Should public humiliation be an acceptable consequence for a crime? Have your middle schoolers engage in a round table discussion about the recent resurgence of the use of public humiliation as a punishment for crimes in the United...

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...

Following extensive modeling about how to apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to learn new words, partner teams create brief word presentations to teach new vocabulary to the class. Preselect words from upcoming social studies,...

Practice responding to controversial information with the New York Times activity provided here. Middle schoolers watch a video interview with the director of The Lost Tomb of Jesus. After reading a companion article, they identify...

During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are...

Peer review of science laboratory reports? You bet! First, learners work in pairs to review a scientific article. Then they trade lab reports for peer review. The end result is the publication of a classroom scientific journal!

The play's the thing that puts the play in a summer learning drama program designed to combat summer slide and encourage family literacy. Participants learn about drama as an art form, engage in dramatic presentations, write scripts, and...

Summer slide. Alas, not a term synonymous with a type of sliding board, summer slide refers to the fact that learning slips during summer break, especially in the areas of spelling and math facts. Enrich summer break with a...

Eight various activities have your learners looking at hype in the media. Advertisements for films, politics, music, and philanthropy all contribute to emotional appeals and marketing strategies trying to convince consumers to...

Learners identify techniques used to communicate visually. They compare and contrast different visual techniques found in mass media. They apply their understanding by creating photographs that use a variety of visual literacy techniques.

Prepare to teach Jan Brett stories by taking a look at this teacher resource, which includes text-based questions, writing assignments, discussion ideas, and vocabulary practice for 18 different stories.

Develop an understanding of point of view in your young learners. Read narrative stories to your class and discuss who the storyteller is. Point out different points of view and discuss new vocabulary in order to introduce this concept....

The contributions of African-Americans to the American Revolution are the focus of this Social Studies and language arts lesson plan. After reading and discussing Linda Crotta Brennan’s The Black Regiment of the American Revolution,...

Learners discuss their personal connections with stories they've read in the past and identify techniques to connect with more stories. They create illustrations, construct task cards, and complete sentence stems based on books they read...

Fifth graders determine how freedom comes with rights and responsibilities through literature and poetry about World War II. In this World War II lesson, 5th graders use the letters in the word "infamy" to write an acrostic poem. They...

Familiar with the systems-based sports drawing of experimental artist Lee Walton? If so, this drawing exercise if for you. Young artists observe an activity over time, develop a coded language for the activity, and then draw a...

Rather than waiting for the world to change, encourage your class members to become agents of change with a project that asks groups to select an issue found in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America....

Young scientists discuss the results of carelessness during experimentation and the temptation to misrepresent findings. These activities are intended to develop the ability to identify scientific error, misconduct, and fraud. Use this...

Mathematicians utilize artwork to help illustrate the major ideas of transformations and tessellations. They visually identify transformations including reflections, rotations, and translations. They discuss how artists have used...

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

Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...

An informative list compiled with quotes, authors, and discussion questions, along with 20 out-of-the-box application ideas, make up the collection of lessons geared to spark dialogue and creative thinking about quotations. 

Students explore the influence of the landscape of Ireland on shaping the poetry of William Butler Yeats. They work in groups researching the growth of the Irish Nationalist Movement, Celtic origins, invasions, and the impact on the...

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...