How do meteorologists differentiate between droughts and dry spells? Introduce the concepts of weather forecasting and prediction with an insightful research-based lesson from the K20 series. Partners synthesize individual research from...

Researchers in Gorongosa National Park placed cameras there many years ago to understand what was happening with the lion communities that lived there. Little did they know, they opened a door to so much more! Inquisitive...

The third instructional activity in a unit that traces the history of African Americans serving in the US Congress examines the period from 1929 through 1970. After reading a contextual essay that details the few African Americans...

Teach young scholars how to determine the theme of a story, an insight the author wants to share with readers, with a lesson that uses Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" as an anchor text. Learners examine the internal and external...

The Reconstruction Treaties of 1866 and their impact on the Five Tribes in the United States Civil War are the focus of a lesson that asks young historians to consider how these treaties affected tribal sovereignty. Class members do a...

Willy Wonka takes center stage in a lesson about direct and indirect characterization. Scholars read a passage from the story about Wonka's Grand Entrance and watch a film clip of the same, noting examples of direct and indirect...

Young grammarians will go to town with a lesson that doodles with macaroni! Scholars cook up sentences with the addition of commas, which makes all the difference in their meaning.

Your new Day One lesson has arrived! Impress young scholars with your scientific super powers through an engaging lesson geared toward scientific thinking. Through a display of theatrics, you will debunk the scientific method as...

Stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce provide readers with an opportunity to investigate unreliable narrators. The lesson plan begins with an activity about different types of point of view and continues as scholars apply their...

Why are we here? Well, if you happen to be a Golgi body, the answer is simple! Young biologists embark upon a journey through the tiny world of cellular organelles with an engaging activity from the K20 Center. The activities open with...

How do scientists analyze data to get a specific answer to a question? The final chapter in an eight-part series of activities centered around Gorongosa National Park encourages scholars to dig deeper into the scientific process. After...

The federal budget has never been so fun! Using an interactive game, high schoolers choose from a variety of policy options after identifying goals and try to balance these changes in policy with a federal budget. 

Who was Zheng He and why haven't we heard of him? Scholars consider the question as they compare his vast expeditionary force to that of Christopher Columbus. Young historians then ponder the intersection of science, economics, and...

Do you want to be a detective by analyzing situations? An engaging lesson provides young historians with the tools to help them understand the difference between data types and how to analyze them to draw conclusions. Scholars complete...

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is the anchor text for a instructional activity that teaches readers how to distinguish between a literary topic and a literary theme. Using the provided worksheets, groups first chart some themes and...

Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" is the anchor text for a lesson plan that teaches young readers how to use the Tip of the Iceberg strategy to go below the surface of a tale. After reading the short story and an article about...

James Hurst's short story "The Scarlet Ibis" provides readers with an opportunity to consider how they can support others who are experiencing distress. Participants learn self-care tips and connect to the short story's characters. They...

In the first lesson in a two-part series, high schoolers pick a social issue important to them and examine an article about the topic, the arguments and evidence used to support the writer's stance, and craft two counter-arguments to the...

"Warning: Conducting this lesson may be harmful." Such statements, called "Trigger Warnings," are the focus of a two-part lesson that looks at censorship, especially the pros and cons of trigger warnings. Class members read two articles,...

Scholars become detectives in a instructional activity that focuses on primary sources. Learners practice their observational skills by examining the teacher's artifact and visiting the Show and Tell Museum that highlihgts items...

The Kiowa Six, a group of Kiowa artists, are featured in the lesson that asks young historians to consider the importance of art in representing a culture and contributing to a group's legacy. After examining paintings by the group and...

Two versions of movie trailers for the film Mary Poppins launch a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious instructional activity about how mood and tone impact a reader's experience of work. Using the provided list, readers identify the words...

"Yuns betta outten the lights!" Colloquial language is the focus of a activity that asks middle schoolers to consider the pros and cons of using idioms. They read articles, match expressions with their meaning and place of origin, and...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech provides the text for a lesson that introduces scholars to the significance of syntax. After examining several types of clauses, phrases, and structures, class members use the...