“. . . the car looked as it had caught some terrible disease.” Pairs read and then illustrate a passage from either “The Year I Drove through the Car Wash” or “Riding Is an Exercise of the Mind” in preparation for a discussion of...

Quiz your class on their reading comprehension! Provided here are 50 signs that your class has to translate. Examples include: Roulez Lentement, Ne Touchez Pas, and Tirez. An answer sheet is provided.

While this resource is about architecture, it isn't about art. It demonstrates the differences between Romanesque and Gothic architecture to show changes in the socio-political spectrum of the time. Images and good discussion questions...

Create a spider web between two poles and have your class get from one side of the web to the other without touching the web. There are four different suggested levels of play. The rules of each level guide how the players need to get...

Young scientists weave together an understanding of ecosystems with this fun collaborative activity. Taking on the roles of different living and non-living elements of specific habitats, learners use a ball of yarn to create...

What's another word for paraphrasing? Ask your pupils to put their minds to work in order to replace underlined words in a series of sentences with appropriate synonyms.

Accompany a novel study of Hatchet by Gary Paulson with a unit consisting of 16 lessons focused on physical and emotional survival. Reading the story along with a variety of informational texts, scholars compare and contrast reading...

Getting water to a tap requires an understanding the fundamentals of fluid flow. Groups design, build, and test a piping system to get water from the source — a five gallon bucket — to a tippy tap. The objective is to be able to...

Can you build it? Yes you can! This interactive game includes four design challenges presented on separate cards. The cards outline the challenges with limited restrictions but with an end goal in mind. The competitions include building...

Choosing humility over outstanding wealth can be beneficial in the long run. Elementary pupils practice reading comprehension with a short fairy tale about Queen Hulda and her gifts to a poor shepherd, and demonstrate their...

There are advantages and disadvantages to all sources of energy; the trick is determining which one has the least impact! Part six in the series of 12 has learners further explore energy resources. After reading information about one of...

Gaia Squarci's photo essay, Broken Screen, turns viewers attention to the challenges faced by those with visual impairments. After viewing the images, class members discuss why they believe the photographer structured the album as she did.

That's some worksheet! A 10-page packet includes vocabulary words from each chapter in Charlotte's Web. 

Imagine precisely cutting and then moving a 120 ton boulder more than two miles without mechanical cutting tolls, skid loaders, or hydraulic cranes. Imagine carving a stone figure that includes a drainage system that permits rainwater to...

Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.

Sometimes, we all need somebody to lean on. Scholars create a human arch by leaning against each other. They consider different approaches to making the arch sturdier and stronger.

The largest offensive in United States military history comes alive in a online interactive resource. Young historians explore the Meuse Argonne battlefield and scour the landscape for evidence from the battle. They then use primary...

Have to stay indoors for a PE class? All you need are bean bags and glue sticks, and you have yourself a bowling alley! Check out this activity, which goes beyond a traditional bowling game to give your class members the opportunity to...

Middle schoolers investigate the concept of finding the area of a parallelogram. The lesson uses a story that is told as an illustration to help straighten the confusion associated with the concept. Students could construct...

Explore the complex themes of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo with a concept and vocabulary analysis lesson plan. Lead your class in a discussion about the underlying social and historical issues surrounding the novel, as...

Burrowing animals are busy! Get your middle school ecologists busy as well by having them create a scale model of a burrowing population. They also design a PowerPoint or poster to explain their models. 

Students study the role of water in limestone cave formation and create a cave on karst-like grid on paper.

Students explore their existing concepts of caves and match them with a working definition to use during the unit. They name the two types of rock formations in which most American caves occur, and define "show cave" and "wild cave."

Students study what worms need to survive in different environments. They study how worm composting improves soil and reduce waste. They discuss composting techniques and present a puppet show about a worm's life.