Pupils explore "negatives" in English grammar. In this grammar lesson, students generate a list of "negative" words such as "not" and "nowhere." Pupils listen to the teacher read examples of sentences with double negatives, identify the...

Young scholars keep running record of the activities they engage in and the food they eat. In this lesson on healthy living, students discuss the dangers of anorexia and bulimia, record their activity level and food consumption over the...

Students explore the use of sensory details in writing. In this journal writing lesson, students write four journal entries after group discussion about a variety of topics such as their weekend, poverty in the United States, and...

Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation...

Set up your class to read Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, through a class read-aloud and exploration of the setting. The detailed instructional activity outlines each step. First, class members read over the first few pages and...

Carl Sandburg composed poetry that conveyed a time and place in American Literature and history. Learners identify the literary techniques he uses to describe the historical and cultural context of living in Chicago. They define the...

Students investigate shapes in art. In this visual arts lesson, students examine the ancient Panamanian "Plaque" and identify the geometric shapes in the art piece. Students combine basic shapes to make an artistic picture of their own.

Learners explore the cultures and civilizations of Mesopotamia. They take a look at the factors that shaped the region, and study the history of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and other ancient wonders of the world. The class is divided...

Poetry is a wonderful way to explore language, express topical understanding, and incite creative thinking. After a trip to the local natural history museum (or zoo), learners write an acrostic or a cinquain poem describing one of their...

Get the ball rolling and challenge your class to figure out how to make a ball move. The instruction segment is between two STEM activities devoted to doing just that. The first is simple and involves making a ball move from some...

Students associate a hydria with Greek myths. In this Greek art and mythology lesson, students examine a scene on a hydria, then choose a Greek myth to illustrate on their own painting.

Students create and write a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story as they investigate the Revolutionary War. They choose a historical figure who played a key role in the war who meets other influential figures and has the opportunity to...

Second graders describe the impact of certain figures in United States history, including Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They describe experiences of early American explorers and compose narratives from the perspectives of others.

Students articulate their prior knowledge concerning the purposes of journal writing. They explore what function journal writing has fulfilled for various cultures and peoples. Students read and analyze various journal entries by famous...

Students examine how a piece of art tells a story. In this visual art lesson, students interpret a piece of art work by writing a newspaper article that tells the story of the moment in time that is depicted in a picture. They work with...

Students listen to and compare the first sentence of the Gettysburg Address spoken in different languages. They also compare frequency readings for each and discuss how the brain interprets spoken words.

Students discover core democratic values. In this service learning lesson, students create posters in order to promote core democratic values.

Fifth graders become familar with the pilgrims and first Thanksgiving through essays about important people of the time.  In this Thanksgiving lesson, 5th graders choose an important figure from the time of the Pilgrims and write a...

Students inspect visual arts by examining images on the web. In this art history instructional activity, students discuss the history of art after researching Keith Haring's work on the Internet. Students analyze...

Learners reflect on the value of graveyards as places of great historical importance and information. They create an epitaph for and a brief biography of a deceased historical figure whom they admire.

Students research and create profiles of key figures in the current administration and those people who are speculated to play a role if George W. Bush is re-elected in the 2004 election.

Middle schoolers understand their responsibility to the world. In this religion, philanthropy activity, students research the life of Aaron Feuerstein and his views of the responsibility of a person to his world. Middle schoolers...

Students explore the concept of retelling a story.  In this retelling lesson, students use Play-Doh to create models of the objects in Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Students use these models to to retell the...

Young scholars combine direct and indirect pronouns in this lesson. They practice with rewriting sentences when a direct and indirect object is present. They create a story using PowerPoint with their new sentences.