Sixth graders identify different animals native to Illinois. They research a specific animal to study more about its characteristics, examine what makes a habitat, and recognize the difference between a food web and food chain.

Share their opinions on the use of DNA databases in criminal investigations. After reading an article, they evaluate the pros and cons of the databases and work in groups to answer discussion questions. They write a letter to a state...

Great real-world math application! Have the class compare and contrast their estimated home price and income data with actual data. In groups, they participate in simulations to discover how the housing market and mortgages operate....

Young scholars solve word problems and determine quotients of fractions and mixed numbers. They practice multiplying fractions by increasing a recipe found on a food website. In addition, they increase the numbers to feed the whole class...

Help middle schoolers conduct Internet research and develop a working definition for the discipline of social studies. From a list of websites, they develop classification skills and differentiate between primary and secondary sources....

Students create a scrapbook of college student life during the 1960's using digital archives and Internet research. They read and discuss the article "What's the Matter With College?" and then compare college experience of today with...

After reading and discussing a news article from the New York Times regarding gay and lesbian issues of the last thirty years, students engage in several activities to explore current events. They create a timeline, either electronically...

For this everyday editing activity, students correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about the National Public Radio. The errors range from capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

A very neat worksheet has been produced by Pearson Education, Inc. for use in a general chemistry class. The first nine questions are fill in the blanks for a paragraph about types of bonds and electronegativity. Five true-false...

High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...

Such a creative game idea, this activity might actually make grammar fun! Learners play a modified game of connect-four by identifying the grammatical name for different words and phrases and then working them into simple sentences to...

Enhance your lesson on Shakespeare with this poetry activity. After reading lines 139-167 from As You Like It Act II, Scene 7 (provided on the first page), middle schoolers work on a graphic organizer to paraphrase each...

"Things are not what they seem" in this poetry activity, which discusses Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life." Your students will see the world through the eyes of the transcendentalists after analyzing the meaning, context,...

Should your dog be watching tV? Read the article and then fill in the blanks by memory. Encourage a friendly debate: would you get DogTV for your beloved pet?

Tired of 20-somethings portraying high school middle schoolers? Tired of athletes and principals always being the villains? Class members examine the student and teacher stereotypes presented TV shows and films that are et in schools. 

Youths aged 13 & 14 are most likely to notice and remember in-store tobacco promotions. Class members dissect tobacco advertising tactics and learn about relevant legislation by participating in guided discussion. Assessing...

In his article about color-blind casting entitled, "Willy Loman Is Lost, Still Looking for Stimulus Plan and Some Dignity," Charles Isherwood quotes August Wilson as saying,  "To mount an all-black production of a 'Death of a...

Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...

A reading of “Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers,” a New York Times article by Sara Rimer, triggers a discussion of the American Dream and what it means to strive for something. Following the discussion, class members...

Charitable organizations and monetary donations to these organizations are the focus of the financial literacy lesson plan presented here. Learners explore how donations benefit both the organization and the people it serves. Each pupil...

Middle schoolers discover why it's important to establish a positive credit history and understand the value of credit reports to lenders and borrowers. They apply legal guidelines to establish the uses of a credit report other than...

Middle schoolers explore the primary purposes of a variety of types of insurance. They determine who benefits the most from insurance coverage, and examine the factors that lead to increases and decreases in insurance premiums. The...

Construct from a canvas of words, lyrical expressions that your budding poets can share and post.  Based on refrigerator magnet poetry, creative writers can develop their poetry independently, or from a given prompt from their...

Having fresh, clean drinking water is a privilege many people take for granted. Help raise awareness about the scarcity of water and the importance of conservation by discussing different ways water is used in everyday life. Brainstorm...