A very thorough lesson plan focuses on what plants need to grow and stay healthy. There are excellent reading activities and worksheets included in this fine plan. A terrific way to introduce a unit on plants and their needs.

Do monsters really exist? Find out what your class thinks with these discussion questions prior to reading Beowulf. Incorporate music and a video clip into the anticipatory set to engage your learners. Take a day to search online...

How many potatoes tall are you? Unearth this rich resource! A reading of John Coy’s Two Old Potatoes begins a cross-curricular exploration of potatoes. Class members read, write, weigh, measure, and experiment with potatoes. Additional...

Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...

Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...

Want to know more about Ancient history? Young historians will read a minimum of two web sites to complete the chart "Residents of Olympus". They choose one Greek god or goddess to research. This could be a small group activity or...

Nine historical documents, an interactive online notebook, and a fantastic opportunity for historical inquiry await your pupils in this 5-day lesson plan. Class members identify and discuss various causes for the Spanish-American War...

Is justice blind? Is love blind? Before beginning The Merchant of Venice, readers decide whether they agree or disagree with statements that encapsulate key elements of the tragic comedy. The class then predicts whether Shakespeare will...

This teaching packet is for grades five through eight, and it is organized around geographic themes: location, place, relationships, movement, and regions. There are four full lessons that are complete with posters, weblinks, and...

An excellent lesson plan on the classic book, Where the Red Fern Grows. Learners view the W. Wilson Rawls website and engage in a series of activities generated by the website. They write in their reflective journals, watch a video, and...

Youngsters read text about an environmentally-friendly car. They try to figure out the meaning of the vocabulary in the text and discuss issues related to alternative energy sources. This thoughtful, well-designed plan has all the...

Integrate geography with literature in this interdisciplinary lesson. Begin by reading a poem such as The Time We Climbed Snake Mountain by Leslie Marmon Silko. On a large map, place push pins in the cities or states mentioned. An...

Explore African literature and artwork in a multicultural literacy and art lesson. Begin with a read aloud of Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa, and afterward, have kids retell the main events in the story. They...

Young scholars read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson plan students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and...

Explore literature through the completion of reading comprehension worksheets in class. After reading the classic book, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, middle schoolers review each chapter by completing study questions and story webs....

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...

Students express the ideas of a poem. In this poem dramatization lesson, students analyze poems for meaning studying their descriptive words. Students role play the descriptive language of the poem. Students draw a picture of the...

When do people ask for anonymity? Why? After reading the New York Times article "For a Reporter and a Source, Echoes of Broken Promise," young readers participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on freedom of the press and the use of...

Is laughter really the best medicine? Middle and high schoolers discuss the truth behind this adage by reading and discussing a New York Times article about Dr. Patch Adams. They participate in a round-table debate in response to...

Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select...

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,...

How do you feel about cloning? This issue is highly debated, so educate your class before they participate in a similar debate! Read a New York Times article related to the use of cloned pig organs for human transplants. Groups develop...

Here is a fabulous lesson on problem solving in the mathematical world. In it, third and fourth graders get lots of great coaching on how to approach word problems, and how to best find a solution. They watch an episode of Reading...