Young historians study the Angel Island Immigration Station with activities examining primary and secondary source materials, maps, and websites. The unit begins with individuals creating a map of Angel Island, labeling sites on the...

What is newsworthy? Who decides? How do video reports differ from printed news? What makes a good video report? What about journalism ethics? Learn all about it in this extra special collection of materials about video news production.

Are student-athletes under too much pressure to perform? How should countries respond to acts of domestic terrorism? Should video games be regulated? Never again will you need to worry about coming up with engaging prompts or lessons for...

A two-part lesson examines the works and biographies of Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce. Part One focuses on the authors’ narrators and asks readers to consider whether the narrators of “A Tell-Tale Heart” and “Occurrence at Owl Creek...

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is the anchor text for a three-lesson unit module. The first instructional activity models for readers how authors use direct and indirect characterization to establish their characters. Other lessons...

Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol offers students a chance to practice their close reading skills. Using the provided worksheets, readers examine context clues to determine the meanings of words, direct and indirect characterization...

Boost sixth graders' reading comprehension skills with a collection of 12 reading worksheets. With each practice page, young scholars read informational text and answer the questions that follow. Short answer responses cover the texts'...

7th grade ELA Unit 

The 11 lessons in the Climate Action in Language Education collection, designed for English as a Second Language and English Language Development classes, permits instructors to bring environmental and sustainability issues into the...

Three lessons comprise the NewseumEd unit module. For the first lesson, young reporters have an opportunity to craft a news story about a topic that interests them. They select a topic, research it, and write their story for a class...

As part of a social, economic, and legal/political civil rights study, class members brainstorm a list of current civil rights issues that affect their community and then select one issue that they think they could work to change as a...

A collection all about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda, contains eleven lessons. Each lesson contains a theme and covers a different subject: literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars work collaboratively and...

As part of a study of the history of the Chumash on California's Channel Island chain, class members view the documentary Once Upon a Time, respond to discussion questions, and create a timeline for the different waves of migration....

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members watch Dark Water, a documentary about a traditional Chumash ceremony. The documentary launches a series of lessons about this tribal nation that inhabited the...

How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class...

The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island documents the story of Juana Maria, who spent 18 years alone on the most remote island of the Channel Islands chain. After watching West of the West's documentary and reading two print resources,...

The excavation of a cache of artifacts, believed to have been buried by Juana Maria, a Nicoleno Native American who lived alone on San Nicolas Island for over 18 years, is the focus of a unit that shows how archaeologists uncover...

The tale of the restoration of California's Channel Islands begins with a video that details the devastation of Santa Cruz Island by introducing species that are not native to the region. Additionally, the video discusses the controversy...

The Last Roundup explores the issues raised by the transitioning of Santa Rosa Island from a privately owned to a National Park. The documentary is short, poignant, and weaves together vintage family photos and videos with interviews...

Boost sixth graders' reading comprehension skills with a collection of 12 reading worksheets. With each practice page, young scholars read informational text and answer the questions that follow. Short answer responses cover the texts'...

West of the West's Arlington Springs Man series documents the history of the archeological digs on Santa Rosa Island and the discovery of human and mammoth bones that challenge the once-popular theories of human migration to the...

A series of five worksheets and a PowerPoint presentation gives readers a chance to practice making predictions and develop higher-level critical thinking skills. Scholars read short text that ends abruptly and gather textual evidence to...

Ben Across the Curriculum is a set of interdisciplinary lesson plans that highlight the five central themes in the international traveling exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World. These themes are Character Matters, B....

The three units in the “Water is Life: The Earth’s Hydrosphere and Its Impact on Living Systems” are designed to teach middle schoolers about the role water plays in all life. Unit 1 builds background knowledge. In Unit 2, scholars...