Take the next step in the writing process with a lesson plan geared towards the completion of writing an evidence-based essay about a rule to live by, as Bud did in Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Pupils collaborate with their...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

Have your middle and high schoolers analyze instances of celebrities using racial slurs or making prejudiced comments in public. After reading an article, they consider the roots and effects of prejudice and bias. As a class, they...

The German youth faced an onslaught of propaganda when they went to school, thanks to the Nazi regime led by Hitler during World War II. Pupils relate their education experiences to German youth by analyzing primary source readings,...

A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...

Explore reciprocal questioning with this ReQuest comprehension strategy. After reading a passage, learners first question the teacher, trying to "stump" her. Then it is the teacher's turn to ask the pupils questions. All correct answers...

Young learners examine different places in their neighborhood using informational texts. First they identify a place that they like to play and predict if it will be in the nonfiction book Community at Play.They will share their favorite...

The Crusades sounds like a glamorous time period in the Middle Ages full of glory—but was it? Scholars find and review the truth of the Crusades' influence on the world through the resource. The study guides, separated individually by...

Start with the question in mind with a discussion activity on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. With four focus questions, note-taking prompts, and discussion points, readers practice answering thematic questions based on textual evidence.

Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...

Increase your sample and increase your accuracy! Scholars complete an activity that compares sample size to variability in results. Learners realize that the greater the sample size, the smaller the range in the distribution of sample...

This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...

Heat things up in your earth science class with this collaborative lesson on volcanoes. After first being introduced to the different types of volcanoes and how they are formed, young geologists work in small groups to...

Not many youngsters realize that solids aren't the only materials that can possibly be dissolved in water. During this investigation, they find out that some liquids can dissolve in water as well. This is part of a unit on solubility,...

Here’s a reading strategy that can be used with any text. Class members examine portions of a novel, and make predictions about the theme or subject matter of the book. Although designed for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newbery Medal...

Left-to-right, left-to-right, that's the way we read and write! Watch this short video clip and teach your young learners this chant before they start writing! 

If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...

Teach your class about colony collapse disorder and foster discussion about causes and solutions for the honeybee problem. Class members read and discuss an article and participate in one of two detailed activities about pollination and...

This is a skills-based assessment that asks test takers to use textual evidence to determine the main idea of an excerpt from an informational text as well as respond to text-dependent questions. The assessment is the middle point...

With What Do You See at the Pond?, young readers explore pond life and practice reading strategies. Learners first make predictions and then read the simple story independently. After a second read-through with a partner, kids come...

"How can a few good words save a pig's life?" Posed with this question, your ELD students explore E.B. White's Charlotte's Web in a meaningful, valuable way. By analyzing specific word choice from the book, especially the excerpts...

Students explore reading comprehension by completing a graphic organizer. In this journalism technique lesson, students discuss important questions they can ask about stories they read to improve comprehension. Students identify keywords...

A puzzle isn't about the individual pieces, but how they work together. Scholars assemble a puzzle and discover missing pieces. They write a description of what they expect these pieces to look like, including as many details as...

What makes a poem difficult? Explore that topic and more with your class as you work through the lesson detailed here. Using materials from Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest, individuals or small groups examine poems and...