High schoolers investigate the dilemma of a proportional response with a lesson about the history of terrorism and militant extremists in the United States. As they examine memos from the FBI and speeches from President Bush and Obama,...

Organizing information gathered for a research topic can be a challenge. Read aloud notes you have collected on a topic and use suggestions offer by the class to categorize and sort this information. Partners then follow this pattern,...

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

Using an informative resource, pupils discover how to write research questions that are focused, answerable, and relevant. Scholars evaluate resources about the industrial food chain from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and then...

Break down the parts of argumentative writing with a critical thinking activity. High schoolers read an article of your (or their choice), and use a graphic organizer to delineate the ways the author structures his or her arguments.

The only way that a heinous act of genocide can succeed is if citizens of surrounding groups and countries turn their backs on those suffering. A thorough language arts module addresses shared central ideas with three separate units,...

Gun, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is a seminal work of historical nonfiction from the late 20th century. Use the author's claims and supporting evidence to guide your high school seniors through their research project, culminating...

Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...

With the emphasis on incorporating more nonfiction in language arts classes the question arises about how to design activities that motivate kids to engage with informational text. How about an assignment that asks class members to...

Could the hunter-gatherer food chain feed everyone in the United States? To consider the question, pupils use their research and add to the Cascading Consequences chart based on Michael Pollan's hunter-gatherer food chain from The...

Scholars scour thematically aligned texts to gather a bank of words they can use in an original acrostic poem. 

What are the consequences of the local, sustainable food chain? Research teams explore the question as they review Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. The teams complete Cascading Consequences charts and then choose research topics...

Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...

The fourth instructional activity in the series of 16 asks researchers to analyze an exchange of letters between John and Abigail Adams for what they each valued in letter writing.

The most effective way to support an argument is with clear and relevant evidence. As seventh graders read and listen to Cesar Chavez's California Commonwealth Club Address, they work through five sections of a textual analysis unit,...

A great idea for showing language arts pupils the universality of themes, even in the real world! Have class members choose an idea-noun (peace, justice, war, love, etc.) at the beginning of the year or semester. They complete weekly...

Art, music, poetry, and the beauty of the seasons is what you'll find in this very nice unit idea. You can use any of the suggested books and activities to engage your second graders in an exploration of the changes that take place...

Third graders work to determine the main idea, recall key details, and answer questions using an informational text on the topic of animal adaptations. Using the non-fiction text "Staying Alive: Animal Adaptations" (provided) the teacher...

As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh lesson in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their note-taking skills...

Students brainstorm a list of potential uses for micro-video technologies. After reading an article, they analyze the development of a new pill-sized camera. In groups, they create a children's book that shows them the various systems of...

Lesson 10 in a series of human rights lessons focuses on the skills of finding evidence and summarizing. Your young readers work to compare the two texts they have read in this unit: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

We live in a time of fake news, alternative realities, and media bias. What could be more timely than an activity that asks class members to research how different sources report the same topic in the news?

Make a study of the First Amendment and its relationship to freedom. Pupils rewrite the amendment and discuss the central idea before focusing on a specific phrase. After discussing, class members write a journal entry about the included...