By studying Benjamin Franklin's work as a printer, your class will have a fantastic opportunity to learn about the economic concepts of entrepreneurship, human capital, and investment. 

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Before loaning a friend money, what factors would you consider and why would you lend it? Your young economists will face questions like these in a lesson on banking, profit, risk, and reward, which includes the reading of the book...

Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...

Don't let the length scare you away. An eBook version of David Copperfield contains all 1,307 pages of the story. This digital version of the classic coming-of-age novel follows the title character from childhood into adulthood,...

Happy teens are healthy teens! Pupils embark on a self-reflective journey using a series of assessments and discussions to promote personal development. The lessons focus on identifying low and high self-esteem attitudes and behaviors,...

It's time to write! First, lead your emerging writers in a power writing activity. It takes six minutes and focuses on creative brainstorming. The class is given two words (duck and apple are suggested, but alter the words for different...

Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...

Learners explore how to become better observers, demonstrate point of view as a literary and human function, and learn an important lesson about how to explain differing perspectives in the same situation.

Demonstrate the complexities of running a government with this group activity. Young politicians are arranged into small groups and become leaders of a hypothetical country (outline of country provided). Groups must outline 6 (listed)...

Students simulate the legislative process of law-making by assuming different roles. They investigate the process by writing a bill on any subject of his/her own choice

Map the classroom with your kids to help them understand how maps work and how to read them. The lesson starts off with a story about animals living and moving around the globe, and then kids create maps of their classroom to show how...

As the culminating activity in a unit study of science fiction, young writers demonstrate their understanding of the genre by producing their own graphic novel. After deciding on the main elements of their story, individuals use a comic...

Students, in groups, explore the Fourth Amendment and their right to privacy. They explore reasonable search/seizure, sanctity of a man's house, right to privacy.

Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...

Students examine variety of written pieces of quality fiction, discuss what different story elements are present and how those elements make stories as effective as they are, and create a class story.

Students consider historic events or movements that may be viewed as controversial by different groups of people, and then create proposals supporting the inclusion of specific artifacts to be displayed in related museum exhibit

Fourth graders read the autobiography "Night" and discuss why Elie Wiesel was ing to relive this time of his life through writing. They write an essay covering Elie Wiesel's purpose for writing the book.

Studentsexamine cultural values in literature, identify the cultural assumptions, prejudices, and purposes of authors and translators, use historical perspective to determine if the values and lifestyle depicted apply to contemporary...

Third graders read and appreciate the writing of great American Authors. use technology to garner information about famous American authors. They have selected sites to explore. The information they save be used for a future Powerpoint.

Students read a poem and use the TPCASTT strategy for analysis. In this poetry analysis lesson plan, students journal about their future goals and read John Updike's "Ex-Basketball Player." Students discuss the purpose of the poem and...

Students compose a statement of basic rights to protect their own health and well-being. They research the history, power and purpose of unions in the United States before creating their own union to promote the interests of students.

Students defend contrasting perspectives concerning the purpose of medicine and the issues surrounding euthanasia.