My daughter asked if we could make some jewelry today.. I pulled out some of my tools and wire and an assortment of beads, sea shells, and sea glass and the results were quite nice. It got me thinking that this would be a great lesson for middle or high school aged students. My daughter is 11 and she did pretty good with some guided instruction. (I love having a daughter in 6th grade! She helps me test new lessons and gauge age appropriateness!) The tools needed are few (a pair of wire cutters and needle nose pliers, preferably smooth tipped) and the supplies are easy to come by and relatively inexpensive. I know that a bag of sea glass is under $5.00 at my local craft store and this bag will easily supply a class full of kids. I bought the wire (24 gauge) at Wal Mart and I think it was under $2.00 and 2 rolls of this will easily supply a class. Beads are pretty cheap also, and you can use most anything for the cording.
I have an assortment of pliers, but you can get away with just the 2 I mentioned for beginning projects. With very basic wire wrapping techniques, you can produce some very attractive jewelry. The skills learned include proper and safe use of tools, designing personalized pieces of jewelry, and learning about new materials. You could easily include a power point that gives some history about jewelry making, information on contemporary jewelry crafters and discuss jewelry making as an art form. 
When I try this lesson with my students, I will post pictures of their creations!
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