After completing the 11th chapter of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, take part in a KWHL chart driven by the question,When is it appropriate and admirable to defy authority? Focusing on codes of conduct,...

What was the purpose of the Enrollment Act of 1863? Pupils consider the topic while completing the novel study for The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. They write original similes and answer reading...

Cozy up and listen to a recording of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Javelinas. Then, lead your class in a compare and contrast of the two stories by creating a Venn diagram.

In this translating sentences into the IPA instructional activity, students translate ten sentences into the International Phonetic Alphabet and decide whether they are true or false.

Students examine the breaking out of traditional gender roles in this story by Avi Wortis, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Gender limitations are explored in this lesson.

Compare two versions of "The Three Little Pigs" (traditional and Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, told from the wolf's point of view). As your 4th graders recount the familiar version of the story, emphasize the...

Learners read The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and answer true or false questions for the text. In this literature analysis instructional activity, students read the story and answer true or false questions for the...

Is the wolf from "The Three Little Pigs" really big and bad, or is he just misunderstood?  To analyze the effect of point of view, middle schoolers read Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and evaluate the...

Teach kids how to watch television, specifically the news, with this creative idea for learners of all ages from the Media Awareness Network. The elementary school plan focuses on presenting news as a story and uses Jon Scieszka's story...

Youngsters investigate autism and autism spectrum disorders. They access a variety of websites which present information on ASD's, and assess how accurate the information they've read actually is. They work in groups and utilize...

If it's on the Internet, it must be true—right? How can someone tell if a website contains less-than-truthful information? Savvy surfers evaluate sources in the fifth of a six-part college and career readiness instructional activity...

Who or what is an Australian? Discover a plethora of student-centered, engaging activity ideas on the question of Australian identity, organized according to five major themes: people, symbols, place, sport, and words.

Are wages based on race? On gender? Class members research wages for workers according to race and gender, create graphs and charts of their data, and compute differences by percentages. They then share their findings with adults and...

What is really the best way to get rid of hiccups? Investigate some old wives' tales and folk remedies related to health. Middle schoolers explore the science behind why people might believe these myths to be true and find the real...

Learners examine affirmative action and study the diversity of their own classrooms and communities, then of a particular college or university. They write essays examining how colleges should increase the diversity of their student bodies.

Third graders explore language arts by analyzing a children's story in class. In this story structure lesson, 3rd graders read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and write a brief summary. Students identify the beginning,...

Students study the contributions of African Americans and place these figures on a timeline. They examine the Civil Rights Acts and how it came to be using a Disney Cable in the Classroom lesson.

Research, art history, and web page creation! Sounds too good to be true. With tons of links and resources, the lesson provides you with everything needed to engage the class in an amazing art and research activity. They create...

“There is no story that is not true, . . .” And uncovering the truths in Things Fall Apart is the focus of a 68-page resource packet designed to provide instructors with a wealth of materials that enhance understanding of Chinua Achebe’s...

How can something be true even if it didn't happen? Invite your classes to investigate the truths found in the world of magical realism as they analyze short stories, poems, informational texts, video, and art from this genre.

Clearly written as an assignment for a higher-level education class, this formal lesson plan contains some fun and well-researched strategies for teaching the novel Tuck Everlasting  by Natalie Babbitt. Among the best ideas...

Is it possible to tell a true war story? Tim O’Brien says that fiction is for “getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.” To get at the truth about war, class members examine primary source materials from the...

Have your middle schoolers participate in numerous activities designed to spark their awareness of literature. They express ideas and concerns clearly and respectfully in conversations and group discussions. Next, they view a music...

Just how true is the information contained in political ads? Determining the veracity of campaign ads from the 2008 presidential race is the focus of a lesson that introduces class members to several fact-checking resources.