Introduce literary analysis, writing skills, and purposeful reading with a book review. Pupils answer five questions that ask about plot, characters, language used, story elements, and the main character. This is a wonderful way to start...

Need help with mental math in your classroom? This guide is full of tips, tricks, and examples to help the teacher encourage learners to use their brain instead of a calculator. Practice problems are included with reasons how...

Turtles might be slow, but class will zoom by when your pupils build a program in which reptiles draw a grid. Using App Lab and JavaScript, class members build a program to find the most efficient way to draw an image of a...

If you asked a fifth grader what went wrong in their day, you may get a more thorough answer than if you asked what went well. Help young learners find moments of gratitude throughout the week with a journal template that focuses on...

Sometimes the hardest thing about an argument essay writing assignment is coming up with a question. A four-page list of prompts includes a range of topics, from social media and smart phones to video games and sports. The list is a...

Why would someone want to leave home? The age-old question is at the center of a thought-provoking activity. Scholars consider why humans move around the world both during pre-historical times and today using a PowerPoint, reading on...

How exactly does a crime scene investigation work? The resource, a unit on criminology, covers everything from the deductive reasoning skills needed for detectives to DNA fingerprinting, all the way to how to gather evidence and bring...

Through discussion and reflection, scholars discover what it means to have a positive attitude, that an individual can choose to stay positive, and discuss the benefits of a positive attitude. Learners listen to negative scenarios to...

Can they put it all together? Ninth graders apply what they know about proofs and triangle congruence to complete these proofs. These proofs go beyond the basic triangle congruence proofs and use various properties, theorems, and...

What makes a TV program enjoyable? As an introduction to media analysis, kids identify their favorite programs and the elements they find engaging.

As part of a study of Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing, class members create a KWHL chart listing what they know, what the want to know, how they will find information, and what they have learned about prejudice.

Lead your class toward mastery of making inferences with a straightforward worksheet. Pupils read four short passages and make inferences based on the questions asked about each passage. They explain their reasoning for each...

What items would you need to save the world from an evil wizard? Prior to reading Susan Cooper's young adult contemporary fantasy The Dark is Rising, and to generate interest in the tale, class groups must reach consensus on a...

What makes a good New Year's resolution? Practice goal-setting and reading comprehension with a set of language arts activities. English learners work on cloze passages, synonym matches, interviewing exercises, and...

If you've ever peeked inside a middle schooler's backpack, you know how valuable a lesson on organization can be. Help class members organize their binders, study habits, and schedules with a set of collaborative activities.

Do domed structures have advantages over their less-than-spherical counterparts? Junior architects explore the pros and cons of domes through a design challenge. Teams work together to plan, sketch, build, and test domes created from an...

Build on your classes' understanding of irrational numbers by comparing their values. The 13th instructional activity in the 25-part module has individuals estimate values of both perfect and non-perfect roots. They finish by graphing...

Educate scholars on pollution—air, water, and land—with a series of lessons that begin with a thorough explanation of each type. Learners then take part in three activities to reinforce the importance of reducing pollution. They...

Young scholars examine a painting.  For this shapes and puzzle lesson, students view Guston's painting Blue Water and identify the colors, shapes and recognizable forms.  Young scholars work in groups to put together puzzle...

Get your pupils thinking about some of the big ideas present in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson with this anticipation guide. Learners decided if they believe a series of statements are true or false. A discussion follows.

A guided imagery exercise draws class members into a particularly intense scene in Edward Bloor's Tangerine. After listening to a reading of an excerpt from the text, participants respond to a series of questions and then share their...

Set your environmental studies class up to debate a current topic regarding your choice of six suggested statements about energy use in the United States. Teams read material that you have gathered and then form their arguments. The...

Help your young writers produce high-quality topic and thesis statements that go beyond basic wording and really illustrate complex ideas and critical thinking skills. From however and compound sentence statements to using...

Pupils discover important alternatives to expressing anger and how to better manage their emotions through a collaborative discussion activity with their classmates. This resource includes nearly 100 (99, to be exact!)...