While the French were once the allies of Americans, the Napoleonic Wars saw the United States almost drawn into a war with its one-time friend. Wars in Europe threatened to draw in the early republic. A primary source-based activity...

Kindness and empathy can be as important as reading comprehension skills, especially for younger learners. Reinforce both with a lesson based on Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair by Jamee Riggio Heelan. As...

Turn your class' focus on how wheelchairs assist individuals with disabilities to become more independent with this disabilities lesson plan. Scholars listen to a read aloud of the book, Zoom! by Robert Munsch, answer...

Which of the following can you survive without for the longest time: water, food, or a positive mental attitude? The answer may surprise you. Guide learners of all ages through games, activities, and discussions about surviving in the...

Does the space shuttle have an odometer? Maybe, but all that is needed to determine the distance to the moon is a little geometry! The lesson asks scholars to sketch the relationship of the Earth and moon using shadows of an eclipse....

Concepts are only valuable if they are applicable. An informative resource uses concepts developed in lessons 26 and 27 in a 36-part series. Scholars write equations and solve for missing side lengths for given right triangles....

Programming a robot is a mathematical task! The activity asks learners to examine the process of programming a robot to vacuum a room. They use a coordinate plane to model the room, write equations to represent movement, determine the...

How do you build a polygon from an inequality? An engaging lesson challenges pupils to do just that. Building from the previous lesson in this series, learners write systems of inequalities to model rectangles, triangles, and even...

Transform your learners into master geometers with an activity that asks them to first complete an assessment task drawing the result after transformation of a given shape in the coordinate plane. They then use cards to...

Give your classes practice at modeling using quadratic models with a resource that uses area and integer problems to allow individuals to create second degree polynomials. Young mathematicians solve equations using factoring and then...

How can you prove it? Guide classes through an exploration of two possible triangle congruence criteria: AAS and HL. Learners connect this criteria to those previous learned and also explore criteria that does not work. The lesson...

Discover how trend lines can be useful in understanding relationships between variables with a instructional activity that covers how to informally fit a trend line to model a relationship given in a scatter plot. Scholars use the trend...

Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.

Life has its ups and downs ... especially if you're an animal! Biology scholars engage in a population study through an inquiry-based lesson. Pupils work together to explore the factors that affect deer populations, then examine the...

It's alive! Young mad scientists create monsters as they explore the probabilities of genetic traits during a well-structured inquiry lesson. Pairs travel from station to station, rolling the dice and adding traits to their creations as...

How are chemical reactions affected by gravity? Learners explore the phenomenon of effervescence as part of the Christa's Lost Lessons series. They compare findings in an experiment on effervescence to a video of a similar experiment in...

Scholars form a drama circle and begin reading Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. They also use a play map to identify the setting, characters, and conflicts from the text.

After finishing Act I, scene 1 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, class members study the theme of control as it relates to the play and start an Evidence of Control note-catcher worksheet.

Readers understand a text better when they discuss it with someone else. Scholars continue reading the novel Lyddie by Katherine Paterson, engaging in text-related discussions with five classmates. Next, they add to their chapter three...

After completing an online activity about the Mayflower, scholars draw a picture about what they know of the Thanksgiving holiday, including a one-sentence summary. A reading of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma is...

It's heating up—and cooling down—in here! A hands-on lesson allows learners to experiment with melting and freezing butter to observe changes as a substance transitions between liquid and solid form. They also view an animation that...

Explore the culture, geography, and religion of Ethiopia. Learners complete a viewing guide while watching a film on Ethiopia as the first Christian country in Africa. Additionally, they create group presentations and write paragraphs...

Coming up on the Olympics? Be sure your middle schoolers understand the dynamic and ancient history of this global tradition. They begin by recalling traditions parents have passed down, considering their relevance and ways they might be...

As an anticipatory set, biologists listen to the story of Ruth Patrick, a scientist who used algae to detect water quality. They observe a demonstration of osmosis and diffusion. In their lab groups, they place Elodea stalks in...