Franklin Learning Activities

Ben Franklin was a man with a plan. Learners investigate his plan for self-improvement using excerpts from Franklin's autobiography. Then, pupils develop their own plans and discuss how to sell them to others using the two-session lesson...

Bring Benjamin Franklin to life in the classroom with a set of five activities. Discover the type of person he was and his accomplishments through a study of his inventions and comments about life virtues. 

Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.

Scholars know him for his role in the American Revolution, but Ben Franklin was also a journalist and printer. Learners investigate his standards for what was fit to print using primary sources—including writings where Franklin explains...

Is a pretend friend worse than an open foe? What benefits come to those who help themselves? Take a look at some of Benjamin Franklin's famous aphorisms, which advise readers to conduct themselves properly throughout the day. Pupils...

Benjamin Franklin famously had an aphorism for every situation—most of which we still use in modern vernacular. Introduce class members to Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack with a presentation that details the characteristics of aphorisms.

Students cite connections among Franklin's Albany Plan of 1754, his Plan of Confederation of 1775 and the U.S. Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence. In an essay, they give examples of the philosophical and political...

Explore connections within and between informational texts with this lesson about encyclopedia articles. Middle schoolers write encyclopedia articles focusing on topics in American history. They discuss how to determine credibility...

Benjamin Franklin was many things: a scientist, businessman, diplomat, politician. Learners explore facets of the legendary figure with a matching activity. By matching primary source documents to their descriptions, they analyze the...

A scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, and the founder of a nation—and that's just one person! Learners investigate the many lives of Benjamin Franklin. Using a hands-on interactive online resource, they analyze primary...