Fifth graders, after reading Island of the Blue Dolphins, explore map making using the Whole Language Approach.

Imagine 28 instructional strategies, appropriate for all subject areas and all grade levels. Directed Reading-Thinking Activities (DRTA), Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) activities, KWL charts, comparison matrixes, classification...

Why is it important to use precise language? Participants explore this question in the fourth activity in a series of 15 on effective instruction. Perfect for all content areas, the activity promotes appropriate language choice through...

Students discuss the government as a whole and then each amendment is examined. They complete a Bill of Rights test in groups or on their own. Answers are gone over in class and discussion is encouraged.

Thanksgiving doesn't occur only once a year for the Haudenosaunee. Weave an instructional activity about reading closely with an inspiring message about eternal gratitude for all of the elements of creation into a unit on Native American...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...

Here is a mid-unit assessment for a group of lessons studying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The first half of this instructional activity calls for several forms of review. Your class will review the content of the...

Your learners will take key economic concepts, such as identifying needs versus wants and the four factors of production, and design a video to explain their topic choice to the class. Rather than have one person in charge of dispensing...

Bridge subjects ancient history and English language arts together with a unit all about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Eleven lessons begin with a read-aloud followed by a whole-class discussion in preparation for practice by...

Do people really need “a newer, bigger Holocaust” in order to change? Or is it possible that by making text-to-self connections to the stories of others people that they can change? In order to connect to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, class...

Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't  confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to...

Have your class explore the art of storytelling through this lesson on fairy tales and folktales. Learners interact with a variety of fairy tales and folktales. They practice telling stories out loud as well as writing their own. This...

Practice using proper verb tenses in the spirit of Thanksgiving! Learners are given holiday photographs as prompts to create oral and written sentences in a targeted verb tense.

Learners write a persuasive essay explaining how religion and/or spirituality serves as both a guide and a source of conflict for both an individual and their culture. They develop a definition for the terms spiritual and religious...

Who says you need a human to be your valentine on Valentine's Day? Give your dog-loving readers an inspiring perspective on how a sister givdes her brother a valentine from the family dog. They then answer 10 questions thatd involve...

Fifth graders find each state and its capital city on a map before memorizing the information. They work in small groups after watching a modeled lesson plan by the teachers. They write a statement about their assigned states and capital...

Young scholars explore Greek mythology. In this ancient culture and introduction to The Odyssey literacy lesson, students complete a worksheet accessing their prior knowledge about Greek mythology. Young scholars listen to a passage...

Students design a unique basket plaque incorporating at least one symbol from their chosen tribe. They also identify, share, and give rationales for the symbols in basket plaques. Whole class discussion jig-saws their discoveries.

Students, divided into two groups, are put into a new culture, where they must create their own body language for greetings, etc. They learn aspects of other cultures such as body language, discourse patterns, male and female roles.

Students use Lewis and Clark's journals to identify the forms of non-verbal communication they used. They discover the problems they faced on their journey and how they overcame them. They practice using the non-verbal language of the...

Learners explore the Underground Railroad.  In this U.S. history and technology lesson, students research an assigned topic related to the Underground Railroad, such as "abolitionist," "conductor," or "station houses." ...

The options are vast with this Ancient Greece and Olympics research project! Using Scholastic online resources, historians have interactive and educational supports to guide them through researching and writing about the 2004 Olympics in...

To gain a better understanding of Hispanic heritage and culture, as well as to build informational comprehension skill, learners explore facets of Hispanic American History. They engage in a class discussion, research three facts, and...