A reading of Brenda Z. Guiberson’s, Cactus Hotel, launches a study of animal habitats. Working with parent volunteers or teacher aides, groups travel outside the classroom to select a habitat, take digital pictures, and incorporate the...

The fifth installment in a writing unit that culminates with a Hyperstudio illustrated group story project, this plan is ripe with ideas for ways to design group writing projects for elementary writers. Use the whole unit as a base from...

The class defines similes after creating a KWL chart about them. Groups rotate through a series of stations in which they creatively complete similes. They create a picture booklet that contains similes. However, the booklet topic and...

Have your older students assist young children with writing in this community service and literacy lesson plan. Middle schoolers become partners with a local elementary school. They assist the grade school children in writing a pattern...

Way before the digital age radio was the medium of popular culture. After listening to excerpts from radio programs (easily available on the Internet), participants return to the radio age by creating a two-minute sketch based on a...

Hook your class up to an online home energy usage calculator so that they can estimate the amount used per month by their families. Then give them Watt meters with which they will measure the power consumption of several small...

A project-based learning plan focuses on landscapes in the community. After identifying problems, such as dead trees or misplaced automatic sprinklers, learners design solutions, contact local organizations to fix the problems, and do...

To better understand what it takes to work in the field of training or educating, learners first explore the education career cluster. After they research the cluster, pupils write questions for a guest speaker. This speaker can be from...

Young scientists construct an understanding of molecular compounds in this hands-on science lesson. Using LEGO® to model the atoms of different elements, students build molecules based on the chemical formulas of common compounds.

First graders use senses to examine objective or events, then gather and interpret data with instruments. They design invention to support or refute hypothesis, then generate, record, and organize data. They improve environmental...

Students explore the relationships within the food chain between plants and animals. They construct modules of food chains, keeping them simple and not complex. They focus on what the animals eat and not on what eats it.

Students read "The Great Kapok" and choose to agree or disagree with the main character's decision. They gather and organize details from multiple sources to defend their standpoints. They begin prewriting steps of process writing.

Make text-to-world connections between 1920s American history and The Great Gatsby. Upper graders share facts they researched about the 1920s the evening prior, view two video clips about F. Scott Fitzgerald, and then choose a book to...

Students research the working conditions in the late 1800's and the evolution of child labor laws. They discuss how the laws affect them today and if they are fair. They write a paper summarizing the laws and the view of the laws.

Everyone loves math when it includes food! This lesson tries to take the notion of combining like terms in algebra and comparing it to sorting apples and oranges. It takes a step-by-step approach to helping students understand this...

You might not be able to put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes but you can generate interest in A Midsummer’s Night Dream in that length of time. As an introduction to Shakespeare’s comedy, pairs of students assume the roles of...

Fourth graders classify vocabulary words by category. Through matching and classification activities, 4th graders sort words pertaining to trees and forest habitats into appropriate categories. They discuss how vocabulary practice can...

Create baseball cards for literary characters with this lesson plan. It introduces students to baseball cards, their components (stats, picture, etc.), and prompts them to draft and publish their own cards based on figures from...

Students recognize the concepts of the five general types of chemical reaction: combination, decomposition, single replacement, double replacement and combustion. They practice classifying chemical equations and determine the moles in a...

Second graders listen to the story Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall. In this literature lesson, 2nd graders predict the story's ending with drawings and discussions within groups.

Engage the class in researching oral histories and historical revision, in order to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices made by Americans in the Korean War. The inquiry process is scheduled to take one week....

In this exercise, learners examine the difference between a theme, topic, and moral. After a class discussion on the definition of literary themes, the instructor reads The Cello of Mr. O by Jane Cutler. Next, individuals analyze the...

First graders identify the commodities of Oregon and produce a map of the different commodities in different regions.

A fun (and delicious!) lesson teaches measurement to your third graders. They work in small groups to first predict, then to measure the weight, circumference, and number of seeds found in a watermelon. Everyone gets to eat watermelon...