Here is a terrific lesson on teaching homophones to your upper graders! In it, homophone word cards and homophone bingo cards, which are embedded in the lesson, are used in a game format which reinforces this important part of speech....

Finding engaging ways to help your middle schoolers build their vocabulary is not easy to do. The lesson presented here offers a great way to motivate them to build vocabulary by making it into a game. Teams of pupils use a dictionary...

Emergent engineers plan, construct, and experiment with a spaghetti noodle structure that could be used to hold a load. Set them up for success by first showing them a four-minute video on engineering design and a slide show of different...

While science Jeopardy games are a dime-a-dozen, this one has some pretty unique categories that are still relevant to a middle school physical science curriculum. The topics include: leading nations, famous Americans (who invented...

The video clip that comprises the warm up is not available, but the related article from The New York Times and the movie trailer for Aliens of the Deep are, leaving enough material to make this a fascinating lesson on deep-sea...

Students identify how they are feeling and deal with feelings constructively. In this conflict resolution lesson, students explore their feelings through discussion. Students read and complete the What Can I Do? e-sheet. Students "think...

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!

Class members become tree huggers with this terrific study of biodiversity among trees! They do so by examining different characteristics of trees: shape, leaves, bark, fruit or seeds, etc. After examining five concepts, they use their...

Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...

General chemistry class members engage in a mini-unit on mole conversions. Through nine lab activites with varying degrees of difficulty, they practice measuring mass and volume, molar calculations, and stoichiometry. Terrific...

Maus is the text for a postreading activity that has class members using a cubing strategy to analyze, in depth, topics (racism, past and present, forgetting/remembering the Holocaust, representing the Holocaust) associated with Art...

Pink and Say, a picture book by Patricia Polacco, and an anticipation guide, set the stage for a reading of Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe's novel based on the true story of the murder of Emmett Till. Instructional routines, the...

Reading the original Hans Christian Andersen tale of “The Little Mermaid” and viewing the Great Performances: The Little Mermaid from the San Francisco Ballet video offers class members an opportunity to consider how artistic decisions...

Students become familiar with the nutritional value of foods advertised on television and in magazines. They discuss different types of foods and where snack food fits into a healthy diet. They categorize the foods they eat as healthy or...

Young scholars examine food photography and the different techniques used by food stylists to make foods look appealing in advertisements. After learning some of the tricks of the trade, students plan and shoot their own food...

Prepare yourself for a top-notch presentation on colonialism in Africa! Discussed are the reasons for African multilingualism. Maps and a country-by-country look at various colonists that made their mark on the African continent are...

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...

Looking for a good presentation on multiples, least common multiples, and factoring? This one's for you! In it, youngsters are coached on the main techniques used in these mathematical processes. There are tons of practice opportunities,...

The pumpkin might be the single most amazing plant for youngsters. It's so big! It's leaves, it's stems, it's fruit! And it is easy to grow! This lesson describes all sorts of wonderful pumpkin ideas. Everything from pumpkin stories,...

Here is an ingeniously clever lesson on seed germination that's sure to be a hit with your kids. In it, learners create "egg people," out of eggs, egg cartons, potting soil, grass seeds, and markers. There is also a potato version and a...

Setting goals, career exploration, and self-awareness are three major components found on the path to college. A wide variety of wonderful teaching tools are provided to help you facilitate an understanding of how simple it can be to...

Challenge your physics class to implement their knowledge of electric fields by completing this activity as homework. There are 15 problems to solve, for which pupils compute electrostatic force, electric field strength, and electric...

Explore the ethics, responsibilities, and impacts of the career cluster that relates to law. Learners examine various cases where legal action was taken and resulted in a consequence. They'll act out various scenarios, research jobs in...