Third graders first begin the activity by reading Vera B. Williams Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea. This book is a collection of postcards that Stringbean Coe and his brother Fred write to their family while they were on a summer...

Blend art, adolescent snacking habits, and math to create new cereal boxes. Secondary learners review scale drawings. They use this information to construct cereal boxes to scale and will compare their creation to the original product to...

Research guidelines for correct usage, then explore how creative writers employ punctuation as an essential tool in their craft. Secondary classes create board games to teach elementary school students how to properly punctuate. From the...

Combine math, creative writing, and leprechauns in a fun St. Patrick's Day activity! Using a bag of gold coins and marshmallows, kids write a math story about a leprechaun that includes a multi-step equation to solve.

Address any kind of math concept or problem with a series of problem-solving strategies. Over 12 days of different activities and increasing skills, learners practice different ways to solve problems, check their answers, and reflect...

Using geoboards, computer programs, and hands-on manipulative materials, elementary schoolers engage in a study of two and three-dimensional geometric shapes. This lesson is chock full of good teaching ideas on the subject, and the...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

Use a fun and creative activity to introduce junior high learners to how writing changes for different audiences and purposes. The activity begins with a reading by the instructor where teens visualize a food fight in the cafeteria. In...

Life may not be fair but working conditions should be. Scholars research working conditions at Wegmans by studying the company website. They complete a working conditions anchor chart and discuss their findings in a think-pair-share...

Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...

Here is a good lesson on butterflies and caterpillars. After listening to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, young learners put cards that depict the life cycle of a butterfly in the correct order. There are some good ideas for center...

Creative problem solving is fun and helps kids conceptualize content. They use grid paper, manilla paper, and markers to cut, draw, and show given double-digit numbers as many ways as they can.

A continuation of the previous lesson, which is part of a larger group of lessons on human rights (see additional materials). Here, in Lesson 7, your class will explore more articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After...

Reading is fantastic, especially when it's reading about bullfrogs. Kids get cozy with predator/prey relationships as they hone their information-reading skills. They start out as they read a portion of the text aloud, then they...

Even kids in grades two through five can start thinking about the part they play in sustaining endangered species.  They consider what endangered species are, how they become endangered, and what conservationists can do to help. In...

How does one go about making a decision? Go with the flow, flip a coin? How about rock, paper, scissors? What things should be taken into consideration when making a decision? Does one need to consider benefits and/or consequences? A...

Show your class that being active is more fun than being a couch potato! A fun tag game teachers learners about making healthy eating choices. Over 125,000 teachers have reviewed this activity, and many have written comments about how...

Show youngsters how objects can tell a story! Here your class will learn about Cuban salsa dancer Celia Cruz by analyzing pictures of her dress, her shoes, and her marriage certificate. After describing Cruz's items and imagining what...

What are the pros and cons to having either permeable or impermeable materials for building? How do they affect the environment? Use this role-play and the extension activities to get your environmental scientists thinking about the...

Adapt is what an animal does to ensure it will survive in a specific environment; maybe it's more complicated than that. Your young animal experts can view this handy presentation to better understand animal adaptations and also complete...