Discuss controversial issues with your charges. More importantly, discuss how you have to research both sides of a controversy before taking a stance. In groups, middle schoolers research the controversial issue of dog sled racing. They...

Conduct research focused on improving a current technology by having students work in groups to investigate improvements that could be made to a particular piece of technology. They list the current problems and attempt to develop...

Students devise a system for watering classroom plants during school year and summer breaks. In this watering system lesson, students work in teams to investigate water needs of plants and develop systems that will keep the plants...

What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore...

English learners practice basic weather terms from listening to two books. They keep a daily weather record for two weeks to record the type of weather, as well as the high and low temperatures for each day. Next, they complete a simple...

Some things remain the same, such as the world being on the brink of war, or college attendees writing home requesting money. As part of their research into events that led up to President Wilson's declaration of war on...

Students read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...

"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...

Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...

What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...

A chiminea is an outdoor fireplace usually made from terracotta. Your class will make miniature versions of this useful heating device to practice specific sculpting techniques. This lesson spans four days. It includes vocabulary...

Although written for middle schoolers, there is no reason that a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader could not also learn about food chains through the dissection of owl pellets. After you introduce the topic, learners complete an owl research...

What's that lurking in the shadows? An activity that demonstrates how eclipses happen. Science scholars investigate how light and distance interact to form shadows. The experiment uses simple materials to generate data and observations...

"Neuroscientists consider Cajal as important to their discipline as Einstein is to physics." The first of four lessons has scholars view Santiago Ramon y Cajal's drawings of neurons. They reflect and respond to the art through writing...

Students watch Charlie Chaplin films and discuss film elements. They select a story written by Edgar Allen Poe to write and produce a movie of. They film scenes, edit, and create a final iMovie project.

Younsters are exposed to classic stories of Arkansas Folklore including The Arkansas Traveller, and Davy Crockett. They discuss if the stories they hear are examples of folklore, or some other kind of story. Then, each puil is required...

Make your classroom into a place of kindness and compassion with E.B White's Charlotte's Web. The first four pages of the lesson plan guide you through several steps and projects, including discussions on Charlotte and Wilbur's...

Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics...

Students view the film 'Black Robe,' which further develop students' abilities to see an event or era of history from multiple perspectives. After the movie, they utilize worksheets imbedded in this plan to write about what they've seen.

Since the beginning of time, geography has shaped the development of human civilization, and ancient Greece is no exception. This worksheet supports young historians with exploring this relationship as they first identify key land...

Learners investigate different cities and states in the USA, and practice their letter writing skills while corresponding with a pen pal.

Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...

Students develop an appreciation for Shakespeare by researching the Elizabethan period and situations in the Twelfth Night. In this Shakespeare play lesson, students complete a 52 page packet to learn about the period of time and...