Are history textbooks plagiarized? The New York Times article, “Schoolbooks Are Given F’s in Originality,” looks at this question and forms the basis for a lesson on textbooks and plagiarism. The very detailed plan includes resource...

Let's get graphic. Serving as the final performance task of the unit, scholars complete their graphic novelettes and design covers based on their sketches. Finally, they present their hard work to classmates. 

Young scholars explore different types of doors from an artistic point of view. In this creative thinking lesson, students look at different types of architectural doors and doorways and analyze them. They create a project of a door as a...

A happy discovery occurred in Arkansas in 2004: a woodpecker, believed to be extinct since the 1940s, reappeared! Or did it? Middle to high school ecologists examine scientific evidence and use critical-thinking skills to determine...

Scholars explore U.S. Foreign Policy and Cold War ideologies adopted after WWII. They conduct Internet research on a topic or issue related to the Cold War Era, watch two films, and compose a time line and a multimedia presentation to...

Second graders review the basic elements of a story. Individually, they write their own original story as they use a software program to help them map out their ideas. With a partner, they exchange papers and read them for grammatical...

Seventh graders perform research in order to appreciate stories taken from the genre of myths and fables. The examples of the stories create a context for students to create their own myths.

Students write an adventure story. In this writing lesson, students listen to an adventure story and identify the elements of an adventure story. Students use story starters to create their own adventure story.

Students write poetry and post it on the Internet for others to see.

Students write a creative writing piece by personifying apples. In this creative writing instructional activity, students view a PowerPoint about the writing process and brainstorm about apples. Students write a rough draft about their...

Students write persuasive letters supporting a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Once they have written the letter, they respond to it from the coach's point of view. In addition, students compose various conclusions to their letters.

Third graders write an essay which answers the question, "What kind of student do you want to be?"

Lost! (or misplaced) a modifier. Last seen dangling at the end of a sentence! Reward offered! To underscore the humor, class members are each given a sample sentence to illustrate (A woman passed by, leading a Springer Spaniel, in a...

Young scholars research primary and secondary sources to find information about their ancestors. They write a series of journal entries, from the perspective of one of their ancestors, on what life was like in that given time period.

Students examine the writing process. They determine the needs of the readers of their story before writing. They use peer-editing to check for errors and read their story to the class.

Students create stories about imaginary planets.

Second graders read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. They then discuss where various names come from. They create a individualized biopoem and publish it on word processing software. Their poems are compiled into a class book and presented...

Third graders use ruler and tapes to measure classroom objects. After discussing measurement tools, have students complete sentences stating what they would use to measure various objects. Later in the computer lab, they type their...

Students research life in the Middle Ages. They write a historical fiction diary based on a character they create. Students use the six steps to process writing to complete their diary. They orally present their diaries to the class.

Students create a graphic organizer and instructional rubric using word processing software. They conduct Internet research at the History Alive website, and publish an essay.

Students participate in an animal research report. They present a PowerPoint presentation to the class and follow specific instructions when it comes to what to include in the report.

Students review and use the information from previous lessons about their county. In groups, they write articles for various sections of a class newspaper. They review and edit each others work and publish their newspaper using a desktop...

Pupils investigate the characteristics of fairy tales and create and edit their own stories. their work is formatted into a storyboard and shared with their classmates.

Students practice biographical and autobiographical forms of writing: autobiography, biopoem, character traits, classmate biography.