Students research the political traditions of the United States at the national and state levels. After discussing various symbols, students compose essays about the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Students recognize and measure geometric shapes within abstract art. They examine quilts for shapes and they each make their own quilt from squares using geometry and measurement.

Students discover the ideas of civilizations by researching Gandhi's philosophies.  In this art decoration lesson plan, students investigate Gandhi's opinions on civilizations, community and ethics.  Students collaborate by...

Students explore art history by researching famous paintings on-line. In this Andy Warhol lesson, students discuss who Warhol was, his impact on popular art and methods of painting. Students examine his use of silk screen printing and...

Flip-books which represent one of five states are created by your class in this art and geography lesson. All of the materials for the flip-books are embedded in this inventive plan. They will make a book for: Kentucky, Vermont, Rhode...

Middle and high schoolers work in groups to research tales of King Arthur, using primary sources. They present the major themes and symbols from these stories, and discuss how they still relevant in today's world. Use this lesson to...

Students complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the various...

Students enhance their oral and written communication skill while preparing their interviewing skills. They create landscape designs using appropriate proportion and plant symbols.

Students examine a variety of historical cartoons. They recognize a political cartoon and identify the main idea, symbolism, exaggeration and caricature in political cartoons. Students analyze a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.

Students, after reading and discussing, "The Metamorphosis," by Franz Kafka, explain the symbolism of Gregor's metamorphosis moving beyond a literal view of "he turned into a bug" into the idea that society/family/stress/environment led...

Students design their own emblem. For this introduction lesson, students get to know one another by designing an emblem that combines symbols that represent themselves. They express themselves to their classmates. 

Students explore world culture by conducting an art project in class. In this Native American culture lesson, students identify the types of materials American Indians utilized in their artistic endeavors, specifically clay. Students...

Ninth graders review an exercise, after reading most of the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. They demonstrate a range of literary elements such as conflict, symbolism, setting, and foreshadowing. Students also are able to provide...

Analyze the characters in Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree with this assignment. After reading the majority of the novel, class members choose a character and make a visual representation of the character, including any important...

Sixth graders review literary devices. They use both fiction and nonfiction texts to review metaphor, simile, alliteration, imagery, symbolism and personification. This lesson has a scripted guide for the teacher to follow.

Fourth and fifth graders practice the skill of organizing their writing to convey a central idea by sorting 14 facts about the dogwood tree into four categories of facts. The categories, which are written on the board, are; Governmental...

Students explore cultural history by participating in an arts and crafts activity. In this weaving instructional activity, students identify the many cultures that used weaving methods and local plant life to create baskets and other...

To the Native American people living on the plains, the buffalo represented culture, art, sustenance, and survival. Explore the history of the buffalo with a social studies instructional activity, in which learners create a buffalo hide...

It's that time of year to consider how Shakespeare selects his images and structures his Sonnet 73 to develop the meaning of the poem. Class members examine the rhyme scheme, the indented lines, the conceit, and the images used in each...

As part of their study of Out of the Dust, readers create a biopoem for one of the characters in Karen Hesse's 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel.

"The Masque of the Red Death" provides readers with an opportunity to research and plan a presentation about a topic related to Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story. 

Archetypes help readers connect literature to the world around them. A lesson plan uses elements of pop culture to teach about archetypal traits of common characters  and discuss issues of perception and other literary devices. At...

Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to hone their close reading and literary analysis skills. After annotating their copy of the story, writer's craft an essay in which they analyze...

Personal narratives are powerful things. Whether told from the first-person or third-person point of view, whether in the form of an essay, a short story, novel, or video, whether fiction or fact, they capture readers and give them...