Who decides someone is not a real person? Scholars investigate the Dred Scott v. Sandford court case which deals directly with slavery and citizenship. After viewing a short video clip, classmates work in pairs to assess and discuss the...

After sketching an essential person and reading an article, scholars read the poem "In a Neighborhood in Los Angeles" by Francisco X. Alarcón. They listen to the poem in English and Spanish and record lines that stand out to them. Small...

Introduce ecology classes to biodiversity and interdependence in ecosystems with a PowerPoint presentation. Then, they get up-close and personal with the invertebrate world by collecting insects, classifying them, and graphing their...

Anna McMullen's opinion piece "Bangladesh Factory Collapse: Who Really Pays for our Cheap Clothes?" offers readers another opportunity to examine how writers craft and support their arguments. After reading McMullen's article, class...

After analyzing a pie graph of national spending, high schoolers express their opinions on priorities for national spending. They create a new bar graph and mail it to their congressional representative with recommendations about needed...

Students write a comprehensive personality profile feature that demonstrates knowledge of the Wall Street Journal formula of feature writing and the concept of show, don't tell. They experience a press conference interview situation.

Students develop a Personal Learning Profile. They brainstorm how to design a profile and state their roles and responsibilities. They locate, select and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, references and ...

Young scholars help create a Health Wheel: a personal, inspirationally based, self-care plan for preventing or managing diabetes in daily life. They (student or client) researches the causes of diabetes, and creates a "health wheel" that...

Students investigate organs, anatomical planes and transverse sections of the human body using gel people. In this human anatomy lesson plan, students use gel molds, gel and food items to make models of the human body. They create a...

Students make happy and sad masks to examine their personal emotions, allowing them to verbally express their feelings and learn abstract concepts. They use their masks also to help them categorize their emotions and later chart them.

Students explore historical information about U.S. national parks using the stories of Edward and Margaret Gehrke as a primary source document. In this United States geography, history, and literacy activity, students view the diary...

Students examine a day from the point of view of a homeless person. They listen to and discuss two stories, identify ways to help homeless people, watch a Reading Rainbow video, and write an essay.

Middle schoolers illustrate how the actions of one person can make a difference. They identify school and community issues to address and complete group projects and action plans for making changes in the school or community.

Students have an important historical figure on a card on their back and by giving them clues, students have to determine who they are. In this historical figure lesson plan, students compete to find out who they are first. 

Young scholars create a musical autobiography. For this fine arts lesson, students explore the emotions that music can express by listening to and discussing a variety of music. Young scholars construct a personal timeline and a...

In this vacation planning worksheet, students plan a vacation.  They determine the approximate cost of their vacation.  Students complete an itenrary and  graphic organizer to identify daily costs of the vacation. ...

Middle schoolers research character traits of famous women in history, compare those traits to those of his/her mother or guardian, and create Mother's Day cards, on which they list traits their moms share with famous women in history...

In this mirrors worksheet, students will design and draw their creation of a "Crazy Mirror Room." They must use a combination of convex, concave, and plane mirrors and they must write a description of what a person's reflection would...

For this smart meter plan to save on electricity worksheet, students research smart meters, the cost of electricity  and methods for conserving energy, then answer 7 questions.  This page has several links to helpful websites.

Eleventh graders write a paragraph about what they are going to do after graduating from high school. As a class, they share how they are going to meet their goals and discuss other options other than going to college. To end the lesson...

Learners research the tradition of using personal seals from ancient to contemporary times in China. They become familiar with several Chinese characters and reproduce a facsimile of a personal seal or chop and use it to mark their work.

It can be hard for substitute teachers to navigate their way around your classroom. Help them out with a form that shows them where everything can be located. In addition, it includes a space to locate the teacher's lounge, a person who...

Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...

Introduce your class to the genre of mystery. Included is a vocabulary list, a rubric, and a sample mystery story called "Lethal Lesson." There are very limited directions on what to do with these resources, so you will need to plan some...