Life cycle assessment is an important tool for technology planning as solid waste disposal options dwindle and energy prices continue to increase. This guide investigates the life cycles of products. The activities in this book are suitable for secondary earth science, environmental science, physical science, or integrated science lessons. The…

This paper offers a series of practical, useful tips for creating lessons for adult English language learners (ELLs). It begins by offering seven questions to help the teacher think through the lesson ahead of time. It also provides tips for creating a general lesson plan, and tips for tapping the four language modes: speaking, listening, reading,…

This activity is designed to teach how tectonic plates move, what some consequences of this motion are, and how magnetic anomalies document the motion at spreading centers do. The activity provides learning objectives, a list of needed materials, key vocabulary words, background information, day-to-day procedures, internet connections, career…

This lesson supports third- through fifth-grade students' exploration of multiple online sources to gather information about the life of a well-known explorer, Christopher Columbus. During the two 50- to 60-minute sessions, students will: use prewriting (a K-W-L chart) to prepare for research; use prior knowledge to extend the depth of inquiry;…

Students will work in groups to read and analyze fairy tales, brainstorm for events in their lives that could be changed into fairy tales, develop setting, characters, and plot for their fairy tale, write, illustrate, and compile their fairy tales into group books. During ten 45-minute lessons, students will: choose three fairy tales and read them…

Based on novels and books about the Mississippi River, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the Mississippi River has made its mark on America's geography, commerce, and literature; and that booktalks provide a summary, explains what kind of reader the book will appeal to, and may also contain a oral…

This book aims to make a genuinely new contribution to the teaching of classic and contemporary literature in high schools--a system of teaching English that achieves classroom control through engagement and interest in content. The questions posed in the book help students build a kind of mental muscle for reading challenging texts and, what is…

The character traits children assimilate during their growing-up years will determine how they behave, how they see themselves, how they treat others, and the type of adults they will become. Children who develop character built on honesty, respect, diligence, and self control will be better able to handle the frustrations and disappointments of…

Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that: a close study of the characters of a literary classic will yield important clues to an understanding of the work as a whole; an effective analysis of stylistic devices depends upon selection and interpretation…

Based on George Orwell's novel "1984," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the historical context of the novel is based on the mood and political climate of 1949 Europe; the society Orwell created and modern society in the United States have similarities and differences; and modern privacy issues and the…

Based on Gustave Flaubert's novel "Madame Bovary," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students explore the theme of "illusion versus reality" in the novel; identify and list alternate themes in the novel; and cite specific examples of illusion versus reality from the novel. It includes objectives, materials, procedures,…

This is a prewriting activity for personal memoir or autobiographical writing. Grade 6-8 students brainstorm for important memories, create graphics or symbols for their most important memories, and construct a life map on tag board or construction paper, connecting drawings and captions of high and low points with a highway. During four 50-minute…

This lesson uses students' areas of interest both in and out of school to generate personalized vocabulary lists. Working in small groups, grade 3 to 5 students select their own vocabulary words and research their meanings. In a culminating activity that uses text and illustration, each student will create a "My World of Words Journal." During…

This paper focuses on the writing process and young children, suggesting prewriting activities and discussing writing, revising, and publishing in the classroom. The paper also enumerates what children like, such as interesting topics, self-selection, listening to stories, reading their writing to peers or younger children, and special formats for…

Noting that picture books can invite students to engage in critical discussion of complex issues of race, class, and gender, this lesson plan helps students to confront the injustice of barriers that separate human beings from one another and to examine the role of prejudice and stereotypes in sustaining these barriers. During the five 45-minute…