William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...

Everyone has a different point of view, even when it comes to the enormity of the universe. Two separate text passages explain the scope of a galaxy, prompting young readers to write an essay about each author's argument and how the...

Should the work of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences be funded by the government? Middle schoolers weigh in on the status of federal funding for programs that protect the environment with three text passages...

Who are you? It's a simple question, but younger learners have the opportunity to express their complex identities by making artifacts that represent parts of their identities. After engaging in the activity, they share who they are with...

Here is a great resource for vetting your next project-based learning idea and considering all the major components that you should incorporate. 

Everyone deserves to read a great book! Here, pupils write a persuasive letter to the school's librarian detailing their favorite story and why it should be found on the shelves. Class members' persuasive reading passages are shared with...

Whether you are planning on using Of Mice and Men for whole-class reading or as a selection for literature circles; whether you are new to John Steinbeck's novel, or it has long been a part of your curriculum, you...

Surrealistic painters like Marc Chagall and Wendy Rouse show viewers an expansive world in a small area. Young artists have a opportunity to create their own surrealistic paintings in response to a study of works by Chagall and Rouse.

A performance task challenges scholars to read an informational text then respond with an explanatory essay. The exam begins with an independent reading of Seeing Eye to Eye by Leslie Hall. A second reading follows with the...

Apply area concepts to help farmers and settle county disputes. Scholars use a given diagram and information about an insecticide spraying campaign to determine the monetary benefit to farmers. They then decide which of two counties has...

Let's paint the town equal parts yellow and violet, or simply brown. Pupils calculate the amount of blue and red paint needed to make six quarts of brown paint. Individuals then explain how they determined the percentage of the brown...

Introduce high schoolers interested in animation programming to fundamental programming concepts so that they can plan and write simple programs.

Scholars find a pattern from a geometric sequence and write the formula for extending it. The worksheet includes a table to complete plus four analysis questions. It concludes with instructional implications for the teacher.

Turn young mathematicians into landscape architects with this four-lesson series on area and perimeter. Beginning with a basic introduction to calculating perimeter and area using non-standard units of measurement, this...

There's nothing fishy about this resource. In the task, learners use given information about fish prices to create a scatter plot and line of best-fit. Later, they use the information to answer questions about the profit from fish sales.

Math is all about finding patterns. In this ask, scholars first investigate a sequence formed by squaring the sum of the digits in the previous term. They go on to investigate a second sequence and write an algebraic expression for this...

Grocery managers and chefs sure use lots of math. Scholars first use ratios and unit rates to determine a price for a can of corn. Once individuals have the pricing, they determine the amount of ingredients necessary to make brownies...

Goldilocks and the Three Numbers? The pre-activity task involves finding digits to complete decimals or fractions that satisfy given constraints, such as finding a fractions that is in between two others. The main task involves a similar...

Maximize a profit with an understanding of geometric dimension. A real-world task challenges learners to design a pattern using three different brick shapes. The bricks are dedicated with a different donation for each shape, so part of...

How many ways can you stock a shelf? It's probably more than you think! Young scholars use data in a frequency table to determine how many ways to stock a shelf given a specific constraint for types of groups. They then repeat the task...

Ancient Rome is the topic of this creative lesson plan. Students research Ancient Rome using the links provided, and then create a travel brochure using Microsoft Publisher. What a fun way to review facts on Ancient Rome!

Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written descriptions...

Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their...

The choice is simple: create a PowerPoint presentation, write a book, or invent a compound machine. Whichever project your young scientists choose, they will be engaged in creatively demonstrating their knowledge of simple...