What was life like in America before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World? Scholars investigate life in the Americas through the eyes of Native Americans in the first lesson of a 22-part series covering America's history. Using...

Picture someone's excitement of seeing a horse for the first time. How about a cow? The Columbian Exchange changed life for not only Native Americans, but also for Europeans and the entire world. The second lesson of a 22-part series...

Why do rocks break down over time? Learners explore this concept by simulating physical and chemical weathering of different types of rocks. They use an abrasive to demonstrate physical weathering and acid to demonstrate chemical...

Students use Internet links to plan a 3-day tour of France. They role-play a typical encounter that may be experienced during their trip.

Fifth graders examine the impact of Benjamin Franklin's ideas on the goods and services available in Colonial America as well as analyze the importance of Franklin to modern society. While listening to "How Ben Franklin Stole the...

A world without adjectives would be a sad place indeed! Make sure adjectives stay around by teaching your class about what they are and how using them can make a boring story truly interesting. Learners put this idea into practice by...

A good complement to any integers unit contains a three-day lesson plan about positive and negative integers, adding and subtracting integers, and how to find the additive inverse. Additionally, it provides all necessary...

Looking for a tree-rific addition to your water cycle unit? Teams of young foresters examine the role of transpiration in the water cycle through a week's worth of activities. Pupils analyze how trees take in and transport water during...

"Things are not what they seem" in this poetry activity, which discusses Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life." Your students will see the world through the eyes of the transcendentalists after analyzing the meaning, context,...

Which is colder -12 or -18? Temperature is natural real-world application of ordering rational numbers. It's also fun to talk about the lowest recorded temperature on Earth. Take the time to discuss this inquiry with your class. 

To foster concept development and auditory discrimination skills, learners with visual impairments listen to identify a variety of common sounds. The teacher makes recordings of various sounds, including those found in the home, at the...

When most children learn about prepositions, they are provided with a visual to show them the concepts of on, in, near, and beside. For learners with visual impairments, concepts need to be constructed in a very concrete way. A stuffed...

How sustainable are cell phones? Throughout the unit, learners explore the issues around cell phones concerning sustainability. Class members take a graphical look at the number of cell phones across the world using a box-and-whisker...

Many indicators of health are beyond a teenager's control, but there are many changes they can make in their daily life that can improve their health. Middle schoolers think about their physical, social, and mental health status before...

While canals are not the way to travel today, in the first half of the nineteenth century, they were sometimes the best way to move goods and people. Scholars examine primary sources, including maps and pictures, to investigate the role...

Explore non-violent protest in this social values and world history lesson plan. After viewing the movie Gandhi, and discussing important events in Gandhi's life, young orators write a speech defending Gandhi's position on the value of...

Students identify why the Hopi tribe practiced running as it relates to health, delivering messages, defeating other tribes, and for ceremonial events. In this social studies lesson, students use maps to identify latitude and longitude...

Invite your class to consider how to respond to a conflict. Designed to be used alongside Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado, a lesson plan focuses on a set of terms: conflict, escalate, deescalate, conflict resolution, denial,...

Youngsters examine how people show respect and care for the land. Specifically, learners see how the Native Americans truly did care for and respect the land, and still do so to this day! They also explore how they themselves can care...

Examine statistical data to recognize the relationship of statistics to real-world issues. Pupils navigate e-stat using the Internet and find data about social issues. They complete a worksheet with their data and create an anti-smoking...

Learners explore comprehension strategies as they listen to Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini. As the story is read, teacher and pupils will stop occasionally to make text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connections. They also...

Junior high schoolers learn how to read a water meter, track their family water usage, and discuss the amount in class with other pupils. They will interpret real-world data and graph it. It is ideal for increasing awareness and...

Thomas Alva Edison may be one of the most well-known scientists to elementary or middle schoolers. Use his story to show that he invented more than just the light bulb and to inspire youngsters to work hard! You could use this on the...