A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Even Seveth Graders can have fun engaging in a jigsaw activity. They discuss and define equations, inequalities, expressions, and algebraic symbol strings, cards representing each concept are passed to learners. They mingle with each...

Readers of Dandelion Wine work in groups to develop questions on four levels (right there, think and search, the author and you, and on my own) about Chapter 34 of Ray Bradbury's reflection on the joys of summer. Groups jigsaw and...

Examine three speeches while teaching Aristotle's appeals. Over the course of three days, class members fill out a graphic organizer about ethos, pathos, and logos, complete an anticipatory guide, read speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.,...

Experiment with light and dark in a series of interactive activities that lead up to reading and writing poetry. Class members have the opportunity to observe their feelings while sitting in the light and dark and to play with shadow...

Is there anything that can be done to slow the browning of fruit once it has been cut? High schoolers determine the answer through five different investigations involving apples, potatoes, and chemical reactions. After each experiment,...

Set up your class to read Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, through a class read-aloud and exploration of the setting. The detailed lesson plan outlines each step. First, class members read over the first few pages and focus on the...

Your young learners will delve into the language of primary source documents in order to identify the characteristics, benefits, and costs of nonviolence. The lesson includes a mix of activities, including an anticipatory activity,...

Finish or launch your unit on the solar system with a jigsaw project covering major celestial concepts such as the Milky Way Galaxy, asteroids, meteors, comets, Earth's moon, and, of course, all the planets. Learners start by...

While most people are familiar with the transatlantic slave trade, there is less knowledge of another major external African slave trade in world history: the trans-Saharan slave trade. Pupils work in groups to read informational texts...

To raise awareness of the complexity of the immigration debate, class groups examine facts about one aspect of life in a refugee camp and then, in a jigsaw activity, share what they have learned with their new group. Groups then...

How can people do their part to help protect the environment? Learners participate in an engaging jigsaw activity to discuss the causes and effects of pollution. Next, pupils develop their own innovative ideas to address an environmental...

After reflecting on jobs people perform in the present day, scholars discuss what they believe jobs would have been like in Colonial Virginia during the American Revolution. Small groups then perform a jigsaw using informational packets....

How are forces and motion important to a swing set? Scholars explore the concepts of force and motion using swing sets. In preparation for their own STEM design project, individuals take surveys and data from peers, complete labs on...

Take a spin with probability. Given a set of clues about the probability of events on a spinner, groups create their own  device to match the clues. Using a jigsaw strategy, groups share their spinners and strategies with other...

High schoolers examine the Reconstruction programs instituted following the American Civil War, the potential for change these efforts offered, and the realities that occurred. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation, class members read a...

Archaeology digs are much like giant jigsaw puzzles. The artifacts found are often in pieces and scientists must reconstruct them. A hands-on activity lets young archaeologists experience this facet of the job as they create, smash, and...

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, but it did not end tensions between the two nations. The activity provides learners with an opportunity to practical historical analysis with text experts from the Treaty of...

While Roe v. Wade and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment often get top billing in women's history, other lesser-known laws impact their daily lives. Pupils research cases such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey and use a jigsaw model to...

Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson plan focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and complete a...

After years of boiling tension, the presidency of Ronald Regan and the rise of Mikhail Gorbechev paved a new way forward for diplomacy between the United States and the Soviet Union. Using primary source documents, including letters...

While World War II was a pivotal moment in history, historians debate its importance to the civil rights movement. Class members consider the implications of segregation and the war using a series of documents and a jigsaw activity....

1964: A victory for the civil rights movement! Scholars read a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and discuss what affirmative actions means to them. The resource is a jigsaw activity, with each group focusing on one section of the...

As part of a study of the importance of the First Amendment, expert groups research different historic case studies of investigative reporting, and then the experts share their findings with jigsaw groups. The case studies include Nellie...