If you're looking for engaging, cross-curricular, inquiry-based activities and projects to support your class reading of Carl Hiaasen's Hoot, you've come to the right place!

Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...

Here is an outstanding series of lessons on journalism, writing newspaper articles, and writing editorials. This type of writing has long-been neglected in our schools, so this collection of writing activities is most-valuable. Along...

Clara becomes Marie, The Mouse King becomes a rat, and the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh becomes the setting for a modern interpretation of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Intended as a resource guide for a 2012 performance, the...

Inspire first grade artists to learn about abstract and realistic art while reading Eric Carle's Where are you Going? To See My Friend. Young artists design and make a mural collage by tearing shapes of paper while comparing English and...

The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this lesson that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss Everdeen and Peeta...

Students explore ethnic diversity. In this tolerance lesson, students discuss the food choices in their school cafeteria and determine how the menu may limit choices for those of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Designing a game is the focus of this probability lesson. Groups develop and build a unique game, including directions for how to play, a calculation of the expected value of winning, and a personal reflection. The plan provides a...

Your search for a year's worth of leadership lessons is over! A lesson in a character education series provides a full two semesters of inspiring leadership activities. The resource includes individual and group challenges to ensure a...

Need to know if your students comprehend all the Common Core standards covered in second grade? This growth assessment will let you know.  Find out if your second graders can add/subtract, tell the time, read a bar graph, know their...

Introduce your class to the characters from My Antonia by Willa Cather in a unique way. Given a hypothetical situation about an atomic bomb shelter and a list of character descriptions, pupils must decide which characters get to...

Parent functions and their combinations create unique graphical designs. Learners explore these relationships with a progressive approach. Beginning with linear equations and inequalities and progressing to more complex functions,...

After brainstorming the various aspects of cultural identity, class members interview each other, examine video clips, and read stories to discover how these aspects reveal one's cultural identity. Individuals then craft a quilt square...

High schoolers examine the unique and diverse historical artifacts that people have designed to fulfill their everyday needs in extraordinary ways. They identify ways humans have used design throughout history to enhance the ways they...

How do you affirm and negate a statement of value? What is refutation? Interested in debate? Introduce your class to the format of the Lincoln Douglas debate with 14 lessons, designed to be used in order, so that debaters learn the logic...

Scientists recently discovered several previously unknown species at the Bear Seamount off the coast of New England. Scholars research these new species — benthopelagic, benthic, and seamount fish — and find out what makes them...

What led to the fall of Rome? Scholars have debated the question since the end of the great empire. Young historians consider the same question through an economic lens using an engaging lesson that involves a hands-on evaluation of the...

Sales tax rates vary; do the math to find the right rate! Pupils use before tax amounts and after tax amounts to determine the tax rate. Rounding makes the task challenging.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...

Encourage your class to recognize the diversity in the beliefs and backgrounds of their peers. Learners use the acronym FRAME to consider culture, background, and life experiences.

Obesity is a worldwide concern. Using survey results, learners compare local BMI statistics to celebrity BMI statistics. Scholars create box plots of the data, make observations about the shape and spread of the data, and examine the...

Learners examine peer pressure as it relates to sex. They watch and discuss a video, identify messages and values they receive from different groups, develop a list of their own personal values related to sex, and design a brochure or...

The blogosphere may be overwhelmed with content, but there's still room for unique points of view. Creating a blog that stands out, however, is the bigger challenge. A handout on blogs, part of a series of handouts on specific writing...

"Up and Atom" is a mini-unit introducing middle-schoolers to the wonders of elements. Participants draw atom models, examine the periodic table, compare samples of metals to nonmetals, identify unknown elements, and more! The beginning...