Every family has a different story to share. Your learning community examines the checklist that applies to the lesson, share some of the teacher's family photos, and look for clues in their own family photos in order to complete a...

Is your opinion significant? Help your class discover the influence their opinions hold and encourage them to make a positive change in their community. To start, they get in teams and brainstorm why their school should have more healthy...

How do core values and identity contribute to citizenship and leadership? After engaging in a series of activities that explore core values, writers craft a children’s story that focuses on one value. They arrange to read their story to...

Working in groups, class members develop survey questions to be used on campus to identify groups that feel excluded or disrespected. After assembling the questions and conducting the survey, class members analyze their findings and...

Young scholars interpret and name the vocabulary termed acted out by the mime. In this science/language arts/physical education instructional activity, students are given a set of vocabulary terms to discuss within their group. Next,...

Is your city's history a mystery to your class? Ever wonder if your county contains a bounty of folklore? Young computer scientists incorporate technology with time-honored tales during a project with both individual and group...

Students investigate what schools and communities can do to be prepared for terrorist attacks, review school's disaster plan, research types of possible attacks, prepare infographic that makes facts clear, and write news article...

Everyone is a writer! Youngsters compose an original piece of writing. In this writing lesson plan, they come up with their own idea for a piece of writing, revise it, and then publish it with illustrations. This lesson plan includes...

Learners view image of Bridgeport Community Protest, discuss event depicted in image, and demonstrate knowledge of protest by organizing and carrying out an actual protest or demonstration.

Students identify and assess the impact of unions on workers, management, and community. They listen to radio stories, students are asked what can they conclude about the impact of unions on the lives of the workers, management, and...

Reciting poetry is a great way to build oral language skills and build classroom community. Pupils look at the text elements of poetry and choose a poem to read aloud. They focus on rhythm, fluency, and expression. This is a great way to...

Enter the fantastical world of  "Dungeons and Dragons" and other role-playing games with this instructional activity from The New York Times. Middle schoolers create the outline for a role-playing game based on their own...

After reading Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House on Mango Street, class members design a canned food drive, create advertisements for the drive, and use digital cameras to document the entire process. In addition, pupils journal their...

Demonstrate how to cite information from Internet sources without plagiarizing. If your class is working on an Internet research paper, and you have observed learners cutting and pasting directly from the Internet, the activities and...

How do you decide what sources are credible when researching online? Evaluate sources with a focus on researching health issues. After brainstorming common health concerns and how they would try to diagnose these problems, class members...

Discover, document and share the knowledge of family food and ways special occasions are treated. Your class will explore the context in which food traditions are created and adapted in their families and communities. Each student also...

Get a glimpse of Anne Frank's years in hiding with this activity, which introduces The Diary of Anne Frank. Readers complete a journal entry about how they would keep themselves occupied if they were forced into hiding (without personal...

How are the reactions between American and European consumers different when it comes to genetically modified foods? Use the New York Times article "Consumers in Europe Resist Gene-Altered Foods" to inform your middle schoolers...

Learners study the growth of the Phoenix area using geographic images, maps, tables, and graphs. They study the idea of community.

Direct your class’s attention to the elements that make their community unique. After examining sample travel brochures, groups select something from their community to use as the subject, and then research, create, and publish a...

Middle schoolers learn how to protect themselves from risky behaviors with a activity that has them role play several scenarios and demonstrate ways that they might do to stay safe. Class members then use what they have learned to build...

Where did I come from? How did I come to be in this classroom? Using curriculum from Kidspiration, class members research the homelands of their ancestors, as well as the journeys that began from many parts of the world and ended with...

Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...

Middle schoolers work with themes in this lesson, which is based on Fox by Margaret Wild. Because the book has multiple themes, it is a great way to transition into exploring literary analysis and writing stories. A Six Trait writing...