Being a bystander can often cause as much harm as a bully causes. Junior high class members learn more about their role in a bullying situation with a presentation that defines the types of bullying, lists ways to deescalate a...

Grandma said to gargle with salt water for a sore throat. Was she right? In the last part of the seven-part unit, lab groups design an experiment to test a cells reaction to salt solutions. The pupils conduct their experiment to answer...

As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history....

In order to understand how the land changes over time because of the people who live there, learners interview an elderly person about the past. Children ask an older family member to describe what the local area was like when they were...

Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language...

Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest...

Discover how to calculate the expected value of a random variable. In the seventh installment of a 21-part module, young mathematicians develop the formula for expected value. They connect this concept the dot product of vectors.

What does empathy look like? Encourage your pupils to put themselves in another person's shoes with several writing and discussion activities that relate to a featured short film. Over the course of the activity, individuals collaborate...

Learners explore potential learning, earning, and living goals that align with their personal goals and interests in a comprehensive unit that includes complete lesson plans, interactive notebooks, worksheets, overheads, rubrics,...

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day? Will, a ninth grade student in We All Fall Down, was at work with his father in the World Trade Center. Scholars read Will's story of the accounts told in first...

Are the joys of childhood really that joyful? Readers take a look at adolescent and young adult anxiety. Activities include close reading of articles and a self-reflection of scholars' own fears and anxiety. Learners then create a deck...

Connecting to literature and learning how to infer are two great reading strategies everyone needs to know. Here, the class will read along with the story The Miracle of the First Poinsettia, review folktales as a genre, and make...

Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...

Analyze the poem "Casey at the Bat." Your team of analysts will read the poem and complete a variety of activities, including describing how Casey looks and acts, describing how he feels before and after he strikes out, and sharing...

What would you do if you had to go to school all day every day? Tillie tackles this problem in Sharon Creech’s A Fine, Fine School. After a discussion of how Tillie got the principal to change his ways, brainstorm with your class...

Build reading comprehension and critical-thinking skills as learners focus on discerning fact from opinion. First, introduce the two terms as you test prior knowledge and explain their meanings (there is a scripted explanation here for...

Check understanding of plot with a study guide for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Separated into sections, you might split this up into pieces or give it to individuals as a packet. The questions are mostly lower level,...

Feelings of loneliness and alienation drive the characters in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. Use this handout to set your class members up for a lesson on these big ideas. In addition to finding a couple of definitions...

Learners examine the forest ecosystem and how all life in the forest depends upon itself.  In this ecological instructional activity, students participate in a personal connections activity where someone pulls on a string and...

First graders identify unique personal characteristics. In this character education instructional activity, 1st graders listen to the story Ugly Duckling and discuss the changes the animal went through in the story. Students bring in...

Students generate 2 or more questions without teacher support. They state known information and make personal connections without teacher support. They select two or more resources to answer his/her question. They distinguish...

Seventh graders review the stages of the writing process. In this writing process lesson, 7th graders review the writing process steps by creating a personal timeline. Students complete graphic organizers for the lesson and present their...

Explore math concepts as they relate to real world situations. Young analysts consider a personal hobby or favorite sport and list three ways math is involved in the hobby. They create several related math story problems and write a...

Ask your learners to reflect and write with this worksheet. This activity asks pupils to write about positive experiences - times when they have displayed positive qualities such as courage, kindness, wisdom, and determination. This...