Students practice their writing skills by composing an opinion letter in response to a topic identified by a writer to Dear Abby or Dear Ann Landers. Effective communication skills form the basis of this activity.

Students explore the major causes of heat attacks as the topics of the human circulatory system, blood pressure, heart disease, arteries and veins are examined. Opinions on the topics are developed as researched material is presented to...

Students interpret information on a weather map in order to construct a graph, and discuss how the weather impacts their lives.

Eighth graders explore the life and works of Pablo Neruda. They complete an author map concerning his personal and professional life. Students identify the key components of an ode. They write an ode to a common object around their...

Middle schoolers explore ethical "mitzvots." In this philanthropy lesson, students consider how to lead their lives ethically according to the dogma of mitzvot. Middle schoolers discuss the consequences of their actions.

Students explore their creative writing skills. In this Cinderella writing lesson, students compare perspective as they read and discuss 2 versions of the "Three Little Pigs." Students then watch "Cinderella" and use their creative...

Students study the history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. For this Pennsylvania history lesson plan, students use primary documents to study the history of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In a culminating activity, students create an...

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. For this story elements lesson, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

Students discover how to navigate websites. In this Civil War lesson, students conduct research on slavery as they visit a website to experience oral, written, and digital texts and performances by slaves from the Civil War era.

Ninth graders examine the importance of family history.  In this Language Arts lesson, 9th graders read and discuss African oral literature with a focus on the roles of griots.  Students compare /contrast the elements of...

Tenth graders complete literature analysis activities using Guy de Maupassants "The Necklace" and the Grimm Brothers "Cinderella." For this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders discuss the life and career of Guy de Maupassant...

Students investigate pattern books. In this literature lesson, students read the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and use echo and choral reading strategies. Students identify the pattern in the text and write about the...

Young scholars read different pieces of literature and practice using narrative reading strategies to gain meaning. They use conflict resolution techniques found in literature and apply it to a real world situation. They discover how...

Students listen to a read aloud of Flat Stanley. They draw flat self-portraits, e-mail themselves, along with a letter to a buddy.

Students explore the components that comprise the formation of a budget. Sales brochures advertising apartment furnishings are used to assist students in this task.

Students develop a rubric or scoring guide to assess newpaper articles. They rate the story and write the reasons for the rating. An Essay Scoring Guide is attached for reference.

Students, in groups, work together to develop a five-paragraph essay that defends the group's viewpoint on an assigned topic. Each student in the group writes one paragraph.

Students analyze patterns of organization used in writing to determine how and when comparisons and contrasts can be effectively utilized to identify similarities and differences or pros and cons.

Students apply reading comprehension skills to poetry and synthesize the information to create a new piece of work.

Students discover that Dorothea Dix was the first to make the pubic aware of the terrible living conditions of people with mental illness in the 1800's. They evaluate the influence of citizen action on public policy.

Students identify the environmental elements of river and lake mussels. They compare the elements to the time before settlement and during industrialization. They also participate in a field trip to a mussel exhibit.

Students study the parts of speech and then review them. They identify each part of speech and place them on a tree map. Then they visit a website to create a "Wacky Web Tale" using information from the tree map. They print their tales...

Fourth graders are introduced to the concept of the seasonal round and how folklife traditions vary from season to season. They begin charting dates of personal interest on seasonal round calendars by starting with birthdays. Students...

Students connect with pen pals through photography. In this digital photography lesson, students create photo booklets to share with pen pals. Students correspond with their pen pals throughout the school year. Students also create...