Ninth graders illustrate words from their vocabulary logs. In this vocabulary instructional activity, 9th graders illustrate their vocabulary words and use them in a sentence. Students are encouraged to read their sentences aloud to the...

Students listen to books on wind energy for background knowledge. For this wind logic puzzle, students use knowledge of wind energy and critical thinking skills to complete logic puzzles. Students may work in groups or individually as...

Learners explore whales. In this animal adaptation and whale lesson, students access prior knowledge about whales from previous lessons, then use background knowledge to predict the eating strategies of a baleen whale and a toothed...

Young scholars experiment with milk to understand the importance of pasteurization. In this pasteurization instructional activity, students learn background knowledge about bacteria in milk and the process of pasteurization. They...

Students identify various shells. In this oceanography lesson, students create a KWL chart to activate background knowledge on shells. Students read the book Ocean Day and learn about waves, tides, and the seashells that can...

Sixth graders explore the meanings of symbols. After creating a symbolism match game, they work on analyzing symbolism in their reading. Next, they read text and record concepts that are being repeated through the story, and use their...

Practice using parallel structure. Learners correct faulty parallelism in an extensive list of sentences. The faults in each sentence are sometimes subtle, so scholars will need solid background knowledge on parallel structure to catch...

The Bard? Folly? Tragedy? How familiar are your pupils with terms associated with Romeo and Juliet? Class members rate their knowledge of a list of words and then share what they know with the class. The worksheet, discussion questions,...

What do you know about American Indians? Upper graders compose an informational essay based on the research they conduct. They choose a Native American group to study and, using the provided list of web links, gather information and...

Students examine the use of imagery to hold a reader's attention in an excerpt from John Deever's memoir "Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge". They are introduced to background information about the Ukraine and create original imagery.

Investigate the current financial market and have your class explore savings, borrowing, financial markets, mutual funds, and the stock market. This four-part lesson is designed to help students become knowledgeable and informed consumers.

Do you think the lab smells like rotten eggs? Sorry to hear about your sulfering. A set of five experiments covers many different topics including seasons, gravity, food, precipitation, and photosynthesis. Though not presented as a...

Music has been said to effect short term memory. Learners test out this hypothesis, graphing how knowledge retention in a biology classroom changes when music is played in the background. In the end, a better appreciation of the dynamics...

How does background and experience influence one's point of view? Dwight Okita's famous poem about the Japanese internment is the text used to explore this essential question. Class members study primary documents to gain the necessary...

What? A long-lost poem from Robert Frost? Introduce your class to a poem recently found and published from Robert Frost's personal collection. The lesson includes background information on the author, the poem itself, and a list of...

How can you encourage pupils to demonstrate creativity while still meeting the objective of applying technical knowledge? This activity is your answer! Scientists will create an imaginary creature and prepare a graphic organizer with...

There is a 100 percent chance this resource will help pupils connect percents to financial literacy. Young mathematicians use their knowledge of percents to find markups and markdowns in financial situations in the seventh segment in a...

The intent of this unit is to demonstrate some of the traditional arts of the Middle East. Extensive background information on the religion, culture, and nature of Islamic art found throughout the Middle East is provided. Each of the...

Groundwater is an essential natural resource, not to mention a fascinating topic to study. Here is a series of twelve amazing lessons on the water source and how we use it in our daily lives. Concepts require higher math and physics...

What a wonderful way to explore wind power! Through this instructional activity, learners get a background in the history of wind power, create their own wind turbine, and the test their designs. This is a terrific way to tie scientific...

Readers of Solomon Northup's brutally frank slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave examine passages that support the argument that slavery "undermined and corrupted" the institution of marriage. Background information is...

You don't have to be a scientist or even out of high school to contribute to scientific research. In the 12th lesson in the series of 21, scholars use this opportunity to add to the growing body of scientific knowledge and consider the...

This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...