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Mensa for Kids Lesson Plans

Mensa for Kids Lesson Plans are learning units that contain multiple lessons over the same topic that are designed to meet the needs of all children for extension beyond the standard curriculum.

These lessons may be given to students for individual, self-guided work, or they may be taught in a classroom or homeschool setting. These plans are designed to enrich academic learning with extension for gifted children built in. We include a variety of questions and extension opportunities to allow the plans to be customized to work best for the student(s) you are working with.

Intensities in the Classroom

Intensities (sometimes called Overexcitabilities) provide a useful tool to analyze content because they resonate with many learners, particularly the gifted. Inviting students to recognize themselves in content deepens understanding and provides motivation for stronger analysis.

High School Middle School Other
Early American Novel

As this topic is generally neglected in textbooks, this unit creates a useful introduction to American Literature that compliments the non-fiction and short story pieces normally found in the curricular resources.

High School Language Arts
The Fantasticks

The Fantasticks is the longest running musical in history, yet most students are unfamiliar with it. An examination of the play affords students the opportunity to explore it in both a scholarly and artistic way, and it builds their cultural awareness.

High School Language Arts
The Moon

Although it’s a space object, it’s more accessible to children because of its dependability and proximity. Through this short unit, children will develop a deeper understanding of the moon.

Elementary Science
The Art of Storytelling

Students develop their own storytelling talents, apply the techniques of storytelling, create storytelling guides, and perform a story for an audience. Each lesson is quite short, and they can easily be combined.

Elementary Language Arts
Exploring Shapes

Understanding shapes will enable students to be more in tune to the world around them and see the connections between objects, as well as being better able to appreciate artistic works.

Elementary Math
Fabulous Fibonacci

Fibonacci numbers are an interesting mathematical idea. Although not normally taught in the school curriculum, particularly in lower grades, the prevalence of their appearance in nature and the ease of understanding them makes them an excellent principle for elementary-age children to study.

Elementary Math
Quotation Station

Meta-cognition (thinking about thinking) often fascinates gifted learners, and quotations are an accessible and time-effective way to introduce this in the classroom. Quotes lend themselves easily to critical thinking skills, and they are as useful in the home as conversation starters as well.

Elementary Other
Writing a screenplay

Strong readers make the "movie" of a book in their minds. This lesson guides children through the fundamentals of format required to write an actual movie screenplay.

Middle School Other
Book Review Writing

This guide is designed to help you become a strong book reviewer, a reader who can read a book and then cook up a review designed to whet the reading appetites of other book lovers.

Elementary Upper Elementary Language Arts
Developing Media Literacy

Advertisers spend billions of dollars every year targeting kids. By learning the techniques marketers use to try to get them to buy products, youth can become more informed consumers of products and information in general.

Middle School Language Arts
Peas in a pod: Genetics

Genetics is a subject that can occupy an entire lifetime of study. This lesson plan will introduce children to the basics of heredity in an approachable way.

Elementary Middle School Science
Probably Probability

This lesson explores some fundamentals of probability and its application in the "real" world.

Elementary Middle School Math
Ecosystems

In addition to being a core requirement of science standards across the country, the study of ecosystems is interesting to students, creating an arena in which complex ideas become accessible to learners.

Elementary Science
Hurricanes

The study of hurricanes rewards the young scholar with the ability to understand more about the forces that shape our world.

Elementary Science
I Need a Superhero

The heroic archetype features prominently in literary analysis at the high school level. A clear understanding of, and the ability to manipulate and apply, this idea is critical to any approach to world literature for the high school student.

High School Middle School Language Arts
Introduction to Color

Color and color theory form the foundation of art as well as design. Gifted children are often tuned in to the aesthetic nature of things at an early age and can appreciate the nuances of color, as well as the way colors are blended, tinted and shaded.

Elementary Other
The Writer's Toolbox

The Writer's Toolbox is a collection of resources for students and educators that will assist in the writing process. The toolbox consists of six components.

All levels Language Arts
Magical Musical Tour

This is an entire unit on literary elements that should be taught over an extended period of time. It is most effective broken down and connected to literature the students are reading.

All levels Other
Connecting Africa

A study of the geography and issues of Africa prepare students to better understand its richness and significance. This lesson is designed to give students a fundamental understanding of the physical and human geography of Africa, as well as the opportunity to explore issues facing it.

Elementary Middle School Social Studies