This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...

Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history instructional activity. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing...

As part of a study of the American Presidency, groups investigate five topics: Campaigns and Elections, Role and Responsibilities, Life in the White House, Assassination and Mourning, and Communicating the Presidency.

Explore the inventions of the past with a project on ancient tools. After reading an article about hunting during the Archaic period, the Late Prehistoric period, and the Historic period, kids fill in a cause-and-effect chart about the...

Sixth graders explore the damage associated with an earthquake by designing a structure that can withstand earthquake intensities on a shaker board. They then view tips for preparing for an earthquake, and what...

Do you know why woodpeckers have red heads? Why the possum has no hair on its tail? Why a cat has nine lives? Find out by downloading this resource that uses Zora Neale Hurston's collection Mules and Men as the basis of a study of...

Ask not what the lesson plan here can do for you, but what you can do with the lesson plan. The answer is quite a lot! Young scholars revisit JFK's famous inaugural address with a focus on his plea for civic engagement....

Students develop character, write short narrative about how it got its powers, and create a clay figure using modeling and assembling techniques to explore the concepts relating their figure to the African power figures.

Students write a first-person narrative from the perspective of a runaway slave, or a historical character of the period, and present their story orally.

Images can inspire powerful writing. Engage your class in narrative writing with the idea included here. Individuals each snap a digital photograph that includes action. The teacher then mixes these up and hands each class member a photo...

In this ESL literacy worksheet, students examine each individual board and then use them to tell and write a story about the events.

Students write a non-chronological report about wolves. They read and discuss wolf fact cards in small groups, complete a KWL chart, observe the teacher model the steps of writing a report, and conduct research and write an original...

Fourth graders write about the forced Potawatomi migration. In this primary source instructional activity students are read journal entries from an emigrating party of Potawatomi Indians. Students reflect on the items the Indians might...

Students view photographs from the Civil Rights Movement and write an essay from the point of view of someone in the photograph. They artistically represent various aspects of the Movement.

Eighth graders analyze primary source documents emphasizing young people in factory labor (mill workers during 1840-1860). They study hours of labor, ages of laborers, reasons for working, and working conditions. They write a poem or song.

Students are guided into creating their own self-portrait in steps using colored pastels. They also use their self-portraits as a springboard to write a personal narrative. This is a cool lesson!

Young scholars identify and research significant people, causes, and primary documents of the U.S. Revolutionary War. They create a class Revolutionary War web using Inspiration computer software, write a journal depicting three days in...

Students explore how works of art can be inspired by stories by creating their own work of art inspired by a narrative text.

Students write a poetic analysis on a poem by Carl Sandburg. They take their previous knowledge of poetic devices and apply them to a piece of writing that displays their knowledge on a specific poem. They explain what they know about a...

Students share their own knowledge and experiences of holidays they observe. They research a holiday of their choice and write a report. They also create art of their holiday to complete as a pre-writing activity.

In this writing instructional activity, students write an original acrostic poem about the month of September. Students begin each line with a word or phrase that starts with the letter on that line.

Students study global warming by communicating the problem, process and solutions.  In this global lesson students use graphs, research and write a critical stance on natural disasters.

Students study Robert Harris and his work. They examine his portraits and self-portraits and create their own self- portraits. They discuss the life of the artist and write a short biography.

Fourth graders, while working in centers read Richie's Rocket by Joan Anderson, and then create a puzzle using ideas, emotions, and experiences from the story. In addition, they write specific definitions for certain words, use those...