Students use their senses to write descriptive sentences. In this descriptive writing lesson, students discuss their senses. Students are asked to look at and feel unpopped corn kernels. Students then write descriptions of the corn...

To launch a study of civil rights, class members brainstorm rules and expectations of behaviors at home, in school, in the workplace, and in sports. They then look at civil rights cases and examine the rules embedded in these cases. 

Students list memorable moments fro childhood. They complete the worksheet "Your identity, your heritage." Students look a sites regarding genealogy and discuss information about their families' genealogy or heritage. Students visit the...

Students explore symbols of nationalism and consider their relevance today. Students listen to national anthems of various countries, discuss sentiments that songs and lyrics invoke, research history of anthems and countries they...

What do you think will happen? Use a graphic organizer to help learners predict what will happen in a text. Consider modeling the chart using a familiar story, pretending you don't know what happens. Show scholars the book, explaining...

While a terrific idea, this lesson in which learners create a timeline showing the date that a variety of buildings and monuments were built in Ancient Rome, requires resources teachers may not have. It requires the use of a Smartboard,...

Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related...

Readers of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, James L Swanson’s young adult novel, use a Venn diagram to compare information about Abraham Lincoln and the events surrounding his assassination, with the images and information presented in picture...

Use this activity to study similes and metaphors and the inferred meaning. In this language arts activity, 5th graders write their own similes and metaphors. A worksheet is provided for extension work or to check understanding as homework.

“The mind is its own place. . .” and Milton’s Paradise Lost is sure to expand the vocabulary (and the minds) of young readers. Assist that growth with an activity that asks individuals to first select and define five unfamiliar words,...

Learners explore the history of government relations, policies and experiences with American Indian peoples. Using the internet and other sources, learners research reservations, past and present. Given a real word problem, learners...

Pupils interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this fugitive slave lesson, students research and analyze fugitive slave advertisements from Virginia newspapers.

Young scholars participate in Writing with Writer's, a step-by-step set of directions aimed at improving different genres of student writing. They identify the characteristics of different genres and follow a specified writing process to...

Middle schoolers research the Samurai and their Haiku Writings. Students use internet research to gather information about the ancient Japanese Samurai. The middle schoolers then create individual Haiku writings, and a cultural day is...

Students evaluate the jobs that their parents do. In this literature-based social studies lesson, the teacher introduces the concept of work both at home and on the job and leads the children in the creation of a Venn diagram to aid in...

Young scholars work in small groups of three or four to create books based on the Eric Carle books studied. Topics may include tadpoles, guppies, people, moths, and plants. Media used may include Kid Pix, sound recordings, art pieces,...

Students compare and contrast a perceived view of life in Australia with the reality. In groups, they identify examples of stereotypes and how they can lead to misconceptions about a group of people. In groups, they complete a...

Students examine the works of Holocaust artist Samuel Bak. In this Holocaust instructional activity, students analyze and interpret the works of Bak that feature his first-hand childhood experience of the Holocaust.

Learners consider colonial rights. In this Bill of Rights instructional activity, students complete an activity guide that requires learners to analyze taxation without representation. Students respond to discussion questions pertaining...

Students imagine themselves as the captain of the CSS Alabama and they are to stop all Yankee traffic, taking prisoners and sinking merchant ships. They write a couple of paragraphs stating their view of the purpose of the CSS Alabama.

Students examine art and primary documents that depicts the Native Americans' crossing of Washington's Bitterroot Mountains to arrive at the Spokane Council. Students investigate and compare maps and other historical materials determine...

Students analyze last and testaments of former slaveowners to identify and explain economic, social and cultural differences between the North and the South leading up to the Civil War.

Eleventh graders are divided up into groups and work on separate worksheets. They reassemble as a class and discuss the different articles and how the railroads affected people's lives.

Students investigate the predator-prey relationship of owls and raptors. They examine a variety of resources about owls and raptors, develop a list of vocabulary words, dissect owl pellets and identify what owls eat, and play a...