"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

The Renaissance is the theme of a five-week unit designed to boost reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and expository writing skills. Scholars listen to and discuss daily readings and engage in skills practice activities...

Engage your class in a class discussion examining and defend different sides of an argument about whether the Environmental Protection Agency should have the legal authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. They will have to...

Focusing on the differences between traditional Hopi government and the Hopi Tribal Council, this resource is a good addition to your unit on Native American culture. Learners conduct Internet research, analyze primary source photos, and...

Mars used to have liquid water, can you make it come back? Use the lesson and simulation to understand why Mars lost its magnetic field, why atmosphere is important, and what gravity has to do with it. This is the third lesson...

Facing Risk is a powerful film that urges journalists who are committed to reporting from the world's hotspots to engage in difficult but essential conversations with their families before leaving on assignment. Interviews with...

Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the classroom....

The engaging story Rain School is further explored in the third lesson of a larger unit that explicitly teaches close reading skills by answering questions whose answers can only be found inside the text. Through teacher...

For this ninth lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit, close reading skills are used independently to find the gist of the story That Book Woman. Rereading for important details is the targeted skill to unlock a deeper...

Fourth graders who are studying life in colonial America engage in an instructional activity that has them create a "Help Wanted" ad that would have been written by a master craftsperson from back in the day. They utilize a graphic...

In instructional activity 13 of this unit on colonial trade, young researchers learn about apprentices as they prepare to write help-wanted ads for the specific trade they have been researching. To begin, the class listens closely as the...

The March on Washington takes center stage in the discussion of chapter 15 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X; however, class members are presented with an entirely different view of the march from the ones they have previously studied....

"A poster exhibit to encourage dialogue, engagement, respect, and participation in our communities..." This is a set of attractive posters that reference influential historical figures, such as George Washington and Albert Einstein, and...

Every living creature can leave a fossil record, yet most fossils belong to extinct organisms rather than ones currently living. Scholars learn about dating rock layers, fossils, and the environment of the past. Pupils understand that...

Hot off the presses, this collection of thermal energy activities, lessons, and printables is sure to amaze. Demonstrate how thermal energy moves about in a system using simple materials. Pupils demonstrate their understanding...

Use drama techniques to recreate the story, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni. They engage in problem-solving as they identify the roles they will fufill in their groups for the performance. This is a motivating way to...

Need topics that are sure to engage your debaters? This list of public policy questions includes such topics as school mascots, regulation of major league baseball, physician-assisted suicide, and violence in video games. A great...

This resource provides two ways to engage learners in using latitude, longitude, and research skills. In pairs, or on their own, learners will locate several Antarctic regions on a map. They will write the name of the place and a few key...

A good story is a great way to support skills that are necessary for encouraging strong reading skills. Here is a class I do, You do, We do style lesson that stars the tale, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. Included are two fun pre-reading...

Using the 5E method for teaching about kinetic energy, potential energy, and conservation of energy, this two-week unit with many videos and possible extensions is sure to keep pupils engaged as they are learning.

Get ready to move, shake, slip, and slide with a well-rounded plate tectonics unit! The engaging resource includes everything you need to inspire eighth grade science scholars, from worksheets to demonstrations. Assess their...

What skills are necessary to interact with different types of text? Twenty-first century learners live in a digital world and must develop a whole new set of skills to develop media literacy. Class members engage in a series of...