A speaker, a message, an audience. After analyzing these elements in Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury, groups analyze how other speakers use an awareness of events, and their audience to craft their arguments....

Get your message across. Scholars use their prior knowledge and artistic skills to create public service announcements. The project is designed to explain the importance of civic harmony and the responsibility of all citizens to...

"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this instructional activity allows children to invent...

Get up close and personal with cells in a hands-on journey to discover what makes up living things. Scholars learn valuable microscope skills, delve into the Modern Cell Theory, and gain insight into how cells reproduce. The included lab...

Readers apply Sigmund Freud's theories of the unconscious mind and the psychological approach to literary criticism to analyze and evaluate the relationship between two characters in A Separate Peace.

World War I was the first major conflict on a global scale. Using primary documents, learners determine why the United States chose to enter World War I when it did. After analytical writing and group research, the causes of America's...

Sibling rivalry or all-out war? The Lemonade War tells the story of a brother and sister who begin a competition selling lemonade. Scholars read to find out who will win. The resource includes vocabulary words, comprehension questions,...

Milo, a character in Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, was bored. When a tollbooth showed up in his room, he went through it simply because he has nothing else to do. Scholars read about his adventures and complete worksheets...

Author E.B. White once had a dream about a small boy who acted like a rat, and that is how he conceived of his classic children's novel, Stuart Little. Using the novel study, scholars answer some questions based on their reading....

To broaden their understanding of both the short term and long terms effects of the Civil War, class groups examine primary source materials and then assume the role of a family member and draft a letter to a soldier describing life at...

The oldest turtle ever recorded lived to the age of 188! As it turns out, two characters from Carl Hiaasen's Skink No Surrender are fascinated by these shelled creatures. Using the novel study, scholars research three types of...

Spread the word about seafloor spreading! Junior geologists prove Albert Wegener right in an activity that combines data analysis and deep ocean exploration. Learners analyze and graph fossil sample data taken from sites along the...

Fourth graders explore various methods of growing and harvesting rainforest foods in order to sustain its biodiversity. They discuss the various uses for trees from several viewpoints. Students research chocolate demand and land use...

Eighth graders use first-hand slave narratives that show conditions of slavery. They paste text into Appleworks and publish with a picture clipped from web sites. They create a group account of life during slavery to prepare for reading...

Young scholars work cooperatively in order to identify specific situations in which an almanac is the best choice for locating information. They answer specific questions, record the page on which the answer was found, and the key words...

students research varied aspects of car design, and create a new design for the exterior body of a car. Students conduct Internet research, respond to writing prompts, and analyze, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple...

Students investigate how to plant a seed. In this gardening lesson, students listen to the book I'm a Seed and research the materials needed to plant a seed. Students present the information they found.

Sixth graders read, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham", and submit a critical review to Amazon Website online by copying and pasting their text onto the site.

Young scholars determine how the Lincoln assassination impacted the United States. For this conspiracy theory lesson, students examine selected primary sources and chart the information they gather from the sources.

Having students use a rubric to score a piece of writing is an excellent practice. They read a passage titled, "Firefighters," and discuss different summaries that were written about it. They evaluate several summaries then score them...

In his 2013 introduction to Fahrenheit 451, Neil Gaiman states, “Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.” In this extraordinary unit plan, readers "explore the power of written language to educate and...

Students write a persuasive letter and create a poster about pollution and conservation. In this pollution and conservation lesson plan, students learn how humans are the number 1 cause of pollution.

Young scholars input autobiographical information to apply in a Diamante' poem that utilizes the different parts of speech. Students interact with each other sharing their autobiographical information completed on the database created....

Students work in cooperative pairs to research information and give oral presentations about African American men and women who have made significant contributions to U.S. history.