Whether using Touching Spirit Bear in the classroom, as an outside reading assignment, or in a homeschool situation, your readers will benefit from this eight-page packet of essay and discussion questions, vocabulary lists, and reading...

Fourth graders examine the effects of Mexican-American ranching on life today.

Readers select a character from Call of the Wild, record their responses to a series of prompts in a spiral notebook, and use details from the novel to support their thinking. The spirals are then used as source material to support...

Middle schoolers explore the concept of design, and identify items in their lives that have been designed. They explore the concept of book design and create and arrange their own page layout.

Through this activity pupils learn about King Kamehameha I, and letter writing. It begins with an overview of Hawaiian history, with an emphasis on King Kamehameha I, and then goes on to a letter writing activity. Each person writes a...

What matters to your pupils? What values do they hold dear and how does that shape your classroom community? These are some the questions you'll get your class thinking about when they engage in this lesson from the US Mint. They will...

Students explore the loss and gain made in the stock market as they invest a sum of money and report the results as percentages instead of points.

Students relate legends of lucky objects such as a rabbit's foot and principles of Feng Shui to fate and free will concepts that are expressed in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Casear". In small groups, they redesign the palace of Casear to...

Students discover how to find authoritative resources. In this research skills lesson, students examine strategies for using the Internet effectively to research global development issues.

Twelfth graders practice filling out IRS 1040 EZ forms. They discuss various ways people pay taxes. They assess the importance of W-2 forms and apply skills using the IRS tax table to compute how much money is owed or returned.

Learners take a look at the local newspaper and focus on the weather section. They get into small groups, and each one looks at the same map, but of a different part of the country. They must prepare a presentation that shows how...

Third graders explore the importance of art in Haitian culture by analyzing the cause and effect within the story, "Allie's Basketball Dream." They examine all the aspects of the story and characters including their goals, dreams,...

Students take a "field trip" with the teacher through the school then draw a diagram of what they saw. They bring the maps to the computer lab where they create electronic maps using the software program Neighborhood Map Machine.

Fourth graders read and analyze the novel, Robin Hood. They create a vocabulary word map, complete a Venn diagram comparing Robin Hood and Little John, act out a chapter, create a wedding announcement, and write a new epitaph for Robin...

Learners read and discuss the book, Esperanza Rising. After analyzing and identifying the novel's structural elements, they examine working conditions for migrant workers in the 1930s. As part of the lesson, students in groups choose...

Students classify folk life traditions into folk genres. They create folk genre museums by laying down their images or postcards wherever they see a relationship. They give each an image to examine in depth and decide which folk genre...

Students examine the Kansas state quarter and the Buffalo nickel and look for clue to help them identify why the bison was so important to the Native American. They perform "freeze frames" depicting Native American use of the bison.

Students identify the concept of occupational folklife and learn about occupations in their community and the state. Then they collect examples of occupational folklife such as special terms, equipment, or gestures, as well as stories,...

Middle schoolers practice their fluency skills. In this fluency lesson, students read aloud stories to their peers and they help to coach one another on their fluency, pronunciation, phrasing, and inflection. They discuss what makes a...

Students relate phrases and sayings to their life experiences. In this phrases and sayings lesson, students participate in activities and listen to stories to understand the meanings of each saying. One day is devoted to each saying.

Fifth graders read from their textbook a story about the pioneer settlement of the Western Frontier. They review the pioneer standpoint, but also discuss how the Homestead Act of 1862 affected Native Americans. They write another story...

Students discuss energy and where they can find it. They will then discuss the sun and how it functions as an energy source. Next, students get a piece of black paper and some coins. They go outside and make a design with the coins on...

Students complete their activities related to writing persuasive essays. As a class, they review the components and structure of a rubric. They use this information to write their final essay on educational opportunities at amusement parks.

Second graders examine the different ways people move from place to place in a neighborhood. Using the interactive online atlas MapQuest, they identify the various ways people move around their own neighborhood by creating a map and...