Self reflection is an important skill to reinforce in our children, and it's especially helpful to help them realize who they are in the context of their environment. A collection of lessons about self image and community encourage...

Everyone deserves to read a great book! Here, pupils write a persuasive letter to the school's librarian detailing their favorite story and why it should be found on the shelves. Class members' persuasive reading passages are shared with...

Pitch your best news story to your news team, or the peers in your journalism class, with a lesson plan about finding, reporting, and presenting a story. After watching clips of different examples, as well as strategies for...

Encourage the all-star students in your class with a bulletin board idea that showcases them! "A Class of Champions" is a sure way to inspire class members to do their best, persevere, and encourage their...

Enhance the reading experience with a set of lessons designed to improve textual analysis. Seventh graders use guiding questions to read both informational text and literature closely in the first part of the unit. Next, they work on...

Discussing great works of literature with peers is an excellent way to both comprehend and celebrate reading! Learners work in literature circles during a unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and share paragraphs that...

Are you enjoying the use of all five senses? Imagine that you have to lose one of them; you can choose which one, but it's gone forever. Work through a lesson based on Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis that asks class...

Reflect on your identity, the past events that helped you form your personality, and your future aspirations with a lesson about self concept. Eighth graders examine their own traits and the ways they are unique from their peers before...

Your personality is based on the things you believe in, the morals you abide by, and the values upon which you make your decisions. Delve into a set of lessons about values and moral framework with your eighth graders as...

Artifacts give us the privilege of learning about the past, may it be family, culture, or traditions. Here, class members learn about their family's past with the help of an artifact, or family heirloom. Once an artifact is...

After completing the first five lessons from the series, scholars assemble their quilt pieces to create a family history quilt. They then rate their experience of learning about their families by conducting interviews, creating family...

Support young scholars' oral language development with the use of four early childhood activities. To reinforce proficiency, pupils read with an adult, play a game of telephone with their peers, put on a play with puppets or stuffed...

Come take a ride on the space bus! Scholars go on an imaginary trip to pick up their peers from the inner and outer planets while reinforcing math skills. First, learners round decimals to identify each planets' distance from Earth....

Elections are supposed to represent the will of the people. So why don't 100% of registered voters line up at the polls on Election Day? High schoolers study the last few elections and the voter turnout for each, according to race,...

Most people are eager to offer their opinions about topics of interest, but what's the most effective way to collect and assess these opinions as a matter of fact? High schoolers learn about the history of polling, as well as the...

Have you ever wanted to know the true structure of E.coli? Does the thought of peering into its "small world" sound exciting? Here is a lesson that allows pupils the ability to do just that. Blossoming microbiologists use...

Put a new, action-filled spin on a classic game with Star Wars® Dodge Ball. Scholars turn into Jedis and lightsabers are used to save peers from sitting on the sidelines, all the while a bombardment of balls fly towards moving...

Encourage peer collaboration and assist with the creation of visual aids to identify carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles as your class learns more about nature. They discuss relative information, create a visual aid...

The steps of the scientific method examine a problem, make a prediction, and attempt to solve the problem—similar to the path most stories take. In the activity, individuals see how stories can explain natural events similar to the way...

Promote responsibility and camaraderie with 10 lessons on conflict resolution. Learners define conflict and teach ways to resolve it. Each lesson provides an activity and scenario for role play, and lends itself to discussion among...

Using paper and a pencil, produce a pop-up puppet of a groundhog that peers out and over it's burrow to tell us when Spring is coming. 

Filter young teenagers' opinions and perspectives with a classic fishbowl discussion. Given any topic relevant to your curriculum, a group of class members engage in discussion for their peers to observe.

A tweet can only be 140 characters long, including spaces. Challenge class members to write a positive note to one or more of their peers in 140 characters or less. It is a great activity to give on Valentine's Day to upper...

Honor brave young women with a lesson that showcases 30 individuals who's achievements made a lasting impression on our country's history. Here, scholars randomly choose a person to examine from an interactive myseum exhibit then share...