Students explore the concept of understanding the effects of disturbances in an environment.  In this life science activity, students use the game Jenga to help capture the idea of environment disturbances.  Students discuss...

Pupils use the internet to research the effects of volcanoes. They create a chart showing the negative and positive aspects that a volcanoe can bring to an area. Using PowerPoint, they create a presentation showing the negative and...

Second graders practice using punctuation in run-on sentences. In this punctuation mini-lesson, 2nd graders listen to the book Punctuation Takes a Vacation. They read their own sentences and try to find where they end. 

What would happen if I structured this review by beginning in the middle of it? Or by flashing back to the dinner I had last night that gave me bad heartburn, and then transitioned into how the lingering burn of acid seeped into my...

Create to learn! Your class can create posters of transitional words and phrases to help them compose an explanatory text. They work in groups and focus on one type of transition (time, place, importance, etc.). They also create a poster...

Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...

After reading a text written by James Joyce, middle and high schoolers find examples of passive voice. They share their findings with the class. Use this lesson to emphasize the effect of passive voice in writing.

If you're completely lost on what grammar you should cover for Common Core skill L.9-10.1, look here! You will find some ideas and examples on what to include, making sure your learners can master the skill. The multiple choice quiz is...

Sixth graders review literary devices. They use both fiction and nonfiction texts to review metaphor, simile, alliteration, imagery, symbolism and personification. This lesson has a scripted guide for the teacher to follow.

Students watch the News Ohio video about Lincoln Junior High School. They write a reaction paper, explaining what effect the studying environment has on students. If the classroom was in a basement, perhaps a little dark and damp, would...

As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...

Students read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. In this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and...

Introducing or need to review literary devices and terms for a study of poetry? Though text heavy, the explanations and examples of key poetic devices will provide learners with the vocabulary they need to discuss and craft poems.

Fifth graders brainstorm processes or forces that cause Earth's surface to be changed.

Tenth graders use the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to analyze relationships in society. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders participate in a shoe activity where they bring in one shoe belonging to someone they know and a...

What happens next? Work on story sequence with a lesson plan that prompts kids to put a story back in order. Additionally, they discuss what would happen if one event was missing from the sequence.

Explore the respiratory system with a model. First, pupils build a set of lungs to experiment how they inflate and deflate. Then, they delve deeper into the topic with a web quest to discover new information about the nose, trachea, and...

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

Do you know the setting of The Count of Monte Cristo? What about the main characters? Explore the elements of Alexandre Dumas' novel with a reading comprehension activity. Kids toss boxes with literary elements written on each side,...

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Third and fourth graders complete a vocabulary log which includes a definition, and a sentence that demonstrates the meaning of the word. Then make an illustration that represents the definition of the word. The trick is that they may...

Although these slides are text rich, the summaries of prokaryote characteristics will be useful. There are diagrams of preferred cell conditions and your students will find all the basic definitions of structure and functions...