Although not a complete lesson plan, this set of emotionally powerful texts could be used in a variety of lessons. From The New York Times' Learning Network site, the resource includes a poem, an excerpt from a New York Times article and...

The twelfth instructional activity of this unit builds on the skills developed in the previous instructional activity, as fourth graders continue their quest to become experts on colonial trade by listening to interviews with historical...

Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...

Voices from the past. Young scholars listen to a podcast interview with a historical re-enactor as they continue their research in the eleventh instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. Applying their close reading skills,...

Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...

Expand your pupils' understanding of the short story genre with a study of John Updike and his story "A&P." This instructional activity, the fourth in a series of fourteen, invites learners to examine literary terms and read and...

You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...

The Blue Man Group, three bald performance artists painted blue, offer lessons designed to engage, intrigue, and excite the imaginations of all ages of learners. Groups craft a trickster tale, invent melodious mathematical instruments,...

Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson plan, students contribute to society by examining volunteer activities that benefit others. Students collaborate to create a skit to promote volunteerism.

Make history come to life by using the Frontier House series to engage young scholars in the past. Your class will "prepare" for a trip to 1833 Montana. They will learn about homesteading, frontier life, inflation, and cost of living....

Dig in deeper with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Learners will read and discuss poems by Robert Frost and learn the meaning of terms such as narrative and personal. They journal, collaborate, and present poetry...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...

Explore legends and storytelling with your learners. After listening to some legends, pupils work collaboratively and then individually to come up with original legends about animals.

After reading each chunk of two chapters of Carl Hiaasen's novel Hoot, ask learners to respond to related study questions. The instructions at the top of the questions suggest that individuals should read the questions first, read the...

Students focus on the three stages of reading, the pre, while and post reading stage. They apply these to a reading and participate in a post reading discusion.

Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text.  In this novel creation instructional activity, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups.  Students collaborate on an...

Students work collaboratively to create, edit, and publish their own student magazine. The lesson suggests the use of iPhoto, a word processor, iPages, and digital cameras for the creative process.

Students explore English by identifying segments of words in class. For this phonetics lesson, students utilize flash cards which contain letters and mix them in order to create a "match" word. Students sound out the words they...

Learners explore engineering by participating in a mechanical class activity. In this simple machines lesson, students identify many simple machines that allow them to perform tasks easily each day. Learners collaborate in small groups...

Cover Freytag's Triangle and examine Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" in this third lesson plan in a series of fourteen based around short stories. Learners take a quiz and discuss Freytag's triangle. They apply the triangle to "The Bet" and...

Students explore psychology by participating in a student behavior activity. In this group dynamic lesson, students identify ways to keep several students interested and focused on one task. Students complete worksheets discussing family...

Students evaluate jazz music and a jazz music performance. They collaborate and create an improvised group short story. They improvise a musical piece on found objects.

Students practice using vocabulary words to write alliterations.  In this language arts lesson, students collaborate with classmates to create ideas for fun alliterations as they create their own using a children's word processing...