Does it actually exist? Consider the sighting of a giant squid, much like the one that appears in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Middle and high schoolers read the article One Legend Found, Many Still to Go, and research other mysterious...

What is your attitude on health and illness? By considering their own experiences, students will reflect on and discuss their attitudes toward health and illness while educating each other by researching illnesses in small groups,...

Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally,...

What are the differences between homeschooling, traditional schooling, and unschooling? Middle and high schoolers examine the opinions of their peers on these varied types of education. After reading a New York Times article, they...

To gain a better understanding of Hispanic heritage and culture, as well as to build informational comprehension skill, learners explore facets of Hispanic American History. They engage in a class discussion, research three facts, and...

Begin this lesson by estimating the cost of a college education and comparing it to actual data. After reading an article, high school seniors discuss the processes of the college loan corporations. They listen to a lecture about how to...

Create a blog spot for your classroom and promote online discussions. There are several blogging websites listed here, and you can create one specific to each class or one collective site. Teach your learners how to post on the blog, and...

After locating Latin American countries on a world map, children read about how microbanks are loaning money to help start small businesses. Involving both current events and economics, the teacher introduces the article with a map...

Pupils share examples of good sportsmanship, then read a news article about a team helping an injured player score a home run. The teacher introduces the article with a discussion and vocabulary activity, then students read the news...

An interesting article on editors helps young writers understand the conventions of written English. They read a news article about an editor traveling America correcting spelling and punctuation errors on signs.  They discuss...

Students identify how they are feeling and deal with feelings constructively. In this conflict resolution lesson, students explore their feelings through discussion. Students read and complete the What Can I Do? e-sheet. Students "think...

Students read and discuss act 2, scene 2 of Shakespeare's, Twelfth Night. In this Shakespeare lesson, students read and discuss this scene line by line while investigating the themes of gender roles and levels of love. They also discuss...

Working in groups, middle and high schoolers describe and discuss photographs depicting working conditions experienced by child laborers in the 19th century. They then write a persuasive paragraph supporting an amendment to regulate the...

Learners read the book, The Great Migration by National Geographic, then complete this set of related worksheets. They review vocabulary, complete five short answer questions, discuss push and pull factors for the migration, then write a...

Young historians consider the cause and effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. They use handouts, response sheets, and class discussion to build an opinion about the subject after viewing the PBS documentary Abraham and Mary Lincoln:...

Nearly all students have seen pregnant women and may have questions about human development. Intended for secondary students with mild to moderate mental disabilities, this lesson defines the process of pregnancy  in a...

Take a close look at news reporting techniques and global issues. Begin by creating a graphic representation of developing nations and defining the term. After class discussion, the second day's activities pick up by deconstructing news...

As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...

Explore nutrition and healthy eating habits with a study on youth obesity. Learners watch a PBS documentary on the obesity epidemic which discusses government programs aimed at healthier choices, as well as more localized efforts. Kids...

Baseball is a relatively high-interest topic through which social studies classes can explore racial prejudice in the US. Video clips provide much of the background information that groups record on their handout and then share with the...

Humans can have a big impact on the environment, specifically the influence they have on the carbon cycle. First, the class will define and discuss each of the earths four major spheres, the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and...

Maps can be so much fun, they help you understand spatial relationships, distance between objects, and can foster direction skills. Budding cartographers with visual impairments use the Wheatley Tactile Diagramming Kit to create their...

As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh instructional activity in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their...

Encourage your class to consider a beautiful short film about a boy named Theo who happens to be visually impaired. Over the course of the lesson, pupils work in pairs, discuss their ideas and the film as a class, view the film,...