Develop reading skills in your middle school classroom with this short reading passage. Consider assigning your class a reading strategy to practice as they read the selection. Ten reading comprehension and vocabulary-in-context...

Here are three well-thought-out tasks intended to build good note taking and letter writing skills. The class reads three short letters, determines who wrote them (based on context) and takes notes as a pre-writing activity. They...

What media literacy skills do people need to evaluate a news source? Scholars listen to and discuss an NPR story about how fake headlines often dupe young people and adults alike. Next, they study news stories, using a fact-checking...

To better understand early American literature, which was usually written by Puritans coming to the new world, learners pretend they have just landed on Mars. They compose a letter home describing their experiences, the new landscape,...

Introduce the topic of water conservation with a little drama. Dressed as snowflakes, hail stones, or rain drops class members dramatize the events in a narration of the water cycle. The series of lessons that follow focus on...

When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...

Students examine the characteristics of their own environment and compare them to another region. They prepare a box filled with items and stories about their own region, exchange the box with another class in another region, and...

Third graders conduct experiments in matter to create chemical changes resulting in gases. By mixing solids and liquids, they create a chemical reaction and capture the gas in balloons. After observing the balloons fill with carbon...

No rules...awesome! Or is it? It's tough for young learners to think about what would happen if a rule didn't exist, but understanding the rules and where they come from helps keep everyone safe. Youngsters write a rule on the front of...

A series of hands-on, outdoor activities increase understanding of agricultural terms, soil management, pest control, and more. Plan ahead for this one as it requires a number of supplies and could be messy. Activities include...

What are the three types of irony? After reviewing dramatic, situational, and verbal irony with your readers, present them with this two-page document. They read six excerpts to determine which type of irony is used in each. After...

For kids who love movies, figuring out a schedule for the maximum number that can be seen in one day is not only a good demonstration of Common Core mathematical practices, but also a highly motivating activity. Robert Kaplinsky...

Explore the importance of rules in a community with the engaging first lesson plan of this series on the US government. To begin, children play a paper clip game that requires them to make up their own rules as they go, after which...

Here is a great resource to guide your instruction on identifying medical emergencies and administering first aid when necessary. Topics covered include assessing the scene of an emergency, calling EMS, and addressing a range of...

No matter the age of your sewing pupils, they will enjoy these activities and projects that develop basic sewing machine use, following patterns, and finally creating a fun project of their own. 

Looking for a way to challenge the problem-solving abilities of your young mathematicians? Then look no further. This collect of newsletter worksheets engages learners with a variety of interesting word problems that cover topics ranging...

As part of a series of lessons focusing on the parts of speech, language learners engage in games and exercises that encourage them to use adjectives to describe people.

Reinforce concepts and encourage learner engagement with a collection of math games, science experiments, and cross curricular activities. In one fun resource, learners sort objects, keep a diary of everyday fractions, play a game using...

Should that pause in your sentence be long, short, or somewhere in between? Practice using commas and semicolons with a series of grammar activities. High schoolers read a series of sentences and paragraphs and decide where they should...

Can you imagine a pumpkin patch without pumpkins? Learners read how Tammy's family solves their problem in a cooperative way, followed by a set of 10 reading comprehension questions.

Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.

Being raised by wolves has its advantages. An eBook gives readers the chance to experience Rudyard Kipling's classic novel The Jungle Book, a story about a boy named Mowgli who wants to stay with the wolves that raised him instead of...

What's in a name? Pupils use the Scratch code blocks to animate letters in a name. They learn about events, sequencing, and loops in computer science by taking part in the project.