In a perfect marriage of social studies and science, groups work together to research and create a travel guide presentation to share with the class. Not only do kids learn about the climate and geography of a biome, but also the...

Individuals or groups select an environmental issue, then spend time researching and creating a presentation to share in class. By allowing learners to choose the issue that matters most to them, you will motivate them to do...

What would you do if you got an extra day every week? Partners share some information about their routines and lives and write compositions about one another based on the information. Each partner tries to guess what the other person...

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a great story to share with your class, and this lesson focuses on just that story! The eighth in a fourteen-lesson series on short stories, the plan has learners study some vocabulary, read the...

Help young conservationists appreciate the important role that trees play in ecosystems around the world with this collection of six engaging activities. From a shared reading and class discussion of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax,...

Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.

Groups create a list of the character traits of Steve Jobs and Buddy, the main character of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy, and share and select evidence from Jobs' 2005 Stanford University Commencement Address to support their...

As an introduction to the major themes of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members complete an anticipation guide and share their responses in groups.

The second lesson in a unit of 15 introduces pupils to text compression. The class begins with discussing how they already use text compression when sending text messages. Pairs learn more about the subject as they work to compress a...

I'm compressed. Groups do a rapid research of different file types to determine what kind of compression the formats use and how it works. They share their information with the rest of the class until everyone has all the information for...

Tell me what you really think. The class reviews articles related to wind energy to see how the author uses words, phrases, and images to sway the reader. Through a class discussion, individuals share their feelings from the media...

There are so many things to discover about the sun! Pupils discuss their knowledge of the sun, explore its features, apply their knowledge by labeling photographs, and then reflect on their learning by working in groups to draw and label...

Round and round and round we go. Given a diagram of three circles, two of which share a point with the third circle, learners identify the radius of each circle. Doing so requires setting up and solving a system of equations based on the...

Use unit rates to find the number of parts needed to produce a given number of units. A production scheduler shares the different ways schedulers use math to ensure the required amount of parts are available to manufacture air...

What makes an effective team? Scholars explore the question with fun teambuilding activities. Additionally, they learn about the common characteristics of effective teams. Pupils also participate in a think-pair-share to understand the...

Pupils engage in a think-pair-share to identify the characteristics of effective leadership. Scholars also complete questionnaires to determine their personal leadership styles. 

Sometimes, it's fun to follow the rules. Using their drafts of an evidence-based essay from previous lessons, scholars write their final informative essays about rules to live by. Next, they choose and share quotes from their essays that...

Let's ask an expert. Scholars divide into groups to research and become experts on either ants or butterflies. Learners use task cards and text on their topic to complete a note catcher. At the end, they share their information with a...

A Networking BINGO game asks participants to find scholars who share a variety of the same interests and characteristics. Categories include everything from shoe size, to biggest fear, to intended college major.

A lesson on taking notes challenges scholars to listen and write important information they can use later. Pupils begin with practice notes, write new notes with guidance, then test their note-taking skills independently. Peers share...

Build a strong classroom community with a closing routine that asks each participant to share something they appreciate about their classmate(s), issue an apology if they may have hurt someone's feelings or an "aha" moment when they...

The future can be yours to see with a bit of planning. That's the takeaway from a routine that asks participants to first brainstorm a list of personal and academic goals. Individuals then select one to focus on for the week, identify...

If you could frame something important to you, what would it be, where would you hang it, and why would you choose this particular thing to frame? These questions launch a lesson designed to help class members get to know each other....

In the post-pandemic classroom, it's more important than ever to begin the school year by building a strong sense of trust and community. Using the Make Meaning and Big Paper teaching techniques, groups develop a definition of community...