This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...

Investigate the fascinating, yet terrifying phenomenon of hurricanes from the safety of your classroom using this earth science unit. Focusing on developing young scientists' spacial thinking skills, these lessons engage...

Through watching several classic air pressure demonstrations, middle schoolers determine that high pressure areas move toward lower pressure areas, heated air causes a drop in pressure, and forces exist when pressures are unequal....

Imagine a tool that magically engages readers in the classroom. A handbook for Indiana educators doesn't guarantee success, but it does offer a variety of strategies for teachers to try. The handbook opens with research-based theory...

What experiences lead people to change and how do they do it? After reading about Cole's encounter with Touching Spirit Bear, readers complete the second out of a series of five activities to predict future events in the text. The...

Young scientists track Hurricane Katrina across the Atlantic Ocean as they learn about these destructive forces of nature. Provided with a table of data tracking the location and conditions of Katrina over a one week span, students...

Water is vital for survival, but how does it help global cultures flourish? Elementary and middle schoolers learn about the different cultures around the world that celebrate water and incorporate it into their festivals or traditions.

When making sweet tea, why do people dissolve the sugar in hot tea instead of cold tea? The class discusses the previous lab and builds upon it. Working in groups, they design an experiment to determine how temperature affects the...

What is autumn like in Shanghai? How much rain falls during September in Sydney? Is Moscow cold in October? Take a virtual trip around the world with a research assignment on autumn in different countries. After learners answer questions...

Discuss the concept of main idea in a story or other reading material. Middle schoolers identify the main idea in a passage using a technique that eliminates unnecessary words not relevant to the main idea.

"Yuns betta outten the lights!" Colloquial language is the focus of a instructional activity that asks middle schoolers to consider the pros and cons of using idioms. They read articles, match expressions with their meaning and place of...

How authors bring characters to life and make them believable is the focus of a lesson on characterization. Readers closely examine passages from To Kill a Mockingbird and Dreamland Burning, noting details that reveal the character's...

How does Oliver Twist, the novel written by Charles Dickens, compare with its screenplay adaptation? Although the activity doesn't require learners to have read the novel, the similarities and differences of the highlighted passages...

Middle schoolers, after reading the Transatllantic Slave Trade, create a color coded triple-timeline to help them explain the chronological streams that flow through the essay.

Who built the Transcontinental Railroad and why was it important? Your class can learn about the laying down of these tracks by reading a short passage. Pupils then respond to five questions related to the text.

Readers of Wuthering Heights use the DRTA strategy to formulate predictions about the actions of characters in Bronte's novel.

Students study the state of the world before the slave trade. They explain the geography and economics of the slave trade. They explore primary sources and how historians use these sources to create historical interpretations.

Students examine the concept of origin and ethnicity. In this ethnic studies lesson, students engage in a variety of interdisciplinary activities including posters, and discussions to better understand our past and future.

Fourth graders recognize and can describe the settlers of Early America. In this American colonies instructional activity, 4th graders research using primary and secondary sources, Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans...

Eighth graders examine the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people. In this unique cultures lesson, 8th graders explore music, language, and slavery of the Gullah-Geechee people from the southern low-country in the United States. Students...

Students read passages and research the Cherokee Tribe and write an account of a typical day as a Cherokee Native American. For this Cherokee lesson plan, students listen to Cherokee music, read Cherokee passages, fill out worksheets,...

Students write a Bible verse in calligraphy.  In this calligraphy lesson, students take dictation on a passage from the Bible that is not well known.  Students discuss how long it took to take dictation and use a ratio to...

In this Ottoman Empire worksheet, students read a 1-page selection about the empire and examine a map. Students then respond to 5 short answer questions about the reading selection and the map.