From the first day of school until the last, keep your class running smoothly with this set of calendar templates. Including both a monthly and a weekly calendar, as well as a project description page, these resources are useful...

What was daily life like for those attending segregated schools in 1925? Modern learners fill out a KWHL chart as they explore historical background and primary source documents about the Laurel Grove School in Fairfax County, Virginia....

Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...

Here is a basic and organized template that will help get you started on a welcome letter for parents at the beginning of the school year. It will help guide you in considering the primary components to include your...

Dealing with the very topical subject of cyberbullying, this lesson plan will surely create some engaged discussion in your classroom. Young learners discuss the laws concerning cyberbullying in Canada, and then respond to a series of...

Introduce some nonfiction reading into your classroom! This resource contains seven comprehension questions pertaining to an article from The New York Times website about the first middle schoolers to ever win the United States Chess...

Students identify and research various suitable school carnival activities. Then they work together to plan, design, and run all aspects of a school carnival. Students also add up their costs for the event and the amount of money it...

Looking for some moves to do in the bleachers while at a school sports event? This lesson teaches two sets of 32-counts. The moves can basically be done while standing up in the bleachers!. The amount of movement will be determined by...

Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing instructional activity. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel...

What happens when a school is caught tampering with state test scores? Learners find out about the Atlanta Testing Scandal as they read a New York Times article. After they read, they test their comprehension by answering seven who,...

The documentary, The Legendary King of San Miguel Island, introduces the fascinating tale of Herb Lester, his family, and their life on San Miguel Island. Viewers have an opportunity to expand their study of the island and of...

How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.

Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...

After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the...

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

As part of a study of the history of the Chumash on California's Channel Island chain, class members view the documentary Once Upon a Time, respond to discussion questions, and create a timeline for the different waves of migration.

Bring your learners together to write a class narrative about the first day of school. Start off by teaching them about sequence with a quick oral activity. Then, work together to fill out a story map. Finally, compose the class...

Class members are presented with the image of a painting and asked to record their first impressions and analysis. They then research the time period in which it was painted and discuss how their research impacted their first impression...

Archaeologists have discovered a cache of Native American relics. They want to preserve these relics by removing them from the rapidly eroding site to a lab where they can be studied. Native American traditions demand that the items...

Complete studies of the memorable characters in Richard Peck's novel A Long Way from Chicago. The lesson describes three different activities to help your class better understand characters in the story, character development in general,...

Seventh graders write science current events articles using various media sources.

  Did you know that 50% of all Americans can trace a relative who traveled through Ellis Island? Relive these journeys with your class and then provide sentence strategy templates for them to use to compose their own informative...

Whether you're considering a poetry unit or just want to incorporate more poetry in your curriculum, this unit plan is a must-have. Packed with poems, teaching points, powerful prompts, and poetry performance suggestions, the resource is...