Students explore the equation of a parabola. Given a real life situation concerning a light house and a boat, students use wax paper to model and observe a relationship among given points. They write an equation describing the possible...

Students write with a sharp, distinct focus identifying topic, task and audience. They discuss anticipatory statements with supporting details. Students create an essential question at the beginning of a composition, novel, or unit.

Pupils read books about dinosaurs for book club groups and then participate in focused writing. In this reading and writing instructional activity, students work together over the course of three days to produce a group story about a...

Have your class explore alcohol awareness public service announcements. Provided are a detailed plan and a complete set of materials for doing just this. Learners are exposed to a series of approaches and advertisements and decide which...

First graders create a "Focus on Me" book of photographs and narrative passages about themselves. They focus on the traits that make each of them special. They become a VIP for a day in order to share the books.

Students engage in a lesson which is a straight forward, teacher centered, grammar lesson focusing on written and oral production of the target structure. After a lecture/demo, students work individually on an exercise imbedded in this...

Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...

Words, words, words. The function of words in persuasive writing is the focus of a group activity that asks members to analyze how words advertisers use are designed to influence targeted audiences.

Compelling discussions are the result of open-ended, challenging questions. An introduction to Paideia discussions includes explicit directions about how to prepare readers and how to model the kinds of questions they should develop...

A little bit complicated, but a whole lot of fun. Show your class an episode of the British television game show Just a Minute. After an explanation of the rules (no repetition, hesitation, or deviation) groups develop topics, based on...

The industrialization and urbanization of Alabama during the New South era (1865-1914) is the focus of a lesson that asks class members to use primary source documents to examine the impact of industrialization on Alabama workers and...

The eighth in a series of 23 life skills exercises focuses on self-awareness and respect. Groups record, on the provided worksheets, words and phrases that signal respect, and generate lists of behaviors that signal respect.

Two activities focus on healthy snacking. In the first activity, scholars create a poster displaying two messages—pack a healthy snack and make good food choices. The second activity challenges pupils to draft a snack list and tag along...

Four lessons and an at-home connection examine 12 jobs. Beginning with an interactive map, scholars view and discuss each one within their small group. Groups focus on the products provided and on their scarcity. Finally, pupils look...

Students explore works of nonfiction. In this nonfiction genre focus lesson, students activate prior knowledge of nonfiction, identify the types of narrative and informative nonfiction, and analyze a word of nonfiction.

Upper graders read several passages to gain an understanding of the nations that have adopted a constitution similar to the United States Constitution. This is a scripted lesson that is intended to build content-specific vocabulary and...

Fifth graders brainstorm a list of holidays celebrated by a majority of people in the United States. They each select an American holiday from the list as well as another country that may have a holiday that is similar. Next, they...

If you are planning on working on a research paper in your class, take a look at this resource first. Starting off with information about plagiarism, the series of activities briefly described here should give your pupils a general idea...

If you’re going to get a tattoo, make sure your artist writes it right because it’s hard to correct their inkings. That’s the big idea in this short lesson on commonly misspelled words like their/there/they’re and it’s/its.  Images...

This instructional activity will focus on the aspects of Shakespeare's comedy that become more evident in performance. By viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions, high schoolers have the opportunity to...

When do people ask for anonymity? Why? After reading the New York Times article "For a Reporter and a Source, Echoes of Broken Promise," young readers participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on freedom of the press and the use of...

Fourth graders discover the country of Iceland. They investigate Iceland's history, culture, and geography using hands-on materials. They engage in a multi-day lesson. Each day focuses on a different aspect of Iceland. A most-impressive...

Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select...

Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...