Students discuss as a class how waves are formed. In groups, they participate in an experiment in which they can determine the effect of the moon on waves and discuss how Galveston Island formed over time. They identify the soil makeup...

Students define conflict and violence, and determine the difference between the two. They find positive aspects of conflict while analyzing a conflict which they experienced. They organize their thoughts using a webbing activity.

Students observe as the teacher demonstrates how to use a digital video camera. They experiment with the camera to get to know its features. Finally they create a video commercial and edit it, inserting sounds, titles and other graphics.

Students investigate how to see, describe and draw faint or subtle features on an object which is thought of by most people as having a smooth, featureless surface. The exercise is important to reinforce skills in making observations...

Students read any play (A Midsummer Night's Dream, for example.) They participate in a teacher-led relaxation exercise designed to help the students review specific lines from the play. They write about the experience and answer other...

What? A long-lost poem from Robert Frost? Introduce your class to a poem recently found and published from Robert Frost's personal collection. The lesson includes background information on the author, the poem itself, and a list of...

Students explore acrostic poems. In this interactive poetry lesson, students visit the ReadWriteThink.org website to view characteristics and samples of acrostic poems. Students develop acrostic poems by using the interactive site.

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

A very interesting worksheet on language aquisition is here for you. In it, learners are presented with many common phrases in the English language, and they must write down how they would say that phrase in their own language. This...

"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...

Adding details and figurative language makes any story more fun to read! After reading two versions of the same story, one devoid of figurative language and one embellished, young writers are asked to add alliteration, hyperbole,...

Combining descriptive and expository writing skills, middle schoolers create a character sketch about someone they know well. They use a graphic organizer to help them discuss a model character sketch and organize/write one of their own....

This worksheet provides a log for users to record incidents of anger. Meant to be used as an ongoing diary, the users log times they were angry, their feelings and behaviors surrounding the incident, as well as the results of their...

Teach your middle schoolers to use their ears to their highest potential! Pupils practice active listening skills and reflect on how careful listening might prove to be important in and out of the classroom.

Students work in a cooperative groups to create a free standing tower of straws and pins in ten minutes. They watch a video of the cooperative groups working, discuss the process and list the things they could do to improve the cooperation.

Young biologists discuss the reasons behind the current use of the plant identification system. They get into groups and identify the characteristics of each species of plant which is described. The keys needed for groups to make...

First graders participate in a guided reading lesson. For this guided reading lesson, 1st graders read David's Drawings by Cathryn Falwell, which is a realistic fiction book on the DRA:16 level. They determine the author's message, and...

Explore contemporary American Indian art. After viewing a set of images, class members discuss the design elements of techniques present, as well as how these artists represent history and culture. Learners examine the parfleche and...

S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is the anchor text in a unit that asks readers to reflect on their own identity, their place in their family, in groups with which they identify, and in school. 

Young scholars explain the complexities of environmental decisions, rather than to recreate the actual circumstances and outcome of the original case. They simulate a real environmental case a regarding the Pine Barrens of Long Island, NY.

Is it possible to tell a true war story? Tim O’Brien says that fiction is for “getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.” To get at the truth about war, class members examine primary source materials from the...

Learners complete a character study using a database to compile information from a novel. They design a five slide presentation highlighting the character's reaction to different situations in the book. They write an acrostic poem using...