Cactus's Corner

This activity is meant to reinforce the feudal system in the middle ages by watching Disney's Robin Hood. To begin, during the movie, students will look at the key characters and use their critical thinking skills to determine what roll each character would play within the feudal system. Next, students will follow up with some basic comprehensive questions of the movie, as well as compare and contrast how the feudal system in the movie compares to what they have learned from the real feudal

In this activity students will research a Mesoamerican Culture from the past. Cultures include Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, Anasazi, Mound Builders, and Inuits. The document will give students a guideline of what they need to research for each culture as well as several resources they can use. I had students create a power point and present their findings, however, research projects can vary.

Did you know "The Lion King" is based on the Medieval African Ruler Sundiata Kieta? Use this activity to reinforce the skill of comparing and contrasting, while incorporating the Disney Classic "The Lion King." In this activity, students will read the story "Sundiata: The Hungering Lion" Retold by Kenny Mann. (This article is not included for copyright purposes.) While they read (or after the reading), they should complete the right side of the T-Chart. After they read they will watch the Dis

Want students to learn about Ancient Greek Philosophies, but also use their critical thinking skills? In this activity students will read theories presented by Ancient Greek philosophers, but in a modern context. Students will either agree or disagree with their theories and state their opinions why. *Added excitement, present each topic and have students go head to head to support their opinions.

Want a way to make students who are studying their benchmark fractions into a fun and engaging activity, well look no further! This activity includes 25 printable slides that can be cut into 100 playing cards. Each slide includes an equivalent model, fraction, decimal, and percent. These playing cards are great for both individual practice as well as group games including matching challenges, memory game or even Spoons!! Included benchmark fractions: HalvesThirdsFourthsFifthsTenths

Reinforce math vocabulary while using deduction skills to solve for the mystery number 1-100! In this activity there are 25 Mystery Numbers to solve for.  Each slide includes 6 clues to help students along the way.  Clues can be used in any order, but typically clues 1-4 eliminates the most numbers. Math Vocabulary Focus:Prime, Composite, Even, Odd, Greater Than, Less Than, Factor, Multiple, Divisible by, Tens Place, Ones PlaceOther Words for Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, DivisionProduc

In this writing activity, students will read several scenarios that people in Early India had to deal with and write how they would feel or react. Scenarios include: Caste System (Untouchable), Arranged Marriages, Reincarnation (Karma), and Buddha and Human Suffering I use this as an introduction to the unit so that kids can compare their response to how the Early Indians reacted.

The Renaissance was a time of innovation and inventions. For this project, students are encouraged to use their own creativity to make an invention of some kind using the materials listed and to justify how it can be used in every day society. I typically use this as an introduction to the unit and then have kids present their inventions to the class at the end of the unit. Project can be done in class or taken home to allow further creativity! My students absolutely love this as it allows the

Students will read descriptions about 8 Egyptian gods and match them based on the images provided. Students will rely on using the clues in the descriptions and the pictures in order to make a correct match.

Calling all teachers who are looking for a fun and engaging way to practice and/or review adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing positive and negative numbers. Students will have 16 problems to complete. (Four of each operation!) Once solved, they will check their answer by selecting one of two choices. If their answer is not available, this allows self reflection as they can go back and check their work! Each answer choice will have a coloring or drawing option that when completed, cre

In this activity students will read through the code of chivalry that knights from the middle ages had to follow. They will then follow the listed requirements to compare the code to modern times and then give their opinion about whether the code is still followed today or not.

This activity encourages students to research two of the most popular religions and then create an essay explaining what each religion has in comment and areas where they differ from one another. The activities include two graphic organizers. The first is a t-chart where students can research both religions and see side by side whether they have something in common or whether their beliefs are completely different. The second graphic organizer is used to help organize their essay. It provide

This activity is geared towards middle school students (grades 5 - 8th) and includes 3 different fables that focus on various literary themes. Two themes are provided for each fable. Students are asked to read the fable, which is broken down into 8 sections, and identify which piece of text evidence supports which given theme. Once the theme is chosen, students will have to defend their text evidence by providing an explanation. This is also a great way for students to build up to writing usin

For this activity students will be given a famous scientist or inventor during the Industrial Revolution to research and create a wanted poster. Requirements for each scientist and inventor is included, along with a rubric and a list of scientist and inventors to choose from. I allowed students to choose whether to make a paper poster or a digital poster!

Students will explain the how the fall of the Persians occurred through the Persian War by drawing and describing the six major events that took place. -What caused the Persian's to start the War? -Battle of Marathon -Battle of Thermopylae -Battle of Salamis -Battle of Plataea -What Caused the fall of the Persians?

Students will put themselves in the shoes of a reporter in the heat of one of the Persian War Battles. They will begin by picking one of the 4 battles (Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea), research ideas like who fought, what key people were involved, what major events happened during battle, and who won the battle. They will then write out their script as if they were in the heat of battle, making sure to include all researched information. For added fun, students can do this in groups w

For this activity you must have Joy Masoff's book "Oh Yikes! History's Grossest Wackiest Moments". This is a great book filled with articles related to real historical events, but written in a way that is fun and very kid friendly. For this activity, students will learn about Nutty Napoleon. They will read the article and answer the comprehension questions. The focus is not only reading comprehension, but having students utilizing text features. I typically post this document on google classr

For this activity you must have Joy Masoff's book "Oh Yikes! History's Grossest Wackiest Moments". This is a great book filled with articles related to real historical events, but written in a way that is fun and very kid friendly. For this activity, students will learn about Horrible Henry the Eighth. They will read the article and answer the comprehension questions. The focus is not only reading comprehension, but having students utilizing text features. I typically post this document o

For this activity you must have Joy Masoff's book "Oh Yikes! History's Grossest Wackiest Moments". This is a great book filled with articles related to real historical events, but written in a way that is fun and very kid friendly. For this activity, students will learn about Knights during the middle ages. They will read the article and answer the comprehension questions. The focus is not only reading comprehension, but having students utilizing text features. I typically post this documen

Student's will will review what they have learned through their Ancient Greece by creating this ABC's of Greece Activity. They will find a concept for each letter of the alphabet and draw a picture to go along with the concept listed.