What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," students write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...

A great resource gets kids to start thinking about multiplication in a developmental way while building strong number sense and operational skills. Each slide contains scattered counters, which are then put into neat rows (making...

Good writing can come from personal places. Budding online authors read an excerpt from a narrative-style newspaper article and then respond to several related writing prompts. They compose blog responses that use vivid imagery to...

Get those pencils moving! Learners examine capital letters Q-X, first observing how the magic pencil prints each one. Then, they get a chance to trace a letter, following the arrows. Finally, it's time to try on their own! There is...

First, learners discuss the difference between short- and long-term goals, then they establish their own financial goals. They fill out a financial goal worksheet, create a long-term goal collage, and respond to a writing prompt defining...

Read to understand! Sounds great and your third graders will read to understand several interesting facts about Great Britain. They read, identify key details in the text, and write to answer five comprehension questions. Learning to...

Boris is the smartest baby around! Beginning readers can use this short story excerpt to practice reading comprehension and fiction elements. They read the story and then discuss what they think he will do next. Scholars create an...

Have fun with lowercase letters v and w as scholars get some printing practice. They use dotted lines and arrows to get some printing practice before writing a set on their own for each letter. Then, they complete an image of...

Take word problems one step further with apples, dimes, and bricks! After reading the word problems, first graders write out the subtraction sentence and solve the problems. For extra practice, bring in different items and have them...

Elementary schoolers are charged with writing an article for their peers. A class discussion yields topics about which learners consider themselves to be an expert. The teacher models how to construct an article by using facts he or she...

A creative way bring autobiographical writing to your poetry unit or back-to-school curriculum, this lesson plan guides you through a bio poem activity. Kids use the graphic organizer to describe themselves using adjectives, things...

Consider the possibility of a new U.S. draft with this lesson plan, which encourages class debate and persuasive arguments. Middle and high schoolers discuss how such a draft might be enacted and how they would feel about it. They write...

Considering a college search project? After picking a possible career choice, and determining if that career needs a technical college or university education, individuals examine a wide variety of sources and select three schools...

Analyze various excerpts from Hamlet and read articles to develop an argument about his sanity. Middle and high schoolers write an argument essay defending whether or not they believe Hamlet is insane. You could modify this assignment...

Do military recruiters plan to visit your campus? If so, the visit presents an opportunity for class members to engage in a series of action projects. Class members interview recruiters, propose a PTA meeting to discuss the pros and cons...

In this comma usage learning exercise, students are given an introductory word and asked to write a sentence being sure to use commas appropriately.

High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this instructional activity prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct...

Explore algebra I/algebra II with this series of worksheets. Pupils write linear equations in slope-intercept and standard form, graph linear equations, and apply linear equations to real world applications. The six-page worksheet...

From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...

Can your pupils change the world? Explore this question with Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." After listening to the songs, they discuss the tools at their disposal for...

Novice writers often struggle to determine what style of essay to write when given a prompt. This worksheet helps to identify an appropriate form based on the language of the question. For example, key words like prove or justify...

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Bring nonfiction into the classroom with this high-interest op-ed piece from the New York Times about love, marriage, and relationships in the 21st century. Pupils read a short article on the topic of cohabitation and offer their own...