First graders identify and discuss different kinds of feelings and emotions. They take turns pulling a feeling out of a bag, and acting out their feeling while the other students guess the feeling. Students also complete a Feelings...

Young biologists identify parts of the body, sort humans from other animals, and list the difference they see. Learners are split up into groups of three, and each group must find pictures in magazines of humans and other animals. They...

What kid isn't interested in Cell phones? They are technical and to operate them you must read an informational text. Older elementary students read an informational text, match vocabulary words with their meanings, and create sentences...

How much do your learners know about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? Set up an opportunity for kids to learn about Dr. King while practicing reading fluency with a reader's theater activity. The script is for four voices and includes...

Plants and animals of the desert are the subject of this lesson. While the activities involve an exploration involving Nevada, this resource could be altered for use with any area. This detailed lesson includes a list of books that could...

When Barak Obama was elected president, he was unable to affect change untill the official start date of January 20th. Learners examine this policy, America's need for change, and the duties of the president-elect in a political cartoon...

Today's blog topic is robotic limb replacement for amputees. Upper graders read the related article and argument, then compose a blog response that addresses the questions provided. This is a great way to get kids thinking about ethics,...

"Love it or leave it." "You're either for us or against us." Rhetoric and it's polarizing effects are the focus of a lesson that uses John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry as an exemplar. Groups examine primary source documents,...

How did an investigation into the causes of the collapse of the Twin Towers, as a result of the 9/11 attacks, inform the construction of the new 1 World Trade Center? That is the central question of a resource that asks class members...

The Great Depression not only impacted city folk and factory workers, it also had a profound effect on farmers. Young historians examine primary source materials that document the struggles of Alabama farmers during this time and...

The battle at the Alamo may be one of the most famous military campaigns in Texas history, but it is by no means the only one. As part of their study of the military history of Texas, class members research less-well-known sites, locate...

Planning on using primary source materials? Introduce your class members to SOAPS, a worksheet that models how to analyze and reflect on primary source materials. Readers name the document, identify the subject (S), the...

Do the ends justify the means? Getting a drug approved in the US is a long and involved process. But at some point out, it involves testing on humans. The ethics of such testing is the focus of a resource that uses Dr. Albert...

Use a series of extension activities to enhance your class reading of Chris Van Allsburg's holiday classic, The Polar Express. From a biography of the author to filmed book reviews and research about the railroad, kids can take...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

Although designed for those new to teaching phonemic awareness, the strategies and activities included in this 25-page packet are sure to engage kids and help them develop these essential skills.

The phonemic awareness activities in this packet are designed to help kids develop skills in rhyming, syllabication, blending onsets and rimes, and beginning and ending sounds. Well worth a place in your curriculum library.

Explore the Earth's different ecosystems through four lessons, an assessment, and extension activities. Lessons include informative text and step-by-step instructions to apply knowledge in interactive, and thought provoking ways; such as...

How is it possible for ocean water to have layers? The sixth installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program investigates factors that cause different water densities to occur. Experiments...

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...

How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The lesson...