There are many ways for learners to understand what they know and learn. Introduce 6 different types of questions and how they are used to build comprehension, critical thinking, and analysis skills. Each slide presents a question type,...

Analyze and read a dramatic role-play depicting the meeting of Bolivar and San Martin. There are 3 critical-thinking questions based on the dramatic reading. A fun way to practice interpreting informational text.

Being an informed citizen requires distinguishing fact from opinion and understanding persuasion methods. Secondary learners evaluate newspaper editorials. They read opinion pieces, identify the writer's purpose and position on an issue,...

What a cool worksheet! The full set of our Constitutional Amendments are included in this resource which helps learners know how to answer 10 questions intended to build an understanding of constitutional and unconstitutional actions.

During a series of four activities, class members examine and deconstruct advertising that features famous athletes. They determine target audiences, analyze ads, explore "emotional climate," and role play a meeting between a sports...

This discussion based instructional activity focuses on the sensitive topic of suicide attacks or bombings used throughout history during times of militaristic upheaval. Learners read news stories, compose journal entries, and engage in...

Meant to be used in connection with the article "In Teacher Ratings, Good Test Scores Are Sometimes Not Good Enough" also available on The New York Times website, this resource provides 12 short-answer writing prompts that ask both basic...

Teach your readers to be critical thinkers. A strategy is outlined that can be used to compare and contrast entities. An example lists four states. The learner removes one state that "does not belong" in the list for some reason, and...

If you teach health, sociology, ethics, or a class that addresses controversial issues, this resource related to schools' sex education programs may be useful. The New York Times' Learning Network provides a lengthy article on a unique...

High schoolers investigate the water wars taking place in East Africa. In this global issues lesson, students watch video clips and read selected articles about the water shortages in East Africa. High schoolers estimate their own...

Students take a closer look at the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. In this global issues lesson, students analyze political cartoons related to the War on Terror. Students discuss their impressions of the war and then create their own...

Ninth graders consider the right of freedom of speech as it is outlined in the U.S. Constitution. They receive background information for the US Supreme Court, the Bill of Rights, and free speech. They discuss a series of actual cases...

If you plan to utilize the ABC miniseries, "The Path to 9/11" in your classroom, consider incorporating media literacy and research skills. After (or while) learners view the series, they discuss ways information can differ from source...

Through a series of readings and handouts, learners will study the shifts in perception that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. The history lesson focuses on periods of change in post WWII German history that led to a changed...

Your home-school, Sunday school, or private Christian school students can build critical thinking and textual analysis skills by taking a look at Ten Commandments. They use this worksheet to analyze and break down textual meaning in an...

Use this political cartoon as a class warm up or discussion starter. Upper graders examine the role of newspapers as government watchdogs. Items for consideration are available, alongside a vivid cartoon.

Explore the primary elections through political cartoons. Three talking points guide deeper thinking as pupils analyze a cartoon, which depicts the 2008 campaigning in Iowa. Analysts identify caricatures, research why winning Iowa is...

Creating a Bill of Rights isn't easy! Help your scholars experience what the Founding Fathers did by challenging them to write a Bill of Rights. Groups pretend they are a new democratic country and proceed to create that country's Bill...

Bestow background in big business bailouts on your scholars with this political cartoon analysis handout. Two cartoons focus on the General Motors bankruptcy, and its effect on American taxpayers. Background information gives context for...

Are newspapers dying, or fighting to survive? Give your scholars access to this controversial debate using political cartoons. In this analsyis handout, 2 cartoons display the changing role of newspapers in a world of online media....

In order to maximize reading comprehension levels, young readers must learn to make connections to the content. This instructional activity applies to any reading and provides spaces for readers to document relevent personal experiences,...

Use political cartoons to spice up a discussion on national security! Two cartoons, one by Normal Rockwell in 1948, the other a parody of Rockwell's by Chuck Asay in 2010, depict the dangers of leaking information. Background information...

Let the games begin! Use political cartoons to analyze current events regarding the Olympic Games. This worksheet includes two cartoons depicting the 2008 Beijing Olympics, background information to help with analysis, and talking points...

Youngsters identify the ingredients in a can of vegetable soup and record a recipe for the soup. They volunteer to bring in soup ingredients, graph the quantities of each vegetable in the soup, and make the soup with help from parents....