Different currencies, multiple armies, unreliable protection from thieves: class members experience these challenges playing a game that demonstrates life under the Articles of Confederation. After playing the game—which takes them on a...

Choose a side! Pupils watch and read several nonfiction resources about zoos. After gathering their research, they choose a side either for or against closing zoos. Scholars complete KWL charts, anticipation guides, flow charts, and...

Scholars read newspaper articles relating to a longer school day and complete note-taking organizers as they read. They then form opinions and complete outlines before writing essays supporting their point of view. 

As part of the study of women's history, young scholars examine Chester Comix's strips about the Seneca Falls Convention and four 19th century leaders in the struggle for equal rights. After researching other elements of the Suffrage...

What exactly are those glowing eyes in the night? Learners run an experiment to attract local wildlife and then document the number of visitors by identifying their tracks. They then analyze the data to draw conclusions about the types...

What are some of the pros and cons of staying young forever? With the Peter Pan resource, learners discover the magical world of Neverland. Scholars create advertisements that promote eternal youth, and then write persuasive pitches for...

What's more fun than playing with your food? Writing a poem about it! A quick and straightforward lesson guides young writers through the steps of writing a funny, well-structured poem about combining sports and food.

The Stamp Act, Paul Revere's ride, and the Boston Tea Party pushed American colonists to the tipping point that led to the American Revolution. Fifth graders research the key figures of the war, study the Declaration of Independence, and...

Examine the lives of four women—Blanche Stuart Scott, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Evans Price, and Sybil Ludington—in a 23-page activity packet. Each profile comes with a set of vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. Further...

Children in foster care face a lot of uncertainty in their lives. A guide for the novel One for the Murphys introduces a main character, Carley, who is thrust into the foster care system. Chapter-by-chapter questions cover key details in...

Thomas Jefferson lived a controversial life. A series of lesson plans shares information about Jefferson's Sons, a novel about the infamous founding father. Discussion questions and other tasks explore different points of view and cover...

Schools in the 1950s and 60s looked very different from the schools we know today. An educator's guide explores the civil rights movement and, specifically, the process of integrating schools. Questions cover key themes in the novel and...

The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...

A lot of secrecy shrouded the creation of the atomic bomb. Readers uncover some of that secrecy using an educator's guide for the novel The Green Glass Sea. Three weeks of lesson plans feature discussion questions and reading...

It's hard to imagine that life on Alcatraz could be dull. A series of intriguing lessons take readers through the novel Al Capone Does my Shirts. Pre-reading questions introduce the text and a range of suggestions, from comic strips to...

Literature circles give learners a chance to explore a novel in a unique way. An educator's guide for the book Savvy uses literature circles as part of the novel study. Additional activities cover elements of figurative language and...

Young writers need to know how to use both informational and argumentative texts to craft a response. Two writing prompts, one on the life of Ella Fitzgerald and the other on the importance of balancing extracurricular activities and...

Compare and contrast popular works of fantasy literature with an in-depth reading comprehension unit. Language arts learners study the theme of good versus evil, fantastical characters and symbols, and the value of a visual...

Hey, enough frabbajabba about that stool pigeon, Daddy-O! Using the West Side Story study guide, scholars explore the language of the play and read about its historical associations and themes. Pupils also engage in a Spectrum of...

After reading "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," scholars discuss the emotions the events provoked in its characters. In pairs, writers compose a letter depending on the topic and style of their choice then reply to their own or a peer's...

How does trust grow between friends, and why is it so important? Aesop's 142-word fable "The Two Fellows and the Bear," addresses the question and challenges readers to think about whether they should trust the friends in their lives. To...

Part of a set of fables, Aesop's "The Tortoise and the Eagle" is all about a tortoise that fulfills his dreams and dies in the process of completing them. The activity after the passage asks readers to write an argumentative response...

Young negotiators ponder the best arguments to escape captivity after listening to Aesop's "The Labourer and the Nightingale," which tells the tale of a clever songbird who secures his own freedom. They then respond to a writing prompt...

Get in touch with your sense of self! The fifth and final lesson in a series of college and career lessons for fifth graders reinforces the relationship between interests and career choices. Pupils play a scenario-driven game, then dig...