Empower teenagers to take political matters into their own hands! After completing an engaging warm-up activity, class members discuss both sides of the youth voting issue, learn about the connection between military history and the...

Closed syllable words contain short vowel sounds. A phonics lessons introduces readers to consonant-vowel-consonant words. Guided instruction introduces the words with a series of dictation activities, and then learners practice reading...

Just like scholars plug something in to close a circuit, they must plug a consonant onto a word to make closed syllables. Help learners distinguish between open and closed syllables with a series of activities that emphasize open...

Before pupils discard anymore of their uneaten vegetables, they may want to learn more about food waste. Here's a resource to help them do just that! Using discussion and video, scholars discover how innovators are tackling the issue. As...

Just how big is Earth's moon? With a hands-on simulation, scholars use Play-Doh to model the sizes of the planets Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and their moons. They make predictions as a class, work together to make their models, and discuss...

Human impact on habitats can be alarming. A hands-on activity has learners explore the impact of human interactions with different environments using a gamified approach. They simulate the impact of a species' abundance under different...

The lights don't always go out when the switch is flipped. The 10th lesson in a series of 14 helps learners build a conceptual understanding of the flow of electricity through a parallel circuit. They then build their own parallel...

If you build it, they will come. Young scholars learn about local birds in an interesting hands-on instructional activity. They begin by identifying birds either from photos or in nature and then build their own bird feeders. The...

Learners become butterflies to complete an activity that has them collect tokens that represent food, water, and shelter. They must collect their necessities while in competition with other butterflies in the same area. Once the...

Tag, you're eaten! A lesson on predator-prey relationships uses the game freeze tag as a model. Learners become either a predator or prey and play a game of tag as the prey tries to reach areas that house food and shelter. During the...

Engage in activism, not slacktivism! Scholars discuss social media and the Internet as tools for social change. Next, they engage in a close reading strategy called Thinking Notes as they read an article about social media activism.

Say no to hate speech! Pupils discover the importance of practicing empathy and inclusivity in digital communities and discuss strategies for responding to online hate speech. Then, small groups develop and present class guidelines for...

Don't feed the Internet trolls! Using a thought-provoking resource, pupils brainstorm a whole-class list of the possible kinds of bias young people may experience online. Next, in small groups, scholars create posters illustrating how to...

Without structure, things fall apart. Scholars discuss the importance of structuring a podcast to tell a story that makes sense. They walk around the classroom, stopping at stations to answer questions on posters about planning their...

The biggest balloon wins! Pupils play a balloon race game, answering questions about careers in business and marketing while blowing air into balloons. Additionally, scholars research two similar companies to study their marketing...

Name that statistic! Classmates each write their name and the number of letters in it on a sticky note to place on the board. As a class, they determine the median, mode, and range of the name lengths, and create a dot plot of the data....

The second lesson in a series of 25 shows the class how to use arrows and a number line to add integers. Learners apply their knowledge of the commutative property and absolute value in their explanations. Classmates play the integer...

Make your own number line ... using a compass. The first installment of a 21-part series has scholars investigate positive and negative integers on a number line by using a compass to construct points that are the same distance from zero...

Force your way to a better understanding of vectors! Pairs of young scholars work together to apply the right amount of force to move an object along a straight line vector. They use calculations to determine the magnitude and direction...

Scholars examine how characters try to control one another in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. They engage in a read-aloud and class discussion to iron out ideas. They also work in small groups to complete a note-catcher...

It's time to get active! Scholars participate in a World Café protocol to promote discussion and leadership. They leave their seats and move from group to group to discuss critical questions related to their read-aloud of Shakespeare's A...

It's time to put down those pencils and celebrate! Scholars share the visual representations of their position papers with the class. They participate in a gallery walk to view each other's work, writing a piece of praise for their...

Class members play an interactive game, matching strips of paper containing rhetorical devices with examples from César Chávez use rhetoric in his 1984 speech, "Address to the Commonwealth Club of California." Next, partners discuss...

It's time for a celebration! Scholars go on a gallery walk around the classroom to view their peers' completed illustrated children's stories. Using sticky notes, pupils provide feedback about the powerful elements they find in their...