A reading of Kevin Lamb's short story "Lost in the Woods" launches a study of how writers use elements such as foreshadowing, mood, character development, setting, and conflict to engage readers. Class members then demonstrate what they...

Analyze and interpret a literary work your class has read during the course. After reading a variety of literary works, middle schoolers alter the ending of a selection by creating an alternate ending. They generate five comprehension...

Students examine how a rate is calculated from two points. Using battery operated cars, pairs of students measure time and distance. Afterward, they use this data to calculate the rate. Students then plot four ordered pairs and discover...

Students discuss parachutes and write a procedure to determine the effect of different size parachutes and different masses on the time it takes the masses to fall. They record all their data from their experiment then write three...

Your class participates in a variety of shared reading and writing activities related to the book Julian Secret Agent. They complete a class story chart, examine how to use punctuation for dialogue, write an alternative...

Students observe a demonstration of how melting snow and ice can contribute to mudflows. They then observea list of continents with the number of snow and ice covered mountains on each continent and discuss. They then label a group of...

Go on a scavenger hunt around your school to find evidence of math. Investigate different areas of your school for patterns, fractions, and different geometric shapes. Finally, create a spreadsheet and plot the data you've collected.

Cut magazine pictures into three sections, having your youngsters piece the pictures back together. With this fun activity, they discover the importance of sequencing a story. Then they use a fun template (shaped like a burger) to write...

Review the vocabulary from The Odyssey with this fun "I Have, Who Has" game. First, give students random vocabulary cards (included) that say "I have (vocabalary word). Who has (definition of another vocabulary word)?" Students are...

How do you create (and punctuate) really good dialogue so that it moves your story forward and provides strong characterization? Use this literary worksheet loaded with examples, clearly stated directions, and fun exercises.  Fifth...

Do your young readers have difficulty visualizing what they read? Although the activity described here is for The Call of the Wild, the strategy could be used with any narrative. At the conclusion of each chapter of Jack London’s novel,...

Add some writing to your class's reading of Cold Sassy Tree! With this plan, readers assume the role of journalist and create a segment of a paper with their peers. Suggested segments are included, and a worksheet dividing the text into...

Let your class voice their opinions with a group debate activity. Before reading John Milton's Paradise Lost, they work in small groups in assigned roles to form a position about authority and rebellion, comparing a...

"What are Henry's options?" "What do you think Henry will do?" To better understand the central conflict for the main character in Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members engage in a compare-and-contrast activity that...

Here is a lesson that focuses on the use of frequency graphs to identify a range of measures and makes sense of data in a real-world context as well as constructing frequency graphs given information about the mean, median, and range of...

Introduce the concept of exponential functions with an activity that extends the definition of exponents to include rational values. Start with a doubling function at integer values of time, then expand table to include frational time...

Have your class doing everything from reading literature, analyzing literary devices, identifying independent and dependent clauses, discussing, and writing creatively with the rich resource found here. After a mini lesson plan on...

This activity presents a real-world problem about an epidemic of influenza spreading through a city. Learners refer to a graph that shows the number of individuals infected in relation to the number of weeks that have elapsed since...

If a random sample determines that 45% of students favor block scheduling, is it possible that the actual percentage might be 50% or 60%? In this task, learners use data from a computer-generated simulation to determine the plausibility...

“Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die/Passing through nature to eternity.” Grief, and the response to grief and loss, is the focus of a series of activities that uses Hamlet as a launchpad. Groups examine Act I, scene ii to...

Using a number line, pupils are asked to identify which of four fractions is closest to one half. Includes a single problem that can serve as a practice problem or formative assessment for 3rd or 4th graders learning to partition number...

Tap into the imaginative minds of young learners with a creative writing activity. After reading the myth Giants and Mosquitoes, this student guide supports young writers as they brainstorm and develop their very own creation myths....

"A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come."  The withered and wild witches of Shakespeare’s Scottish play launch an examination of the fantastical elements in Act I, scene iii, paying particular attention to the action, imagery,...

Whether or not you are new to using The Odyssey with your classes, this publisher-produced teaching guide deserves a place in your curriculum library. The packet includes background information, chapter by-chapter summaries, study...