Upper graders explore division through fair-shares. They will review fair shares and fractions as a segway into division. They start by playing "Share Fairly" game and create mathematical arguments for solving problems. Manipulatives and...

A class discussion on reference materials opens up a lesson on how to use these important resources. They discover that dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses are called word reference resources, and they practice using them. The...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

A fun and delicious lesson can help your kids learn about plural nouns and story sequencing. After reading The Magic Apple by Rob Cleveland, kids match pictures to story segments and add s to nouns to make them plural....

Fourth and fifth graders define the term media literacy, then come up with examples that they share with the class. The types of media studied are auditory, visual, and written. Learners get together in pairs and perform a media...

Learners practice remaining on topic during a conversation using printouts of chains as visual models for their work. Chains are placed in sequence while students stay on a shared topic of conversation, and a broken chain is used as...

Personality traits and physical appearance traits within families are the focus here. Learners make a poster which lists the shared physical traits they have with their family. Peers look at each poster and write down the traits they see...

Small groups of learners read text round-robin style, and then work individually to answer three questions based on the text. Next, they share their questions and responses and add ideas from the group. The reading strategies detailed...

Students construct models that demonstrate potential sources of contamination. Students select one type of contamination model (septic system, sinkhole, landfill, disposal lagoon, leaky barrels, oil spill, agricultural contamination) to...

Fifth graders demonstrate research techniques in addition to endeavoring to display focus and stay on topic. Using books and stories, they gather, organize, and share information about a topic. Additionally, they explain to the class...

First graders recognize and write numerals from 1 to 10. They estimate and count to identify sets with more, fewer, or the same number of objects, listen and respond to others in a variety of contexts, and take turns speaking in a...

In this math and geography real world investigation, 6th graders plan a driving trip to a city that is located several states away from their home while recording the elevations of three cities that are included in the trip. They use...

Based on the documentary film Savage Acts: Wars, Fairs, and Empire, this lesson explores concepts of National interests and imperialism. They view sections of the film and share which images exemplify the meaning of each vocabulary term....

Pairs of learners choose an earth scientist from an extensive list. They collect information by researching online or in books about the childhood, education, and major contributions made by their chosen scientist. When they present...

Elementary magnetologists investigate magnetic shields using a variety of materials in a "shielding sandwich." While the activity isn't novel, it is engaging, and this particular resource includes a brief explanation of the phenomena...

Use song and dance to help your youngsters identify their feelings and embrace learning. Starting with a brainstorming activity, class members talk about learning new things and how this made them feel. After listing to the song, and...

The California missions were built with the hope of converting the local Native Americans to Catholicism, but exactly how different were their beliefs to begin with? Through analysis of a series of primary source documents,...

Your routers don't seem to be routing correctly. To figure out why, pupils act like routers, talk to their direct connects in order to determine as much information about the simulated network as possible. As they learn more about...

Your parents were both in different countries. You were born in the US. Documents and application forms ask you to identify your racial or ethnic classification. Which box do you check? Class members collect documents...

Triangles, triangles, and more triangles! In this second installment of a 36-part series, your young mathematicians explore two increasingly challenging constructions, requiring them to develop a way to construct three triangles that...

Changing ratios make for interesting problems. Pupils solve problems that involve ratios between two quantities that change. Groups use tape diagrams to represent and solve classroom exercises and share their solutions. 

You walk each day over 20 blocks to school as a 9-year old because the color of your skin does not allow you to attend a school in your own neighborhood. Scholars use the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education to investigate...

When it comes to testing, practice makes perfect. A set of free-response questions from the AP® English Language and Composition exam help writers prepare for the test. Three different prompts cover topics such as monolingual English...