To Kill a Mockingbird, Hunger Games, Brave New World. Welcome to Banned Books Week. As part of a study of censorship and book banning, class members investigate censorship, the purposes of censorship, and First Amendment rights,...

Get in touch with the emotional side of writing by reading Words By Heart. The writing assignment helps learners make personal connections with the text and hone their writing skills by exploring a time that they had to forgive...

Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...

If you've ever received bad service or disagreed with a company's decision, writing a letter of complaint might be a good skill to have. Review the format of a letter, author's purpose, and other aspects of persuasive writing with an...

Group members take on roles to create a positive classroom community. Learners perform their role—leader, recorder, presenter, timekeeper, encourager, and collector—in preparation for a formal presentation of their positive thinking...

Here's a clever switch on the tale of Pandora's Box. Rather than lifting the lid and having problems escape, class members write a problem on a strip of paper and place it in Pandora's Problem Box. A student  then pulls a problem...

To conclude the study of coping skills, class members create a collage that identifies and celebrates their strengths that support their ability to make good decisions.

Making decisions can be stressful, even for sixth graders. And even students this young have developed coping skills, some positive and some negative, to help them deal with stress. Class members are asked to identify several of their...

Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.

Students examine the lives of the Aboriginal peoples of Saskatchewan. In this talking stick instructional activity, students discover dance, art, music, and traditions of the First Nations people.  Students design and create a...

Here's a resource that provides debaters with the background information and worksheets they will need when planning a policy debate. Templates and sentence frames, as well as a rationale for using debates in the classroom, are...

Study skills, time management skills, and test taking-skills are important attributes for both the classroom and the real world. Focus on these learning skills in a lesson that reviews how to be a good student and make better grades.

Patterns happen everywhere, in music, math, and language! Fourth graders listen to the "William Tell Overture" visualizing the patterns that they hear. They then discuss and write an ABA poem that matches the ABA form found in the music...

Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...

Students should have a concept idea of the significance of friendship, feelings, communication and emotions. The use of the Internet is essential for communicationing their emotions through EPAL.

Students view commercials from American and Latin American cultures and discuss the values and selling strategies used in each commercial.

Learners design a chair with function in mind. In this design instructional activity, students design a chair out of newspaper that is strong enough to hold a "peanut ball". Learners discuss how the form follows the function. This...

Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This lesson plan has some excellent worksheets attached!

Students research 1920's US History.  In this historical literature lesson, students use the novel The Great Gatsby as a tool to examine the era.  They work in individually to create newspaper articles based on different...

Third graders complete a graphic organizer to determine what a good story looks and sounds like. Using various forms and conventions, they determine which style to use for different audiences and purposes. They write their own story and...

If you teach AP English language and composition and are looking for a way to address the differences between written and spoken arguments, consider this lesson. Over the course of three days, class members research Charles Darwin or...

Young analysts write a comparative essay, but about what? They compose a paper based on several critical discussion about reality and illusion, and how both are blurred in art. They analyze several theatre pieces that exemplify Brechtian...

STAR deputies unite! Scholars gather in small groups to solve problems using the STAR method. Pupils read a card that describes a situation that requires problem-solving. They role-play the scenario in front of their peers.

Fourth graders analyze how Kentucky's past is different from the present. They research why Kentucky was even explored and settles. What social issues face Kentucky now. Discussion lies on how Kentucky can be improved for the 21st century.