First and second graders explore writing conventions. They add question marks or periods to the end of teacher generated sentences on sentence strips. They locate punctuation marks in poems and write original sentences using appropriate...

Students are introduced to the safety procedures to follow while boating. After taking a quiz, they complete open-ended questions about boating accidents in Illinois. They discuss as a class how those accidents could have been prevented.

A graph not only tells us who won the bike race, but also what happened during the race. Use this resource to help learners understand graphs. The commentary suggests waiting until the end of the year to introduce this topic, but why...

Students research and develop a weight training program appropriate for an 13-16 year old.

Students sequence the events of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, after first being read a biography. The facts are on strips of paper, which are later glued end to end.

Introduce your class to the narrative, descriptive and expository forms of writing. In groups, they discuss the personality of the author while graphing the characteristics after reading different examples from the same writer. To end...

Youngsters retell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They write a sentence for speech bubbles for a character in the story, identify the phrases that can be used for retelling a story, and in small groups write a sentence for the...

A great source of high-interest reading for the language arts classroom! Meant to be used with an article also available on the New York Times website, this worksheet provides 10 comprehension questions about the reading as well as one...

This is a nice idea to introduce elementary learners to the importance of heart fitness. They will see first hand by doing some dancing how the heart beats differently and discuss which way is better to get the heart in shape. This is an...

Students explore, examine and study how to become part of a classroom community. They analyze as they enter the room a plastic bag containing several items with index cards to explain each one and its significance to the creating of a...

Send your high schoolers on a scavenger hunt through popular culture (music, television, video games, movies) to find allusions to Shakespeare. They must each provide three to share with the class, and the one they present cannot have...

Although not particularly educational, here is a creative group activity in which high school biologists will use their imaginations to create a new life form combining characteristics from existing life forms. Each group must come up...

High schoolers interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this World War II lesson, students research the implications of the use of nuclear weapons to end the war in the Pacific.  High schoolers...

Use number lines to help scholars add and subtract time as they solve five word problems. Each scenario gives a starting or ending time and several tasks that take specified amounts of time. Scholars mark the number line to determine...

Students work cooperatively to choose a theme, write a story, and produce a web site to display this story in this middle-level lesson on the career of a web designer. This excellent lesson ends with an organized, web site launch party.

Combining visual and language arts, here is a resource that prompts middle schoolers to write stories based on pictures of their surroundings. They use digital cameras to take pictures of favorite areas in the school. Next, they choose...

Have your class learn the essentials of public speaking. They compose a speech for their fifth grade celebration using iPods and presentation software. This would be a great end of the year activity for any grade level.

First drafted in the year 996, The Pillow Book contains reflections of those met by a lady-in-waiting in the Japanese court. A brief summary, historical context, and discussion questions are provided on the first two pages. Then, two...

Students formulate a more accurate understanding of the true nature of scientific research and the challenges and rewards of field investigations.

Students create a digital portfolio about their activities for several school years. Students compile pictures and copies of their best work onto flash drives. Students combine the pictures and text each year to create a cumulative...

Third graders perform jobs in order to sustain their classroom community. After completing a brief overview of how local economies are sustained, they complete job applications for classroom jobs. Students perform their jobs throughout...

Students use a spreadsheet to compute landmark statistics of a math quiz. This lesson can be ongoing throughout the school year and it integrates mathematics curriculum and technology in a simple format for student use.

Students create a monthly memory and compile it into a Kindergarten Memory Book.  In this memory book lesson, students create a monthly memory page.  Students create a graphic organizer in Kidspiration which is developed into a...

Students identify significant events that helped shaped 2006. Completing a news quiz, they discuss the importance and impact of each event mentioned. They create their own news quizzes to be used as a class. They create a poster...