Is being uncomfortable worth it if you look good? Inspire discussion about fashion and culture with a brief New York Times article about painful fashion. Whether used as a persuasive essay prompt or as a discussion starter,...

Who doesn't love this book? A Pocket for Corduroy provides excellent vocabulary practice in context for budding readers (although this strategy could be used with any text). Before reading it aloud, go over the new...

Use Norah Dooley's culturally inspiring book Everybody Cooks Rice to explore delicious new vocabulary in context with beginning readers. The recommended words here are: delicious, grumbling, and gulp; pre-teach them...

Colors and crayons are the inspiration for this collection of activities! Kids illustrate the real world, come up with their own names for colors, make their own crayons (with teacher assistance), create artwork they can eat, and more.

It's time to get crafty with shapes! Your future farmers demonstrate their geometric ability by building a farm using triangles, circles, rectangles, and squares. But first, scholars take part in a brainstorm session inspired by their...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the inspiration for this project-based learning activity. Kindergartners create a lifecycle chart for a butterfly with four sections: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly. It is a three-dimensional...

Linear perspective, estuaries, and water ways converge in a science-inspired art project. The class uses what they've learned about eco-systems, estuaries, and the food chain to create scale models of a local marsh. While the lesson...

Not only is Wassily Kandinsky fun to say, his art contains tons of angles. Learners discuss Kandinsky's music-inspired abstract art and four types of angles. They search one of his paintings for obtuse, right, straight, and acute angles,...

Learners explore color, shape, line, balance, radial symmetry, unity, repetition, and pattern as they make a peace quilt inspired by those made by Hawaiian women in the 1800s. After learning a bit about the history or peace quilts, the...

Can art be a mode of communication? You bet it can! Learners explore how colors are used to convey mood in art. First, the class listens to three very unique musical selections that convey three different moods. Then, they compare...

I always knew there was a connection between art and math, and this lesson proves it. Fifth graders will use what they know about ratios and percents to design art inspired by Polynesian kapa cloth. A grid, specific guidelines, and the...

Japanese tea gatherings are the inspiration for a great instructional activity. Learners are provided with an image of a tea caddy made for thick tea and asked to describe what they notice and what that might mean. This leads into a...

First, introduce rank badges, which were used during the Qing Dynasty. Then, the class will work together to uncover the meaning of the images they see. They'll examine and research the meaning behind the symbols found on Leopard Rank...

This resource covers possessive adjectives and pronouns with examples, explanations, and practice exercises. Pupils or instructors can access the information from three sources: a detailed explanation with examples, a summary of the most...

Some books are perfect for drawing connections between multiple subjects. The book Hill of Fire becomes the hub for three very different, yet related activity ideas. First the class hones their oral language skills by creating an...

Engage your pupils in short story and short film. Using a still from the film as inspiration, pairs compose short stories, which they later share and compare with other members of the class. They then watch the film and respond to a...

It is easy to forget the power that written or spoken word can have in effecting change. Using quotations from such inspirational leaders as Maya Angelou, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., encourage your class members to...

Need some ideas for team-building activities? This 27-page packet contains a wide variety suggestions, everything from back-to-school bingo to positive comments name charts. There's even an inspirational poem by David Roth...

Making decisions can be very difficult. Show your class one way to evaluate choices with this activity, which is inspired by the book Glo Goes Shopping. Learners practicing using a decision-making grid with the content of the story and a...

Take a taste test and chart pupils' favorites with a delicious fruit salad made up of fruit found in the rainforest. Still hungry? Snack on the rainforest inspired trail mix using a recipe of dried fruit and nuts. 

Inspire first grade artists to learn about abstract and realistic art while reading Eric Carle's Where are you Going? To See My Friend. Young artists design and make a mural collage by tearing shapes of paper while comparing English and...

Inspire teamwork in your classroom with a fun group activity. Peers pass a penny from the back of their hand to their classmate's hand, who passes it down the line, and see who wins the competition.

Over the history of the world, music has been at the heart of some of the greatest social and political movements. Scholars discover their musical roots as they dive into the sounds and emotions of renowned jazz players. They see how...

Get your class started down the path to a great career! The first of a six-part series of career and college lessons inspires learners to use their interests to explore career options. The activity also provides resources where...