Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With...

Students explore the role of special-interest groups in American campaigns. They create their own political advertisements.

If you lived in prehistoric times, what kinds of choices could your family make to increase their chance of survival? By making similar decisions in a simulation game, participants discover how specialization creates both opportunity and...

Tenth graders debate a resolution about a planned waterfront community from the point of view of various interest groups. They have a "Town Meeting" in which members from each interest group debate their researched opinions for points....

While ancient Mesopotamia didn't have the TV show "Shark Tank," it was a time of entrepreneurship as workers began to specialize. Both individual workers and the societal structure encouraged individuals to consider how they could...

Stanchion, spar, spinnaker. Right wing, sweeper, hip check. Every subject has specialized vocabulary. Here’s a fun way to introduce your learners to this jargon. Provide class groups with newspapers and have them search pre-selected...

Use an alternative setting for pregnant teens and young mothers, as well as special education children to examine environmental topics through literature. Included in this unit is a visit to neighborhood libraries to select children's...

Who wouldn't want to read a book about monster plants? Get those kids into informational texts with an engaging topic, like meat eating plants! You'll use the teaching guide to provide structured practice as your class reads to...

Analyze magazines as a class, looking carefully for the target audience, advertisements, and topics presented. Small groups then work as a publication team and receive a magazine that they have to "sell." Each individual has a different...

In the world of academia, conference papers and presentations play a big role. It's through conference papers that professors and graduate assistants share their research with others in the field. A handout on conference papers, part of...

Students discuss the characteristics of an autobiography. Individually, they complete a graphic organizer and a timeline of events about their life. In groups, students brainstorm ideas for an interesting sentence and write an...

What a pair! Older pupils interview younger ones and use what they learn to write a short, illustrated storybook that features the youngster as the main character. The youngster responds with a thank-you note in which they identify their...

Students learn along with Ms. Frizzle's class. In this Magic School Bus lesson plan, students learn the importance of recycling as they explore how things can be reused or recycled again and again.

If your class loves movies, this lesson is sure to interest them. After discussing the purpose and structure of movie reviews, young writers compose a movie review and discuss why people may read a review before they go see a film. The...

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

It is so important for learners with multiple disabilities to learn how to communicate for both social and functional reasons. Each child will choose a topic from the list and generate five questions related to that topic. They'll split...

Interested in a special folktale to read with your class? Then this lesson might be for you. Readers will build an understanding of the food chain while creating a storyboard that includes the characters, setting, and plot of the story....

Students, in cooperative groups, design and create a wildflower garden for the community. They write letters to property owners requesting use of their land and then write invitations to their parents and to local, state, and federal...

Talk about intrinsic motivation! Begin where your students' natural interests lie  -- with themselves -- and launch a variety of projects with this activity. Class members research important events that took place on their...

Here is a great way to bring core content to your special education classroom. Included is a set of instructional ideas intended to help learners increase their verbal and written expression through storytelling. Tape recorders, story...

Second graders make predictions about reading.  In this remedial reading instructional activity, 2nd graders read a favorite author's story, and read about an animal or favorite hobby or how-to.  Students discuss the...

In this literature book review activity, students read a nonfiction book about space or space exploration before choosing a topic to explore further. They choose from 7 activities such as designing a model, writing a letter, write about...

Students read newspaper articles and watch segments on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. In groups, they discuss how each media outlet presented the material and decide which one was more productive. As a class, they discuss...

Students produce their own self-portraits and use them to create a book in iPhoto. They explore the visual symbols used by artists to communicate their feelings, interests, and identity.