New ReviewCan budding writers accept constructive criticism? Learners work with their peers to gain feedback about their argumentative essay drafts. Peers give one another constructive criticism to better revise their work. Using a Peer Review...

New ReviewLet's join together and make a sentence. Scholars take the next step in revising their argumentative essays by combing independent clauses to make complex sentences. Writers use a Colon and Semicolon Handout to practice different ways to...

New ReviewIt's time to show what you know. Scholars finalize their argumentative essays by making last revisions to conventions, tone, and formal style. Learners review the checklist to ensure they have meet all requirements of the task. They then...

New ReviewThe Witches, Lady Macbeth, or Macbeth himself: who is the culprit? Using the resource, pupils craft multi-paragraph essays to present arguments about which character is responsible for the tragedy in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Additionally,...

Shakespeare's Macbeth has something for everyone. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment. They craft multi-paragraph essays to analyze how the author's structural choices create tension and suspense in the first two acts of the play. 

High school writers take part in peer review of their end-of-unit tasks. They begin by discussing their thought process in pairs and then edit their work. Finally, learners take part in a class discussion on the use of the semicolon and...

It's time to tie it all together. Scholars reflect on the past five lessons about Death of the Pig in the series. They examine how E.B. White develops a central idea throughout the entire essay before responding to a writing prompt.

What techniques do writers use to create pacing in a narrative? Learners read David Matthews' essay "Pick One" and analyze its pacing. They answer text-dependent questions to demonstrate understanding and learn about subordination and...

Dream or nightmare? Class members craft a synthesis essay with textual to determine to what extent the United States has fulfilled the ideas embodied in the America Dream.

It's time for the grand finale! Scholars finalize their learning in a two-part end-of-unit assessment. It covers multiple standards as learners demonstrate their understanding of central idea, comprehension, and supporting details. 

What does it take to create a scientific theory? Learners attempt to answer the question by studying the work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. While watching a video, they track observations from each scientist and then look...

Space stations provide opportunities for space exploration and research. Individuals see how scientists build space stations and put them into space. Viewers explore the history of space stations, the different types of space stations...

Scholars take a look at an excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. They determine how the author took smaller details in the excerpt and built them up to create the larger idea of the main passage. Learners discuss in pairs,...

It's time to show what you know. The final instructional activity asks scholars to think back across the seven-instructional activity unit and complete an end-of-the-unit task. Readers consider the claims presented in speeches from both...

All good things must come to an end! Scholars put all their learning into practice by completing an end-of-unit assessment. They use textual evidence from Julia Alvarez's "A Genetics of Justice" to write essays analyzing how Alvarez...

How do learners use textual evidence from a close reading to write a well-developed essay? Scholars give it a try by completing a mid-unit assessment based on their analysis of the first 15 paragraphs from "A Genetics of Justice" by...

Readers take all the information they gained from the last 19 lessons and complete an essay describing how King develops his purpose and claim in "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Pupils use a rubric and checklist to help guide their...

Regulatory genes play very important roles in cell development. An animated video shows pupils an example of a regulatory gene and how p53 initiates transcription of a gene. The parts of a gene that control regulation are briefly...

Bacteria are pesky little organisms that can often easily infect us. But how? Salmonella bacteria literally gets under our skin. Viewers see how the dangerous bacteria protects itself from defense mechanisms inside the cell.

Have you ever wondered what causes tumors to grow? VEGF is a very important factor because it is a hormone that causes blood vessels to grow and is triggered by cancer cells to increase blood supply to a tumor. Viewers learn about the...

Curing cancer with ... another virus? Chemotherapy and radiation are not the only ways to treat cancer. Now, there is a unique treatment involving infecting cells with viruses. Viewers discover why the innovative treatment does not...

Have you ever wondered why calico cats have such a colorful coat? The process of X inactivation is an interesting phenomenon in females that drives the physical appearance of individuals. Viewers of an intriguing video connect knowledge...

Mutations often lead to genetic disorders. The tri-nucleotide repeat leads to an expansion of DNA thanks to errors in the process of DNA replication. Using the informative video, scholars identify genetic disorders related to this error...

How do cells control which genes they express? The animation describes a specific example of how, after interaction with proteins, gene expression turns off. Scholars learn about the role of histone proteins and chromatin in the process...