Students use a word processing program to create a flyer for an upcoming event at the school. They design the flyer using different fonts, font sizes, and graphics.

Should schools be permitted to punish young scholars for off-campus cyberbullying? After reading a passage that details statistics about cyberbullying and Supreme Court rulings about schools' ability to limit student speech,...

Explore the structure and content of the US Constitution in the second instructional activity of this five-part social studies series. A collection of activities, games, and videos complement a class reading of a document summarizing the...

"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...

Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper leaves...

Young lawyers put Goldilocks on trial as they develop an understanding of the legal system in the final lesson of this five-part series. After learning about key terms relating to litigation, young scholars are assigned roles...

Amazing! Any 5th grader would be more than willing to participate in this project. Students are broken into groups, each group reads one book from a list of five. They use their book as the basis for choosing an animal and environment to...

What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a...

What was the most significant tool used by the Chumash? How did the environment make the tool possible? What group behaviors allowed the Chumash be be successful for thousands of years? After watching West of the West's documentary Once...

Foster's Rule? Allopatric speciation? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class members use Venn diagrams to compare endemic species on the Channel Islands with mainland related species. They then create a...

Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might...

Buying enough candy for trick-or-treaters without spending a lot of money can be the ultimate Halloween trick. Middle schoolers solve two holiday-themed word problems to determine which brand of candy is the better deal, based on cost...

Five segements from Ken Burns' documentary series Prohibition, easily accessed on the PBS website, are at the center of a terrific short unit on the roots of America's ambivalent relationship with alcohol. Engage your secondary...

Learners study the Civil War. They conduct research in order to find out more information about the Battle of Corydon. Using this information, they create accurate props and sets for a play about this battle. They perform the play in...

How far have California's Channel islands moved? What was the rate of this movement? Class members first examine data that shows the age of the Hawaiian island chain and the average speed of the Pacific Plate. They then watch West...

Learners examine cyberbullying. In this lesson on democracy, learners discuss the different ways to deal with cyberbullying. They then take a position on the question of whether a democracy should allow schools to take action against off...

Should the excavation of what is believed to be the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island be allowed to continue? As a practice exercise designed to prepare pupils for a timed writing exam, individuals read two Los Angeles...

Students explore data and Excel spreadsheets. They collect data about political candidates. Students enter the data into a chart on Excel. They create a graph using the data and Excel.

As a practice writing test, fourth graders use the West of the West's documentary Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island and two print resources as source materials for an informative article that identifies information that is...

"Back Him Up!" Scholars will analyze how World War I posters displayed, on the home front, often attempted to stir up emotions. As they examine the different ways people used propaganda posters during the war, they will create their own...

Are marches and protests an effective form of resistance? That is the question high schoolers seek to answer in this inquiry lesson as they compare the 2020 protests to historical ones. Researchers use Venn Diagrams to compare images...

The Gettysburg Address may have been four score and seven years ago, but its message is still as relevant today. Young historians explore the context of the famous speech, as well as its central theme and argument, before discussing the...

Demonstrate how to engage in a polite and professional conversation with this banking and interfacing lesson. Focusing on explanatory and informaitonal texts, middle schoolers write sentences using banking and finance terminologies....