Explore various ecosystems from around the world as your class discovers the interdependence of all living things. Using the provided sets of ecosystem cards, young scientists work in small groups building food webs to demonstrate the...

Mars, Earth, and Venus contain atmospheres that generate weather. Young scientists explore the temperature of inner planets. They create a model simulating the greenhouse effect before researching and answering guided questions to...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...

Explore water transport in plant stems using this fun experiment! Your scientists will start by reading Stems by Vijaya Bodach. Then, activate prior knowledge about plant stem functions and water transportation....

Teacher's notes, a materials list, detailed procedure, tips, and extension ideas are all included to make teaching this lesson on photovoltaic cells a sunny spot in your day! After some brief background reading, physical science...

Tired of giving the same old multiple-choice tests, and have the urge for a new assessment? Then bring the precision of a Socratic seminar into your classroom. Even if you did not read Cold Sassy Tree the organization and explanation on...

To gain an understanding of the significance of Galileo Galilei's revolutionary ideas, class members watch the short video "Stargazing Before Galileo," and conduct a close reading of Galileo's Sidereal Messsenger. They then...

Students read about Peter Rabbit. In this lesson, about reading and comprehension, students listen to the story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter. Students answer questions about the story to determine comprehension. Students...

Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the...

Students explore new ways to communicate through technology by utilizing an internet program.  In this reading comprehension lesson, students utilize the website voicethread.com to share their thoughts and notes about reading...

Ninth graders examine the different misspelled words in the English language. In this English lesson, 9th graders read an article and answer guided reading questions. Students write an email to their teacher about what they have read.

Have learners choose activities to complete based on the books by Laura Joffe Numeroff. They are introduced to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and the other books in this series through prereading activities. They then construct a portfolio...

Helen Lester's wonderfully wacky, Tacky and the Winter Games, is the core text featured in a resource packet that includes a prediction exercise, an activity menu, vocabulary flash cards, and book review worksheet. A great way to cheer...

This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...

Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...

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...

Regale your class with renditions of Aesop's fables from the engaging, and beautifully illustrated book by Jerry Pinkney. Guide discussion to practice prediction, compare and contrast various stories, explore the connections between the...

Robert Coles’ The Story of Ruby Bridges forms the basis of this powerful cross-curricular study of civic education and civic responsibility. Class members consider how the book presents authority, responsibility, justice, and privacy.....

It's all about cabbage in this scientific observation resource! After reading a related story, learners explore three varieties of cabbage. They observe the leaves using a leaf diagram, predicting what the middle might look like. They...

What would it have been like to have heard the debate on the issue of slavery at the Constitutional Convention of 1787? With this resource, you are given the opportunity to read through a reconstruction of speeches on the topic with your...

Students explore hurricanes.  In this weather data interpretation lesson, students draw conclusions about the impact of Hurricane Floyd as it related to weather conditions. Students read and interpret a tide data table, a barometric...

Middle schoolers will paraphrase a resource without plagiarizing. Then rewrite after reading text. They then evaluate the site or reference they are using for accuracy. In the end, they complete a note-taking organizer.

A creative way bring autobiographical writing to your poetry unit or back-to-school curriculum, this lesson plan guides you through a bio poem activity. Kids use the graphic organizer to describe themselves using adjectives, things...

This packet, the third in the series of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on voyagers, contains activities for learners who may struggle with the basic concepts of the lessons. Included are...