K20 LEARN
More than Skin Deep
From crime to paternity, DNA fingerprinting has revolutionized how the world views inherited traits. Science sleuths investigate the facts about DNA profiling through a variety of activities. The Teacher's Guide includes printable...
K20 LEARN
Transpiring Trees: Plant Transpiration and the Water Cycle
Looking for a tree-rific addition to your water cycle unit? Teams of young foresters examine the role of transpiration in the water cycle through a week's worth of activities. Pupils analyze how trees take in and transport water during...
K20 LEARN
Speedy Cat: Enzymes
Enzymes have a need for speed! What happens when they are forced to slow down? A well-rounded lesson plan from the K20 Center examines enzyme activity through role playing and a lab. Biology scholars work in teams and pairs to understand...
K20 LEARN
This Is How the World Ends: Coronal Mass Ejections/Space Storms
Is this the end of the world as we know it? Pupils prepare for a coronal mass ejection during a lesson from the K20 Center. The activity combines video and Internet research in a collaborative assignment that focuses on public safety...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
Is it possible to have too much concern for others? Can we be trapped by our expectations as well as those of society? Edith Wharton's chilling tale of Ethan Frome asks these and other disquieting questions. Signet's guide to Ethan Frome...
Facing History and Ourselves
Closing Challenge
The future can be yours to see with a bit of planning. That's the takeaway from a routine that asks participants to first brainstorm a list of personal and academic goals. Individuals then select one to focus on for the week, identify...
Facing History and Ourselves
Appreciate, Apology, Aha
Build a strong classroom community with a closing routine that asks each participant to share something they appreciate about their classmate(s), issue an apology if they may have hurt someone's feelings or an "aha" moment when they...
Facing History and Ourselves
Compass Points
Needs, Suggestions, Excitement, and Worries. A Compass Points worksheet asks pupils to give feedback on that day's lesson. Learners identify what they need from the instructor and classmates, what excites them about the class, what...
Facing History and Ourselves
Maintain and Modify
Maintain or modify? That's the question scholars answer as they reflect on their focus and engagement in that day's lesson. Were learners focused and contributing, or do they need to modify their level of participation?
Facing History and Ourselves
First Chapter Fridays
Fridays can be a challenge with learners already dreaming about their weekends. Here's a routine that will bring their minds back to the classroom. Read aloud the beginning of a story, sure to engage your listeners.
Penguin Books
A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of The Awakening by Kate Chopin
"Immoral!" "Scandalous!" When published in 1899, Kate Chopin's The Awakening was not well received. The novel traces the tragedy of Edna Pontellier, who rebels against the strictures placed upon her as a woman and mother. However, the...
Facing History and Ourselves
Take a Stand
Whole-heartedly agree! I sort of agree. Disagree! Class members indicate their stance on a controversial statement by participating in a Barometer activity.
Facing History and Ourselves
Rose, Thorn, Bud
Developing engaging opening and closing class routines is essential in post-COVID, face-to-face classrooms. The 7th routine of 15 in the Building Community series invites participants to begin class by reflecting on a success (rose), a...
Facing History and Ourselves
Slow Down with The Slowdown
Help learners bring their focus to the classroom with an opening routine that asks them to listen to a podcast about what a particular poem means to the narrator. Participants then share what's happening with them.
Facing History and Ourselves
Three Good Things
A "Three Good Things" routine asks participants to sit quietly and reflect on three positive things in their world: family, school, community, or the world at large. After journaling about one that feels most important right now, writers...
Facing History and Ourselves
Picture This
Sometimes what you get is far more than what you first see. The third routine in the Building Community series asks participants to engage in a See, Think, Wonder strategy. Small groups analyze a projected image, infer what is happening,...
Facing History and Ourselves
Mood Meter
Returning to in-class learning has proved to be a challenge for both teachers and learners. This series of 15 lessons provides instructors with ideas about establishing or re-establish classroom protocols and opening or closing routines...
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelous
Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is controversial. Like many other Angelou books, it is frequently challenged or banned from schools. In fact, Angelou is one of the most frequently banned authors in the United States. An...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
"What should we have for dinner?" "What am I eating?" "Where did it come from?" These three questions are at the heart of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Pollan's book provides some very...
Penguin Books
An Educator Guide to Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
Call Us By What We Carry, a poetry collection by Nation Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, is the focus of a 10-page teacher's guide.
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Booker T. Washington's Up from Slavery
Booker T. Washington was often criticized by W.E.B. Dubois and other African American leaders for his conciliatory approach to civil rights and education voiced in his autobiography Up From Slavery. This teacher's guide not only...
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Julie Otsuka's haunting novel, When the Emperor Was Devine, is the subject of a 14-page teacher's guide. The guide includes the text of an interview with Otsuka, background information about Japanese immigration to the United States, and...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Emily Bronté's Wuthering Heights
Sibling rivalry! Revenge! Ill-fated love! Wuthering Heights has it all! Lead readers through a study of this massive, poignant tale with the help of a 22-page teacher's guide. The guide includes a list of characters and their family...
Penguin Books
Teacher’s Guide: The Diary of a Young Girl The Definitive Edition By Anne Frank
A line from Anne Frank's diary reads, "What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again." Indeed, that is the hope for scholars who study her diary. The 19-page guide to the Definitive Edition of The Diary of a Young...