Students look at portraits to learn history. Making connections is done with the identification of details found in the portraits. The gallery depicts the historical times of the Revolutionary War in Colonial America.

Tenth graders define the term slang, explaining its various social, historical, and racial contexts, so as to articulate when it can be appropriately used as a means of effective communication. They use their own personal slang lexicon,...

Third graders share some special occasions/events observed by their families/neighborhoods, and special activities/traditions connected with the event. They identify their own culture's customs and those of others.

Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...

“Be glad that all things sort so well.” To make text-to-self connections to Shakespeare’s play, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise prior to reading Act IV, scene i of Much Ado About Nothing (the wedding of Claudio and...

Prior to reading Night, class members engage in a guided imagery activity that helps them make text-to-self connections to Elie Wiesel’s account of his experiences with his father in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Complete directions, as well...

The children's book Humphrey the Lost Whale tells an amazing tale of a community joining together for a common cause. Read this book with your class, making connections between the events in the story and personal experiences of...

Students conduct Internet research on one famous person to explore his/her important contributions to society.

Fifth graders examine advertising on wrappers and determine how it makes them feel about the product. They determine through a discussion the kinds of advertising/marketing techniques used to attract them to a product.

Students use geographic information to make an outline map of Africa, then demonstrate their understanding of the physical landscape of Africa by using a variety of materials to create a physical map of Africa

Students cheer wildly for each other as they explore things they have in common and things that make them different. They sit in a circle and clap and cheer as enthusiastically as possible. Students keep an eye on the teacher, so that...

Young scholars participate in graphing data.  In this graphing data lesson, students make a stem and leaf plot of their summer activities.  Young scholars create numerous graphs on poster boards.  Students discuss the...

Haiku poetry is explored in this language arts lesson. Yong readers identify the characteristics of haiku and read several examples. Students make connections between their study of Japan and the poetic form of haiku, and they write...

With The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry as the hook learners discuss the rainforest, the animals that live there, and conservation efforts. Then, students write a letter to the man in the story asking him not to cut down the Kapok...

Through this activity pupils learn about King Kamehameha I, and letter writing. It begins with an overview of Hawaiian history, with an emphasis on King Kamehameha I, and then goes on to a letter writing activity. Each person writes a...

A biography is a type of literary genre that everyone needs to be familiar with. Here, the class will read two different biographies of George Washington and discuss how they are similar and different, then decide weather they can glean...

Upper graders choose a foreign country to research. They use the computer to locate three recipes from the country of their choice. Next, they link the information in each recipe to what they know about nutrition and food. Note: This...

Upper graders listen to and watch a documentary about an all female group Antigone Rising. They discuss how females are portrayed in the rock world, the type of music they play, their song lyrics, and what they note in the documentary....

To observe preservation techniques firsthand, learners dry a flower in sand and compare cucumber slices soaked in salt water for a week with slices left out to dry in the open air. Video resources (not attached) include one about mummies...

Students identify the social, culturaland political problems of the 1920s and compare them to the problems of the 1960s. They research both eras and then make a presentation to the rest of the class.

Eleventh graders use technology as a tool to research authors of literature being studied. Then students use a presentation program to make final presentations. This lesson allows them to create an understanding of the context related to...

Students participate in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of trust. This is taught by using a game that asks one person to lead the other while blind folded through an obstacle course. The teacher must watch the students...

It's always a good idea in soccer to be able to pass the ball to a teammate. It takes practice to be able to make good passes, the right speed, the right touch, the right place. Teachers can connect to the other lessons in this unit...

First, second, and third graders explore elapsed time through estimation and prediction. They work with a partner to estimate how long it will take to perform various tasks. One person uses a stop watch to time his or her partner...