Young scholars explore basic Excel spreadsheets.  In this spreadsheet lesson plan, students enter Alaska weather information and  perform calculations. Young scholars title the columns on the spreadsheet and format the...

Explore rational numbers with the young mathematicians in your class. They will investigate decimals, fractions, and percents before ordering and comparing rational numbers. This multi-day unit includes differentiation activities and...

Use a performance task to assess third graders' ability to read informational text. After they plan a lemonade stand business, young entrepreneurs implement that plan through informational writing. The task assumes learners can...

On June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech close to the Berlin Wall at the Rudolph Wilde Platz. On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan Delivered his famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down...

Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...

Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...

William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...

Everyone has a different point of view, even when it comes to the enormity of the universe. Two separate text passages explain the scope of a galaxy, prompting young readers to write an essay about each author's argument and how the...

Should the work of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences be funded by the government? Middle schoolers weigh in on the status of federal funding for programs that protect the environment with three text passages...

Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...

Challenge writers to compose an essay detailing their stance on, and the history of, voting. Three assignments, each broken down into three parts, requires fifth graders to take notes, read and complete charts, write paragraphs, compare...

A three-part assessment challenges scholars to read informational texts in order to complete three tasks. Following a brief reading, class members take part in grand conversations, complete charts, and work in small groups to research...

A three-part assessment promotes reading comprehension skills. Class members read literary texts and take notes to discuss their findings, answer comprehension questions, write summaries, and complete charts. 

Keep your mind and body fit with a fun activity about the five food groups. After going over the functions of fruit, vegetables, grains, meats and beans, and dairy, as well as oils and fats, learners participate in a bean bag toss...

Do flexible circuits change dimensions during fabrication? Groups use GeoGebra software to measure the length of pictures of flexible nano-circuits. To determine if the circuits change dimensions, future engineers use Microsoft...

Students are introduced to the five health related concepts, muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, body composition and flexibility through a game of musical hoops which incorporates math operations.

Here is a great learning task that focuses on the development of areas in computational fluency including strategies in mental math. Young learners are guided through a list of addition expressions that help them visually understand the...

Teach adolescents to use credit responsibly. The 32nd installment of a 35-part module covers how to calculate credit card payments using a geometric series. It teaches terminology and concepts necessary to understand credit card debt.

Aunt Barb's salad dressing is a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt, herbs, and a pinch of math. Fifth graders add the fractional measurements of ingredients to find a total amount. The fractions have unlike denominators. After finding the...

Subtracting negative numbers can be confusing to your middle schoolers. Here, they are able to draw a number line and put their answer in sentence form to check their understanding of negative numbers. 

Understanding how to multiply a whole number by a fraction is the key concept. Young mathematicians create a visual model of this real-world example and find the solution. Extensions are possible for making this an even richer activity....

Learners consider several factors to determine if Felicia has enough gas to make it to her destination. They must explain the approximations Felicia might make while driving to determine if she needs to stop for gas. They are also asked...

Fifth graders need concrete experiences to introduce a unit on multiplying fractions by fractions. A strip of paper is used to create a number line and represent 5/6. It is folded first in half, and then in quarters. After unfolding,...

A great hands-on activity involving adding and subtracting, beginner mathematicians determine how many games can be played with 20 tickets. Instead of tickets, youngsters use 20 counters or linking cubes to represent the amount of...