Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...

A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...

As part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars draft their inside-out poems and then work on their "Back Again" poems. Learners use a rubric and graphic organizers to guide their writing.

Powerful orators make their messages compelling with a combination of factors. Learn how to be an inspirational speaker with a reading assessment activity that presents a list of persuasive speaking techniques, as well as two...

Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...

Two informational texts feature community gardens of the past and present and how seeds grow. Scholars read, discuss what they have read, complete a timeline, define words, and compose a brief essay about the texts' main idea.

As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's...

Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...

An addition table supports third graders as they learn strategies to improve their math fluency. When finding sums greater than ten, students are taught how to first make a ten and then add on the rest. A similar method is also...

Support science instruction with a combination of engaging activities and skills-based worksheets that focus on clouds. Learners take part in grand discussions, write an acrostic poem, complete graphic organizers, solve word...

Entertaining as well as educational, this math activity about decomposing numbers is bound to capture the engagement of young learners. Given a cup and five two-color counters, young mathematicians simply shake and spill the cup,...

Visual models are a great tool for demonstrating the concept of equivalent fractions. Given two pictures, young mathematicians first identify each fraction and then write an explanation for why they are equivalent. Use as a guided...

You are used to teaching repeating decimals with bar notation that keeps us from writing that number over and over again; now teach what the over and over again represents. This activity allows your mathematicians to explore the infinite...

Daily routines not only help to manage classrooms, they can also provide students with rich opportunities for learning. This activity supports young learners in developing their number sense by counting up the school days on a class...

It's not so straightforward — lines can model a variety of applications. Pupils experience linear relationships within the context of science, including Hooke's and Ohm's Laws. Class members got a taste of motion and speed from the...

Good readers make connections between texts. The SAT regularly assesses the ability to make those connections using paired reading passages, a topic discussed in an official SAT practice lesson plan on synthesis. During the lesson plan,...

Young computer scientists create a visual artifact that represents their research into a computing innovation in the world of cybersecurity. They then work individually to write an essay on the impact of technology on cybersecurity.

Scholars work together to compile a list of things good writers do to perfect their craft and write the ideas on a whiteboard. They then discuss the differences between passive and active sentences and use their knowledge to identify...

Plant growth experiments offer rich, cross-curricular learning opportunities that can really excite and engage young learners. For this series, children work in pairs planting, measuring, and comparing the height of bean plants in order...

The body is one big life-sized puzzle! A hands-on lesson builds on the idea and has individuals create life-size models of the body including all important organs of the digestive, circulatory, and respiratory systems. After building...

A performance task challenges scholars to read an informational text then respond with an explanatory essay. The exam begins with an independent reading of Seeing Eye to Eye by Leslie Hall. A second reading follows with the...

Agriculture is truly a math-based profession! Help the dairy farmer determine the supplies needed to complete his barn. Using given dimensions, learners build equations and use units to determine the correct amount of materials.

Eric and Leila's video game scores are the inspiration for writing equations with parenthesis. The numbers are purposefully large to deter the class from calculating them: rather this activity meets the standard that asks 5th graders to...

Guide your kindergartners to create memorable, colorful number lines that they will use throughout the school year. Using sentence strip and a black marker or card stock printed in a teachers font, create traceable numbers from 1 to 20...