Nathaniel Hawthorne as a humorist? Really? The three lessons in this series focus on the the storytelling style, conventions, and literary techniques employed by Hawthorne, George Washington Harris, and Mark Twain. 

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...

Whether new to teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or an experienced pro, you’ll find useful resources in this teacher’s guide. The 40-page packet includes background information, historical context, an annotated list of...

Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...

Pupils explore the story "The War Prayer" by Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain. Students are introduced to the life of the author, read the story, and respond to prompting questions about the text. The story is included in this lesson.

Get to the know the common house mouse and the Norway rat with an activity that reinforces reading comprehension skills. Scholars read a three-page document detailing key information about mammals, specifically rodents, and use their...

Americans love to learn about their rights, especially those that protect them from the government's power to invade their privacy. Young people are especially engaged by this topic. An informative lesson explores four Supreme Court...

Students conduct Internet research on excursions in Mexico. They answer questions about places in Mexico, plan an excursion, and prepare a creative project in Spanish.

Where is HIV/AIDS most prevalent and what are the current trends regarding HIV? Have groups work together to map the world's HIV/AIDS rates, then create a class map with all the data. Lesson includes cross-disciplinary concepts including...

What are the current trends in divorce? What contributes to this? Examine celebrity relationship trends and how they relate to the general public with this discussion lesson. Middle schoolers analyze the results of a Census Bureau study...

Students relate certain questions to certain types of answers. Students write suitable questions to given answers. Students show ending a question with a question mark. Students recap on the main functions and punctuation of questions....

Prejudice is the theme of this Pudd'nhead Wilson KWHL chart. Learners fill out their charts, discuss how to find the answers to their questions, and spend some time researching a topic they want to know more about.

Stress the importance of the different types of pressure our mind and body experience in a lesson about how certain types of stress are actually necessary and good for our bodies. As astronauts and people with injuries can attest, not...

Students use the World Wide Web to access additional information needed to complete a set of questions. They demonstrate an understanding of latitude and longitude by interpreting a lunar map.

The objectives in the resource allow young scholars to explore the characteristics of simple solid shapes. Youngsters learn to recognize the face shapes, corners, and edges that make up 3-D figures by filling in a chart....

Students conduct Internet research on weather and weather conditions in South America. They read a weather report in Spanish, and answer worksheet questions on South American countries and their weather conditions.

Is the price of chocolate a good indicator of taste? Your learners will approach this question through experimentation and analysis, and will then delve into the rich history and complexity of cacao and chocolate.

Utilize this worksheet package if you are looking for basic Civil War coverage. Much of the plan is disabled, however the worksheets contain 2 simple texts that pupils can read, mark, and respond to in 2 comprehension questions that...

An interesting article on editors helps young writers understand the conventions of written English. They read a news article about an editor traveling America correcting spelling and punctuation errors on signs.  They discuss...

Many hot button issues require deliberations, even in your classroom! Learners work in teams or as individuals to decide on a deliberation question to make into a Google site. They research the topics in depth, discuss both sides of the...

Students read and discuss an online article as they consider what makes a center of activity in a city or town. They produce a documentary film of the hub of activity in their school.

Students participate in an environmental clean-up activity. In this environmental lesson, students travel to a local beach. Working in small teams, students collect trash from the local beach. Returning to school, students sort the trash...

Many types of cancer treatments now depend on nanotechnology—a big "little" discovery. Scholars begin by removing "malignant" tissue from simulated brains, one using fluorescent markers thanks to nanotechnology and one without. This...

Young scholars examine life in Babylonia during the time of King Hammurabi. They read and discuss excerpts of the Code of Hammurabi, participate in a simulation of advisors to the king, complete an online interactive activity, answer...