Is there a difference in the way organizations present news via social media and in print? The third in a series of 16 lessons from The Social Media Toolbox explores news outlets and their delivery methods. Groups follow a story for a...

How difficult was it to get everyone to agree on the contents of the Constitution? Historians analyze the task of the Founding Fathers in creating the United States Constitution. They research a directory of video clips, primary sources,...

Are you tired of hearing "When am I ever going to need to use this in real life?" Cooking word problems, in addition to other math work, answer the question easily. Grade 6 Claim 1 Item Slide Shows offers eight problems reinforcing...

The dictionary defines twit as a foolish person. Mr. and Mrs. Twit, in The Twits, definitely live up to their name! The foolish couple dislikes everything and enjoys playing cruel jokes on each other. Scholars read about the Twits...

What's got 60 eyes, 150 fingers, and an endless number of ideas? Your language arts class! Challenge young writers to come up with clever riddles with an online poetry lesson.

The Electoral College's role in elections is sometimes confusing and controversial. Pupils use a debate topics website to research the pros and cons of the practice to debate whether the United States should still use the Electoral...

Let's party! Class members spend the first 25 minutes celebrating their independent reading efforts through an activity the teacher chooses. They then take a glimpse into the next unit of study, Pygmalion Myth Read-aloud and discus...

Climate change. Assault weapons ban. Death penalty. And the list goes on. So many issues are part of a US presidential election that it can be hard to determine a candidate's position on a particular topic and whether their position has...

To sign or not to sign, that is the question. Scholars review the Declaration of Independence and discuss the Framers' decisions for signing the document. The activity uses primary text, a worksheet, and group discussion to help...

Out of the mouth of babes ... often times comes gems. The activity uses a letter written by a third-grader in 1974 regarding President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. Scholars analyze the letter, complete a worksheet, and participate in...

An interactive challenges scholars to read a short informational text about butterflies then answer eight questions. A progress report appears after the last question.

Uncle Sam wants you to follow the food pyramid! Scholars analyze two images of propaganda posters the government created to promote the food pyramid. Academics complete a worksheet to understand the impact of the campaign and end the...

Young journalists use four strategies from an "Am I Being Fair?" tip sheet to check for and counter personal biases about a topic. Scholars apply the strategies to an article about the best pizza as guided practice. Participants then...

Class members take on the role of historical investigators to determine why it took 40 years for women in the United States to get the right to vote. Sleuths view videos and analyze primary sources and images to gather evidence to answer...

Readers of Lord of the Flies consider the symbols of power William Golding uses in his dystopian novel and support their choice with evidence from the text.

In this economics instructional activity, students imagine that citizens are going to vote on a law to control rents. Students respond to 6 short answer questions in order to help them discern how they would vote on the issue.

Eighth graders are able to evaluate the forces that shape the lithosphere. They explore background information on hurricanes by completing a webquest and answering questions. Students present their reports to the class. The class...

Students work together to design a service learning activity for their community that would benefit the Tijuana estuary. Using the internet, they research the elements of a service learning project and plan their's accordingly. They...

Students define federalism, Federalist, and Anti-Federalist, debate issue of ratification in classroom convention, and take vote on whether to add bill of rights. Three lessons on one page.

Students examine the three theories of products liability and how tort law effects consumers. They investigate a case study and either represent the plaintiff or the defendant. After presenting their arguments, classmates vote as judges.

Students discuss forest management dilemmas and make uninformed decisions as to whether they are appropriate management techniques. They draw bar graphs of the class opinion for each dilemma. They use media sources to become more...

Students determine the meaning of democracy and investigate accomplishments of a number of United States presidents. They look at images of the presidential one dollar coins before they determine how the job of the president differs from...

Students evaluate the fairness of the Missouri Compromise. They read the Missouri Compromise and discuss how it reflected the North-South, anti-slavery and pro-slavery division in the country. They work in groups to debate the Missouri...

Students' are given a research sheet to complete in small groups. They are to select a planet or moon to research using the Internet. With this research and their completed form, each group defends their planet or moon in a debate...