Fact families, and the relationship between addition and subtraction are the foucs of this lesson. Learners explore strategies to help with their addition and subtraction facts. They use doubles, related facts, and fact families to help...

Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...

Explore reciprocal questioning with this ReQuest comprehension strategy. After reading a passage, learners first question the teacher, trying to "stump" her. Then it is the teacher's turn to ask the pupils questions. All correct answers...

Junior high schoolers learn how to read a water meter, track their family water usage, and discuss the amount in class with other pupils. They will interpret real-world data and graph it. It is ideal for increasing awareness and...

Young scholars study the different transportation fuels.  In this energy sources lesson students debate the merits of their fuel over others while working together in groups.

Engage your class in a game where they look for matching rhymes. They will flip over cards and look for rhyming words. If the words match they keep the cards. If they words do not match they turn the cards over. Additionally, they will...

After viewing a video and reading an article about the threatened turtles and tortises in The Amazon River area, collaborative groups create a poster or presentation about how we can help them. Several links to other related lesson plans...

Navigate the letter p without leaving anything out: combine pronunciation, recognition, letter sound, and word examples. Scholars examine the letter shape and listen to you pronounce the /p/ sound. As you explain how this sound is made,...

Log on and create learner accounts on the Big Future website, then let the lesson begin! Pupils log onto the website to explore college options. They use the tools provided to create a step-by-step college plan. This will help relieve...

What a great beginning-of-the-year activity! Get your class to identify their values through a three-page worksheet (included). Each speaker will craft a two-minute description that includes their story and how they can help their...

Can you find the themes from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in other books? What about picture books? Compare the novel to a picture book with a lesson about making predictions and finding textual evidence.

Help your youngsters make considerations about what they eat. Use this lesson as a jumping-off point to discuss dietary guidelines, the food pyramid, and major food groups. This creative lesson grabs youngsters by talking about what they...

When choosing what foods to eat, there are a lot of factors to consider. To help make the decision a little easier, young learners work in small groups developing short plays, stories, or advertisements that address the different issues...

The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...

By engaging in an arts-based activity, 2nd graders explore peace in the classroom. They listen to the story The Rainbow Fish, then create their own fish to hang in the classroom. They write three things that make them happy on...

Here is an ambitious and engaging lesson that should help elementary schoolers begin to develop a basic understanding of human rights. Pupils are asked to think about their own rights, the rights of others, and how an individual's voice...

Measure the temperature of your math class with a temperature-based lesson on adding and subtracting rational numbers. The thermometer serves as a vertical number line for learners as they work together to solve a temperature change...

Get even your most reluctant pupils reading, writing, reciting, and maybe even enjoying poetry! A four day lesson, young writers learn about Golden Shovel poems: a poem format that uses borrowed words from other poems as the last words...

Sometimes the simplest ideas foster a lot of different skills. To boost social skills, group participation, identifying others by name, and dressing skills, learners play the hat game. They take turns wearing a hat while...

If you don't teach blind or visually impaired students, this instructional activity may seem a bit strange. But, it helps them develop motor skills, orientation and movement skills, and listening skills, while building a better...

Nothing says classroom fun like an invertebrate and a magnifying glass! Snails, earthworms, and roly-poly bugs become the center of attention as pint-sized investigators hone their inquiry and observation skills. They are...

Even kids in grades two through five can start thinking about the part they play in sustaining endangered species.  They consider what endangered species are, how they become endangered, and what conservationists can do to help. In...

Ever wondered how an aquifer works? Introduce your class to the amazing way many people get water by exploring how underground aquifers work. Two fun hands-on activities are used to help kids understand what an aquifer is, how it works,...

Vocational training activities are extremely important for learners with intellectual or physical disabilities. Here is a great idea that will help your class become skilled at money handling, basic economic concepts, interpersonal...