Traditions, like the times, are a-changin'. Middle schoolers conduct a close reading of Richard Blanco's poem "América" and consider how Blanco's family approached his suggestions for adopting a new approach to their Thanksgiving meal.

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...

Get ready to spark interest in electromagnetic radiation! This resource shares nine indelible inquiries that you can choose from to ignite understanding of spectra and the relationship between light and heat. The assessments that follow...

This is a simple but effective introduction to democracy. It requires the class to generate working definitions of key terms (provided) and to determine the degree of democracy in various geographic locations today. After they conduct...

Teach your special education students about cause and effect with this SMART board activity. After analyzing real-life examples of cause and effect -'What happens when you eat too much? What happens when you don't get enough sleep?"-...

How to meet the needs of people around the globe—a question many ask. The fifth in a six-part series about human population and its effects on the globe, the eye-opening lesson includes discussion, a homework activity, and an in-class...

Gardening is fun, no matter what you're growing. A reading comprehension activity encourages learners to compare and contrast two gardens that grow different items.

Students receive an overview of critical thinking techniques. They break into small groups and practice reasoning through questions, identifying, presenting and justifying their answers.

Learners research the Comox Band's system of government and report on what kind of government they think would work for them. In this government lesson plan, students decide between a hereditary system or an election system of...

What a cool worksheet! The full set of our Constitutional Amendments are included in this resource which helps learners know how to answer 10 questions intended to build an understanding of constitutional and unconstitutional actions.

Explore the difference between man-made and natural features in nature with your students. While not an in-depth look at this topic, it would be a way to introduce this communities in your classroom.  

The presentation kicks-off with a challenge for upper graders to come up with a peace plan to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. The causes and effects of the conflict are presented only briefly. Refugees and terrorism are two example...

Students explore persuasive writing in advertisements. In this advertisements lesson, students evaluate tobacco advertisements for persuasion techniques. Students then create a counter advertisement against smoking.

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members...

Inform your class about the origins of photography with this short passage and accompanying questions. After reading a short informational text, leaners answer 3 questions about the content of the text. This resource could be used in a...

Examine human resilience across two texts with a detailed unit. Over the course of a week, learners will conduct a close reading of excerpts from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar. The resource includes clear procedures for reading and...

Got a rainy day and need a few fabulous activities to foster creative thinking skills? The class works to understand the three types of human power; direct, indirect, and stored. They do this by first creating a parade float like the...

Help your class examine humanity's unpredictable nature through "Life Steps Almost Straight." Learners read various works from philosophers such as Viktor Frankl, The Buddha, and Nietzsche to gather textual evidence and explain their...

Using a unique approach, this resource provides clues and a logic problem for learners to solve in order to have them draw conclusions. This would be an interesting and fun way for students to practice reading, and critical thinking skills.

Students explore popular music in its historical context. For this music lesson, students examine the lyrics, musicical arrangement, and video imagery of selected songs to interpret the messages and themes of the songs.

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man tops the reading list for the AP Literature exam. A five-page guide offers instructors and book clubs discussion questions designed to get readers to think deeply and critically about the inspection of...

Young scholars examine the legitimacy of advertisers' claims about products using science and critical thinking. They view and discuss ads, read a case study, and conduct an experiment to demonstrate whether a product lives up to its...

Music, art, and poetry coalesce in a single exhibition, and in a single lesson plan. Critical thinkers analyze the Fluxus art movement as it's seen in the work of Paul Chan's 7 Lights. They consider the use of poetry and music in...

This worksheet provides a wonderful scaffold for those learning how to analyze art in a critical and thoughtful way. It describes what art historians do, then requires learners to view and analyze one of the listed works. Twelve...