Beginning botanists view slides of plant vascular tissue. They watch Magic School Bus Gets Planted, which you can find online, and then write a summary of what they have learned about plants. This lesson could be used with upper...

Learners analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to Chicago....

Although written for middle schoolers, there is no reason that a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader could not also learn about food chains through the dissection of owl pellets. After you introduce the topic, learners complete an owl research...

Art, identity, and an imaginary community, three components that should make for an interesting lesson plan. Critical thinkers explore and evaluate the work of contemporary artist, Elizabeth Peyton. They discuss her use of subject and...

Create your own fraction kits by folding and labeling paper using fraction vocabulary. Learners then work in groups to use these in comparing and sequencing both whole numbers and fractions. They also create unit cubes and develop an...

A simple coloring activity reinforces learning of the cell membrane structure. In addition, junior biologists answer fill-in-the-blank and short-answer questions detailing the function of the cell membrane. This worksheet is five pages...

Students demonstrate the interrelationships of animals and plants. In this ecology lesson, students discuss the things plants and animals need for survival and study the glacier food chain. Students simulate the web of life by using a...

Second graders write a poem using words from a list and practice poetic forms. In this lesson on writing a peace poem, 2nd graders brainstorm words or phrases associated with "peace." Students choose a poetic form to express their...

Estar means "to be" in Spanish. This resource provides a quick reference chart that illustrates the verb's conjugation, and there is a practice opportunity below. Consider giving your class five of the practice sentences to translate. 

A scripted lesson can be a big help for new teachers. This fully scripted three-day learning activity provides teachers with the means to demonstrate how to compare and contrast two topics in two texts. Learners will work as a class to...

Grab a debatable (or controversial) moment from your current reading, and use this task to progress the persuasive writing skills of your high school scholars. Divide your learners into four small groups and let them collaborate, debate,...

A simple lesson with a lot of support behind it. Your learners will find out how long it takes Molly to run a mile by choosing their solution method. The activity can be used as a lesson or as an independent assignment. Preface with...

Connect Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech, "I Have a Dream," to The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Taylor refers to the speech in his dedication, which creates a natural segue into talking about the speech and how it relates to the novel....

The Federal Reserve System as a decentralized central bank can be a difficult concept for learners to grasp. Help them get a firm handle on this concept using this resource, in which class members work as a group to identify the...

Do you need to learn about someone's past before you can understand that person's behavior? Use an anticipation guide to think about the literary themes of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic before you begin the novel.

Many teenagers don't have adequate access to health and nutrition information beyond a quick Internet search. Guide them into health advocacy and proficiency with a lesson plan focused on MedlinePlus as a reliable source for health...

A tube worm's outer covering is made of chitin, the same material that makes up the shells of lobsters and crabs. Scholars create tube worms and analyze and discuss the longevity of organisms living near cold seeps. They then discuss and...

It's all about the spin! In an introduction to propaganda techniques and soundbite politics, scholars first learn about common propaganda techniques before seeing them in action in the context of the 2016 election cycle. Activities...

A wind turbine is essentially just a giant pinwheel, right? Individuals first create pinwheels from paper, pins, and pencils. In groups, they model a wind farm along a coast and then test out their designs using an electric fan.

A cork, a rubber snake, and a bucket of mud may not seem like the best materials for washing a car, but they are in The Twits. The fifth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has readers role play...

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly." The second lesson in an 11-part unit that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl uses poetry to encourage positive character traits. Mrs. Twit has ugly thoughts, but those...

How can your journalism class ensure they use social media responsibly and legally? The sixth lesson in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series asks pupils to dig deep into the legal aspects of social media use by school publications....

Pupils investigate American slavery from colonial times through the Civil War. They incorporate primary sources, video clips, and firsthand accounts to understand how the slavery issue gripped the nation. Essays, presentations, and...

Upper graders take a critical look at art criticism, music, and politics. They watch one segment of "True Spin," produced by VH1 music television and then discuss myths that relate to art and music. Several modern songs are analyzed...