Young scholars explore marine animal adaptation. In this introductory ocean life biology lesson, students access prior knowledge by participating in a whole class "thought swap." Young scholars form two lines, respond to a prompt from...

Students explore how to use quotation marks in writing to add dialogue to a paper. In groups, students observe pictures and add quotations to them. Students follow rules of punctuation and capitalization as they proofread and edit each...

Strengthen life skills with practice reframing anxious thoughts. First, learners develop rational counter-statements to provided anxiety-producing thoughts. Then they extend the skill to identify and reframe anxiety-producing thoughts of...

Students examine the difference between hunger and malnutrition. They study the idea of hunger as a theme in literature while discovering how communities can solve hunger problems.

Cake has to be good for something, right? Different foods are used by our bodies in different ways. Learners will first read about what fats, proteins, fruits, and vegetables do for the human body. They will then put each of food shown...

Why are bees disappearing? Explore cause and effect relationships with this interesting question. As the detailed lesson plan indicates, start by brainstorming some of the possible effects the disappearance of bees would have on the...

Learners construct a model of the hydrologic cycle, and observe that water is an element of a cycle in the natural environment. They explain how the hydrologic cycle works and why it is important, and compare the hydrologic cycle to...

Here is a well-designed lesson inviting learners to consider the qualities of a hero. They describe the lives and deeds of national, state, and/or local heroes. This is a thoughtful lesson, which is part of a sequential group on heroes....

A thought-provoking lesson presents how different cultures view death. Upper elementary through high school pupils engage in a series of activities that will leave them with a new understanding of how death is dealt with globally....

Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...

Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...

High schoolers engage in this thought-provoking lesson which has them view images from the past that depict the social condition. During the series of four lessons, pupils design a PowerPoint and a photo montage of images they collect...

Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...

An excellent lesson plan about pumpkins is designed for young learners! This thorough plan has terrific suggestions for activities to do using pumpkins, ideas for art projects, books to read, some nice coloring sheets, and a page of...

Here is an impressive activity on how agricultural practices and technology have advanced over time. Thoughtful discussion topics, good warm up activities, and fine worksheets are all embedded in this eight-page plan. The plan comes from...

Upper elementary and middle schoolers study the case of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird that was once-thought to be extinct. Learners explore the responsibility of people to preserve habitats, and take care of the animals who live in...

Introduce youngsters to the term ecological footprint. Learners identify ways in which humans affect the environment. They look at the problems associated with the use of natural resources, and focus on ways to preserve natural...

Youngsters read text about an environmentally-friendly car. They try to figure out the meaning of the vocabulary in the text and discuss issues related to alternative energy sources. This thoughtful, well-designed plan has all the...

Students explore what they thought they knew about "Indians." They examine the Hopi, Abeneki and Kwatiutl tribes in a game-like activity using archival documents.

A great unit! There is a lot of content that is personal so make sure you have created a safe zone in your classroom before doing this lesson. It will have much more meaning if your learners share their life with others in the class....

Young ecologists examine the case of the prairie dog, and their near extinction. They read a terrific student handout embedded in the plan, and engage in a class discussion that's based on what they read. Learners perform research on...

What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson...

It is important for students to have a safe place to discuss domestic violence, dating, and abuse. This discussion-based lesson provides upper graders with a list of warning signs for abuse, community resources, and ways they can help...

Here's an excellent packet of worksheets that delves into animal issues, and also covers the people who work in the community who help animals, such as veterinarians. There are thought-provoking questions associated with photographs of...