Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...

We often wait until adulthood to start analyzing learning styles. This informative and interesting presentation delves into how we learn. It is a quick and insightful look at how students perform in school. The information could be...

Develop vocabulary in your high school native speakers or in advanced non-native speakers. THere are only six multiple-choice questions shown, but each contains more than one tricky vocabulary word. Example words include: oblivious,...

Looking for a fresh take on traditional food/energy pyramids? Conduct an innovative activity where pupils build their own! The lesson uses research data from Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique for a real-life safari touch. Scholars...

Designed for first-year teachers, this 116-page packet has it all. Questions you should ask administrators and fellow teachers, a checklist of things to do before school starts, a school-year calendar to record special school events and...

If everyone is on Facebook, should the school's news publication be as well? Scholars study a social media giant in the 11th lesson from The Social Media Toolbox's 16-part series. The activity combines individual study and collaboration...

Formalize the notion of a function. Scholars continue their exploration of functions in the second lesson of the module. They consider functions as input-output machines and develop function rules for selected functions.

Propaganda is an important topic that most high school social studies teachers address. Here, students compare and contrast methods of public persuasion during WWII with those used in the contemporary War on Terror. Research, discussion,...

Graph A goes with equation C, but table B. The short assessment task requires class members to match graphs with their corresponding tables, equations, and verbalized rules. Pupils then provide explanations on the process they used to...

Engage your class with a mock National Ocean Sciences Bowl. The first installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program provides an introduction to the ocean sciences, as well as to the rules of...

Foster's Rule? Allopatric speciation? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class members use Venn diagrams to compare endemic species on the Channel Islands with mainland related species. They then create a...

The controversy over school dress codes continues. The debate involves questions like, why is there a policy? Who sets the policy? Who enforces the policy? What is a fair policy? Tweens and teens have an opportunity to engage in the...

Avoiding lab safety rules will not give you super powers. The lesson opens with a demonstration of not following safety rules. Then, young chemists practice their lab safety while finding the mass of each item in a mixture and trying to...

Should that pause in your sentence be long, short, or somewhere in between? Practice using commas and semicolons with a series of grammar activities. High schoolers read a series of sentences and paragraphs and decide where they should...

How far have we come and how far do we still need to go to achieve equality and full civil rights in the United States? Include a packet of materials collected in your observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Young scholars investigate dress codes in their school and how they compare to what courts have ruled as well as interview school administrators, students, and teachers on their views of the dress code. Young scholars then write a news...

Despite the formal nature of academic writing, personal pronouns frequently appear in high school and college papers. While your first instinct may be to cross them out, sometimes it's okay to use them, an idea covered in a handout that...

High school social studies teachers addressing the crisis in Darfur could use elements of this plan to increase social studies vocabulary and research skills. It includes a page of lecture/discussion notes, instructions for creating...

Illegal immigration is an ever-changing source of consistent controversy. A reading passage about the rights of undocumented workers and illegal immigrants—and the lack thereof—guides high schoolers into a mock trial activity. Three...

Get to know each individual while implementing technology practice and use. Each pupil creates a presentation about him or herself that follows a concrete list of requirements. While presenting, the instructor and peers rank the...

Make a big splash with a lesson about water safety. After reading three articles related to water safety, high schoolers first choose one water safety rule to research and write a report summarizing their findings. They then use an...

Spark a disscussion about a current issue, bullying, in your classroom. This resource, published by The New York Times, provides a short article discussing a Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights passed into law in the state New Jersey followed...

While a comprehensive exploration of capitalization rules, this presentation is geared toward high school students and may contain elements teachers would want to change. The examples may contain subject matter that could be altered to...

What special relationships exist in right triangles? In the high school performance task, learners investigate Pythagorean triples. They then determine rules for the perimeter and area of right triangles given the shortest side.