Wild feral hogs and an alligator wrestler are just two interesting aspects of Kathi Appelt's novel The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp. Using the novel study, scholars search the text for examples of the eight parts of...

A car crash, a murder, a hurricane. With such a plot, why is the title of Sheila Turnage's novel Three Times Lucky? After making a prediction about the plot, scholars use the novel study to research and record facts...

Tiger, puma, lynx, jackal: which does not belong? Using the novel study for The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo, scholars complete a similar vocabulary exercise. Next, they write sentences explaining why their chosen words don't fit. They...

Should immigrants who illegally reside in the United States be eligible for citizenship? With information about undocumented immigrant population estimates, sanctuary cities, and unaccompanied immigrant children, pupils consider the pros...

Does homework improve student achievement, or does it increase stress? Scholars use the included debate topics website to prepare for a class discussion or debate about whether homework is advantageous. After reading a brief background...

Everyone leaves an impression on the world—some more than others. An interactive lesson has learners analyze their lifestyles and the impact they have on the environment. The analysis includes travel, food, and energy categories and ends...

What media literacy skills do people need to evaluate a news source? Scholars listen to and discuss an NPR story about how fake headlines often dupe young people and adults alike. Next, they study news stories, using a fact-checking...

Scholars read Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal before writing essays to analyze the use of rhetorical devices in the text. Essay writing begins by underlining key words in the writing prompt and discussing the prompt with...

Try to keep the pipe short. Learners investigate where to place a water pump to use the least amount of pipe. Scholars use their knowledge of reflections and congruent triangles to find the best location for the water pump. Finally, they...

Primary and secondary sources are the focus of a lesson that showcases the important role women played during the American Revolution. Pairs review sources and discuss their findings. A close-reading of an informational text leads the...

Let the class' knowledge of geometry flow like water in an aqueduct. Future mathematicians research ancient Roman aqueducts and consider the geometric concepts necessary in their construction. They then use GeoGebra to create models of...

Choose a side! Pupils watch and read several nonfiction resources about zoos. After gathering their research, they choose a side either for or against closing zoos. Scholars complete KWL charts, anticipation guides, flow charts, and...

Make up a story about a linear graph. Scholars identify key features of a linear graph, such as intercepts, domain and range, and slope. They then create a word problem that could be represented by the graphed line.

Who can afford the computer required to land a summer job? Pupils work in pairs to solve problems related to finding the number of hours needed to work to purchase a given item. Individuals then work on a performance-based assessment to...

Build up a bag of green. Pupils determine the number of green Skittles in a snack bag and come up with a way to determine how many snack bags it would take to create one bag of only green Skittles. Classmates share their methods and...

Ponder the problem of pizza prices. Pupils use provided information about two different pricing schedules for pizza. They create tables of values and functions to represent the pricing schemes, consider domain restrictions, and identify...

Don't keep the resource at an arm's length. A hands-on activity has scholars measure the heights, arm spans, hair lengths, and foot lengths of their classmates. They create scatter plots to determine if there is a correlation between...

Think inside the box. Working in small groups, pupils design a study to answer comparing two data sets. Team members collect data and construct box-and-whisker plots and analyze them to prove or disprove their hypothesis. They develop...

Let's go for a run. Small groups determine a way to collect data to determine the time it would take to run a set of stairs. After creating a plan, teams collect data and graph their results, calculating the equation of best fit and...

It's time to take a survey. After looking at an example of a survey on lunch preferences, groups design their own surveys. They consider the sample size and sampling technique, then conduct the surveys. As a final activity, they create...

Stay up to date on current events as well as how the class views the issues. A performance task has scholars select a current event of interest and design a class survey on the topic. They conduct the survey, analyze, and report the...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Fifth graders prove this with help from three lessons that examine how ancient cultures used their needs to drive innovations. In lesson one, pupils identify main ideas and supporting...

Scholars boost their knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement with a lesson that challenges writers, readers, and historians to analyze primary sources and caption their observations. By way of reading, writing, discussion, independently,...