Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

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...

Learners read and write an analysis of The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and write a paper on another Twain literary piece. In this Mark Twain instructional activity, students select a Mark Twain literary piece to write an analysis paper...

Imagine how the world would be different if all diplomats' children were required to serve in the military. Or if all high school graduates were required to do two years of community service before post-secondary education. A 30-page...

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...

Get your pupils thinking about some of the big ideas present in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson with this anticipation guide. Learners decided if they believe a series of statements are true or false. A discussion follows.

Spark interest in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with an anticipatory exercise that begins with a brainstorm around the words heroic and good boy. Pupils then complete an anticipation guide, discuss the results in groups, and...

After reviewing the eight rules for using quotation marks, class members complete worksheets as independent practice and review how these punctuation marks change the meaning of a sentence. Additional worksheets are provided for homework.

Sudents read and critique three of their fellow classmates' science fiction short stories on three consecutive days for mechanics, short story elements, style, and informational elements.

Where's the proof? Using the resource, scholars learn proofreading marks and complete a series of worksheets to practice using them correctly. Then, they make intentional errors to a writing passage before switching with a partner to...

What is a megalomaniac? Scholars discover the word's meaning as they read and analyze paragraphs seven and eight from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." They also read Mark Memmott's article "Remembering to Never Forget" and...

The ninth in a fourteen-lesson series, this plan marks a sort of midpoint in a unit devoted to the study of short stories. Pupils learn about theme and work on their short story projects by adding to their blogs, checking in with the...

Looking for an interesting text to share the world of microbes with your middle school classroom? The edition contains explanations, worksheets, experiments, discussions, and links to outside sources for a true and complete...

What a great list of brief research projects for reviewing the era of westward expansion in the United States! Learners are directed to choose and complete three of the projects on the given list, which includes opportunities to design...

Give sentence type instruction a boost with this informative powerpoint presentation! Learn about the four types of sentences; imperative, exclamatory, interrogative, and declarative, then check for understanding with a 10-question pop...

It's all in the technique. Scholars revisit the model narrative they covered in lesson four to analyze the author's writing techniques. Readers compare techniques they spot in the narrative to those in the essay rubric. They then work to...

After hearing the Passion, Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection, through an account of the gospel writer St. Mark students will comprehend the saving story of our Christian faith. They comprehend their language skills by writing and...

Using adjectives to create vivid descriptions is the focus of exercises in this resource. A cloze reading activity asks class members to add missing adjectives to passages from Mark Teague's The Lost and Found. They then read...

Redesign your holiday celebrations with the aid of a lesson plan booklet packed with facts, images, maps, activities, and readings about the three-day feast that marked the English settlers' first successful harvest.

Scholars read paragraphs 13 and 14 of "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" and analyze Du Bois's chapter conclusion. Writers revisit their quick write assignments from the previous lesson plan and revise or expand them as needed.

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.

Present your pupils with some moral dilemmas to examine. The scenarios, which learners rank by seriousness individually and then in groups, require learners to think about right and wrong.

If you weren't already blown away by first two installments, check out this clip on how gravity and space-time interact! Our physicist friends, Pontzen and Whyntie, continue their discussion of these motion concepts for your high...

Inspire thought around some of the themes of Pudd'nhead Wilson with a visualization activity. As you read a passage, learners close their eyes and picture the scene. A writing exercise and discussion follow.