Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre.  Based on what...

In this everyday editing learning exercise, students correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph about Johnny Appleseed. The errors range in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

Explore Japanese society and national identity. Class members share ideas about the Japanese economy and then investigate a series of resources, including an article, a film, a lecture, and a poem, to learn about Japan's Bubble Economy...

You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...

Look into the future with a lesson plan on biodiversity and natural habitats. Learners read articles about different perspectives when it comes to planning future development, and decide which angle is the highest priority in a...

Using everything they have learned about writing paragraphs over the past few lessons of the unit, class members compose an informative paragraph independently. This is an authentic assessment of their ability, since learners have...

Bring two integrated curriculum resources about Thanksgiving to an elementary social studies unit. The first activity focuses on Squanto's contributions to the early Pilgrims' survival with a gardening activity in which learners add...

Arkansas ranks first in the entire world in the production of bromine! Here is a lesson which guides middle schoolers through a study about the formation and history of Arkansas' bromine reserves. They also looks at the many uses of...

Skin color is controlled by at least six genes. Young scientists learn about skin colors through a documentary. They discuss the topics of pigment, natural selection, and vitamin D absorption. They apply their knowledge to higher order...

"Things are not what they seem" in this poetry activity, which discusses Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life." Your learners will see the world through the eyes of the transcendentalists after analyzing the meaning, context,...

I spy with my little eye! Learners observe page 23 in The Most Beautiful Roof in the World and practice what they would add to a field journal. They discuss how details from the text help add to their thoughts. To finish,...

Here's your chance to save the world. The eighth lesson in a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit has young scientists come up with ideas for individual or group projects. They identify ways to solve the energy crisis. Hope they...

Golf is a popular game that is enjoyed around the world. Invite your pupils with visual impairments or blindness to putt a few balls or make a hole in one. This lesson provides several very good suggestions as to how you can teach an...

If all the mined gold in the world was melted across a football field, it would rise 5.4 feet. That's just one interesting fact pupils learn when using the debate topics website to determine if the United States should return to a gold...

Investigate the stock market as it relates to the business world. Young scholars investigate ways to invest their money for the future. They make a presentation and discuss their findings with the class.

Does where we live influence how our bodies express genetic traits? Explore variation in human skin color with an activity that incorporate video and hands-on learning. Individuals model the relationship between phenotypes and genotypes,...

As part of the introduction to Edward Bloor's Tangerine, class members generate a KWHL chart listing what they know, what they want find out, how they plan to find this information, and what they have learned or still want to learn.

What would you do if...? That's a great question, and, when posed to learners with visual impairments, a question that can foster concept development and speaking and problem-solving skills that relate to real-life situations. The...

During a cholera outbreak, scientists presented two theories; one theory was based on miasma and the other on germs and contaminated water. The lesson looks at the scientific process for finding the real culprit. 

Data encryption is an important security measure for sensitive data stored on computers. Pupils learn how to utilize matrices for creating code. They also get a great review of matrix multiplication, inverse matrices, and the identity...

Inspire first grade artists to learn about abstract and realistic art while reading Eric Carle's Where are you Going? To See My Friend. Young artists design and make a mural collage by tearing shapes of paper while comparing English and...

Explore the trade-offs of using a free app. The fourth installment of a 12-part unit helps young consumers discover the cost of receiving a free service. They learn how these apps make use of their access to data.

You know global warming is real when your squirrel feeder is full of popped corn instead of kernels! Activity two in a series of five allows learners to explore climate change through the eyes of another. After briefly analyzing their...

Investigate the effect of one-axis rotations on geometric figures. Scholars learn to use snap cubes and the right-hand rule to draw figures after rotations about the x-, y-, or z-axes. They try their hands at examples created by the...