Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...

More than 127 non-native species live in Glacier National Park in Montana and their infestations are growing! Pupils read about and gather samples of exotic plants. Participants create a master book of pressed plants and complete a...

A reading of Peggy Parish's Amelia Bedelia launches a study of idioms. Groups then select several idioms, write the meaning of the expressions, draw or select images, and use GIMP or Photoshop to create an idiom book. 

Is separate but equal actually equal? The 1950 Supreme Court case Sweatt v. Painter discusses the law of segregation and inequality. Scholars investigate the impact of the case on the desegregation of public schools across the nation...

Come prepared for your next Back-to-School Night with an organized and informative presentation for your parents. Here you'll find a sample PowerPoint that includes such highlights as the teacher's homework expectations and...

Help learners with special needs recognize the interests of their family members and build a foundation for conversation practice using worksheet activities and social prompts. 

A discussion of bioluminescence launches an investigation of animal adaptations. After re-watching the opening minutes of Dark Water, class members listen to a reading of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This, and then create a new...

Mary from The Secret Garden finds a key that could possibly unlock the door to a secret garden. Scholars read Frances Hodgson Burnett's class novel and match vocabulary words with definitions, answer comprehension...

Designed to help readers recognize the point of view of the author of a primary source documents and analyze how that point of view influences the reliability of a text, young historians examine two personal letters, one...

After reading "The Bullet," a particularly intense chapter in Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members listen to the Spanish and the English versions of "Dimelo" by Enrique Iglesias. They then discuss how the...

Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...

Take a closer look. Young academics become detectives in an engaging lesson plan on the American Revolution. Scholars work in groups to analyze documents to uncover whether the American colonists or British soldiers fired the first shot...

Want your class to use critical thinking when discussing vocabulary? Go beyond the dictionary with a vocabulary activity based on Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. Kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer that also provides...

How do letters and numbers create a picture? Scholars learn to create input/output tables to graph functions. They graph both linear and nonlinear functions by creating tables and plotting points. 

Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...

Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...

According to the Mauna Loa observatory, carbon dioxide levels increased by 3 ppm in our atmosphere between 2015–2016. Individuals analyze carbon dioxide data from around the world and then share this with a home group in lesson...

What skills are necessary to interact with different types of text? Twenty-first century learners live in a digital world and must develop a whole new set of skills to develop media literacy. Class members engage in a series of...

After screening an episode by BizKids, scholars show what they know about business vocabulary, then take part in grand conversations about role models and ethical dilemmas.

Can you bow your head and pray in school? Scholars investigate the issue of school prayer with the Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale. A short video clip along with paired group work helps viewers form opinions on the matter. They answer...

Not all heroes wear capes—or cleats. Class members identify unsung heroes in their schools or towns for interviews, then create trading cards. A celebration including presentations or trading of cards completes their investigation of...

In this multi-faceted introduction to pi, participants perform a bevy of pi-related activities. Ranging from measuring household items to singing pi songs and reading pi stories, this fun and non-intimidating resource serves to bring up...

Students, after being introduced to Visual Thinking Strategies, create sunprints.

Third graders read and discuss math story problems and analyze if the story is using equal groups or unequal groups. They listen to the book "12 Ways To Get to 11," and simulate the story using beads on a pipe cleaner. Students then...