Students listen to and evaluate other student speeches. They record their evaluation on a T-chart, and compare/contrast the effective and ineffective speaking behaviors.

Students examine the difference between internal and external differences in people. They identify prejudices in society and explain how important it is to be sensistive to others. They discover types of sensitivity in "To Kill A...

Students design colorful posters to "get out and vote" after studying the three amendments to the US Constitution that extend voting rights. They analyze the importance of voting to a healthy democracy.

Students explore ways to notice when others are sad, happy, calm, or angry. They act out feelings and have others try to identify them. The listen to The Brand New Kid, focusing on plot, characterization, and illustrations. They create a...

Students watch and discuss the Johnny Tremain video. They discuss the actions of citizens during the American Revolution and describe these actions as patriotic and/or philanthropic.

Students examine Susan B. Anthony's life and causes she worked for. In this Susan B. Anthony lesson, students work in groups to research the activist roles of Susan B. Anthony and decide if she was a philanthropist. Students look into...

Students participate in a book drive. In this communities lesson plan, students brainstorm ways of collecting books for donation and design a book drive for children in the community.

Students recognize injustice in the world. In this social justice lesson, students discuss the responsibility they have to be advocates for justice and kindness and identify a time when they felt they were treated unfairly.

Promote volunteerism in your art or writing classes. In this service learning lesson, middle schoolers create promotional materials that include photographs and newspaper articles based on their personal service experiences in local...

Students understand the definition of integrity and explain quotes about it. In this integrity lesson, students apply quotes about integrity to a personal experience and write about it.

Young scholars demonstrate their self discipline and motivation by brainstorming their own personal self discipline goals. In this self discipline lesson, students analyze examples of self discipline and self control by completing a...

Learners review what author's purpose is by understanding that authors either persuade, inform, describe, or entertain with their story. In this language arts lesson, students bring in junk mail and in small groups discuss what the each...

Students discuss the attributes that a hero can have and what it takes to be a Distinguished American, and be commemorated on a stamp.  In this courage lesson, students research an everyday hero that they know about and create a...

Students read a book about understanding differences.  In this getting to know you instructional activity, students sit in a circle, roll a ball to each other and tell one thing about themselves when they get the ball. ...

Students use Lewis and Clark's journals to identify the forms of non-verbal communication they used. They discover the problems they faced on their journey and how they overcame them. They practice using the non-verbal language of the...

Students reflect on the Holocaust in two lessons. Using prior knowledge, they investigate and make decisions dealing with human behavior before beginning their studies on the Holocaust. After examining different aspects of the event,...

Third graders reflect on and discuss the story, Jane and the Dragon, and portray their understanding of stereotyping through the actions of their character. Through the use of legends, drama can be used to educate understanding for other...

Students complete a variety of writing and yearbook activities to complete the school year. They write a letter to the student that will sit in their desk the next school year, and a letter to their next year's teacher. As a culminating...

Young scholars exercise the skill of phoneme awareness with vocal gestures to create the sound of /v/. They review the way to print the letter "V," how to form the /v/ sound and create a hand gesture to help them recall the vocal gesture...

Fourth graders explore reading strategies through roleplaying. In this reading instructional activity, 4th graders read Wings, Stings, and Wiggly Things by Martin Jenkins. Student groups pretend to be a law firm and identify words as...

Students examine the variety of elements for a written play and create a playbill. They read about and define literary elements on a worksheet, and participate in a dramatic reading. Each student then creates and publishes a playbill.

Students explore the seasons and how to describe them with adjectives. In this instructional activity about winter and descriptive language, students develop an understanding of the seasons specifically winter, and become equipped to...

Young scholars read a piece of literature and locate the descriptive verbs in the piece. In this descriptive verbs lesson plan, students understand the value of using descriptive verbs. Young scholars rewrite a story they've written with...

Learners define fictional story elements. For this reading comprehension lesson, students read Jack and the Beanstalk and view an included SMARTboard lesson. Learners use the SMARTboard to match the story element terms with the specific...