Students will define what a desert is through the creation of a KWL Chart. This will help students to tap prior knowledge and make new connections with the new curriculum being delivered in the lesson.

Students are introduced to new vocabulary associated with the Underground Railroad. Using primary sources, they evaluate the railroad's impact on society in the past and today. They also make a judgment about the morality of the railroad...

During Christmas time, use common carols and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music as the basis for writing advertisements. Learners can work in teams or individually as they listen to songs via the links provided. A "Christmas Music Comparison...

Students study customs of various winter holidays. In this holiday lesson, students read the book The Reasons for the Seasons and complete a winter glyph. Students use graphing software to create a chart of the holidays that are celebrated.

Students make a wind vane, anemometer, wind spiral, and wind streamer to calculate wind movement. In this wind lesson plan, students test each of their wind instruments, and graph the results of the wind speed in different locations.

Students analyze a graphic from an article and predict what the article might be about. After reading an article, they discover a journalist's experience of traveling across the United States to compare fast food restaurants. They...

Students explore the mathematics behind opinion polls, as well as provides a framework for interpreting trends in opinion poll graphics.

Discuss race in the United States. Start by having each learner read a copy of Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech, "I Have a Dream." Then, have them read the article "Shared Prayers, Mixed Blessings" about a church in Atlanta,...

Youngsters share ideas about cultural and/or spiritual rituals by participating in a fishbowl discussion, which explores the ways rituals have changed over time. They write reflective essays about their own cultural traditions.

Does history really repeat itself? Encourage your middle and high schoolers to answer this age-old question by reading the attached articles on the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Iraq Crisis of 2002. How similar or different are...

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...

Learners will share ideas about class mobility. They create a timeline that chronicles milestones in their own lives, and synthesize their learning by writing personal essays about their class status and aspirations for the future.

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,...

Learners read about homeothermy. Through research and poster projects, they gain insight into the diversity among mammals and the ways specific mammals survive in their native climates.

Have your middle and high schoolers analyze instances of celebrities using racial slurs or making prejudiced comments in public. After reading an article, they consider the roots and effects of prejudice and bias. As a class, they...

This worksheet provides a good description of when to use a semicolon, followed by 6 sentences to practice inserting punctuation. A key is provided.

This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they...

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!

Investigate ethical issues surrounding the Decode project in Iceland. Middle and high schoolers take the positions of the Icelandic government, scientific researchers, and citizens and defend or refute the Decode project in a Reykjavik...

How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...

Explore the backgrounds, qualifications, and platforms of the presidential candidates for the 2000 election. Though the instructional activity is outdated, the activities within the informational text could be good practice for your...

What would it be like to restore modern works of art? By acting as modern art conservators, learners assess the first-hand difficulties faced in restoration efforts. In addition, they create modern art pieces from random materials. Then,...

Review concepts of cloning and genetic engineering and participate in a round-table discussion based on the ethics and potential of cloning with your class. Each learner then writes a formal essay on the topic, stemming from the debate.