an active part of their communities with a teen leadership development unit. Individuals, together with school and community partners, create and execute a service-driven...

This kind of stuff knocks me out, it really does. I mean, five fun project ideas for The Catcher In the Rye? When you're done reading all this stuff you'll wish the author was a terrific friend of yours.

Scholars get to know famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, as an artist as well as a person. After reading personal letters and analyzing paintings, participants paint two self-portraits that represent their personality. Then, write a...

Four projects enable class members to show what they have learned about ways they can stand up for democracy. to begin, individuals review their identity charts and craft a mask that represents themselves. Next, groups create a short,...

Check and double-check! That's the big idea as teams prepare to launch their Service Learning Projects. They review their action plans, materials lists, timelines, schedules, and memos, brainstorm last-minute project needs, issues, and...

Explore the art and cultural significance of henna hand designs. You engage the class by providing background information that describes who, what, where, when, and why henna designs are used. Then, the class uses the included templates...

Explore self and social construction with a hands-on art project. After studying and discussing bullying and other social experiences, individuals create three paper dolls that represent specific social constructions. Included here is a...

To instill the importance of a positive classroom community small groups create a collage out of magazine clippings that highlight three characteristics of self-awareness. Written examples accompany the finished product. Groups turn in...

Here is an activity that merges technology with life skills as individuals use Google Earth to explore the differences between coordinate systems and map projections. The self-guided instructional activity is the fourth segment in a...

After completing the first five lessons from the series, scholars assemble their quilt pieces to create a family history quilt. They then rate their experience of learning about their families by conducting interviews, creating family...

Whether you're a self-starting entrepreneur or a cubicle commando, finding a career that suits your personality is a must! The second lesson in a series of five career and college lesson plans focuses on work ethic and values. Learners...

"What are feelings?" and "Why are feelings important to understand?" are the essential questions of a lesson that boosts self-awareness. Scholars discuss the four basic emotions—happy, sad, scared, and mad—in preparation...

As an exercise in self-awareness and improvement, class members create a Conflict Shield listing 12 skills they believe are the most useful in conflict resolution. They then color the ones they have mastered while leaving uncolored those...

Three activities stem from one hands-on project designed to explore character traits. Scholars create an action figure that reflects their personality to teach others about themselves and role play conversational skills.

Leave no student behind with this differentiated geometry unit on perimeter and area. Over the course of five lessons, young mathematicians explore these foundational concepts through a series of self-selected hands-on activities and...

As a summative assessment of the Health Smart unit, middle schoolers create a five-chapter autobiography demonstrating what they have learned about self and social-awareness, decision-making, and communication skills.

As an end of the Health Smart unit self-assessment, scholars design a cup with a logo and motto that reveals their emotional intelligence. To prepare, individuals complete a worksheet describing the seven Emotional Intelligence Quotients...

As Don Quixote asserts in the musical Man of La Mancha, it is possible to achieve your dreams. For the last lesson plan in the Getting Started Module, participants learn the importance of having dreams and setting goals that...

Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.

Encourage scholars to become a productive community member with a kite-themed instructional activity. Following a review and discussion, learners complete a Venn diagram that displays the connection between character traits needed to...

Build a classroom community with a lesson that uses character clovers to examine scholars' roles. Following a whole-class discussion, participants list four roles they play and accompany it with the character traits that go along with...

If you are considering adding or expanding a unit on utopian and dystopian literature you simply must check out this fabulous resource. Packed with plans, activities, project-based and 21st century learning opportunities, the unit...