There's more to newspaper articles than meets the eye. Scholars learn the different features of a newspaper article, including headline, byline, subheadings, etc. Pupils circle the features in an article as the teacher discusses their...

Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...

Have your budding authors evaluate various writing styles found in informational brochures. They look for effective writing, compare and contrast styles, and create an assessment.

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.

Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution becomes the text for an online newspaper activity. Young journalists craft news, features, obituary, and opinion articles based on the characters and events in the play.

A three-minute exercise warms-up scholars' writing abilities in order to follow a writing process that ends in an essay. The essay's topic is a barrier and the values used to break it. Four steps include choosing a topic,...

Scholars investigate and discuss the importance of values and how they can be used to break barriers. Small groups work collaboratively to examine the text and draw inferences to answer questions. A writing assignment challenges pupils...

Magnus takes a visit to the classroom in the 20th chapter of Matilda. Or does he? After reading, learners interview the person in the hot seat to get a detailed account of what happened during this chapter. Then, they write individual...

Remember the Lusitania! As part of their study of the causes of World War I, class members examine newspaper articles and propaganda posters about the sinking of the Lusitania and then craft their own news story about the event.

Students define the purpose of headlines and practice writing their own. In this news writing lesson, students define the elements of headlines and view examples. Students read a news story in groups and create a headline for it....

Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier...

Your class members will get up close and personal with the Big Apple in this fantastic activity, which introduces learners to not only the concept of a city, but also provides a thorough overview of New York City itself and its...

Not all technology is digital. Teach learners about the low-tech maker movement with a photo essay about six artisans from California and two articles about the local creator movement. After tackling the photo essay in small...

How important are symbols and symbolic gestures in society? Middle schoolers have an opportunity to analyze the importance of symbols on American currency with a lesson that investigates the controversies surrounding redesigning the $5,...

Does propaganda—like that used during the first World War—exist today? The 11th lesson in a series of 12 highlights the role of media when it comes to influencing attitudes. Scholars learn about sensational headlines, misrepresentation...

As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.

Imagine being forced against your will behind barbed wire for doing nothing but being yourself. Scholars investigate the impact Japanese-American internment camps had during World War II. Through video and archival evidence, they create...

Interviewing skills are important, even outside of a news reporter's desk or employer's office. Take your class through the process of interviewing people they don't know with a set of case studies featuring journalists and various...

Not all trolls hide under bridges; some of them hide behind computer screens! Learners explore the causes and effects of people leaving mean comments online. After learning vocabulary, watching and discussing a video, and responding to...

Two activities teach middle schoolers about asthma and how it can affect people's lives. After reading a series of articles and watching two videos that provide background information about asthma, pupils design an interactive game that...

Students examine photographs from newspapers and write a headline and story for one of the examples. In this news writing lesson, students analyze a photograph as a class and discuss it. Students analyze photographs and example headlines...

Explore how photographs can represent a whole story to a viewer. Middle schoolers work on narrative writing techniques in this lesson, focusing on photographs from the New York Times to write first-person descriptive narratives....

Scholars share ideas about health topics relevant to teens. They read posts on Well, the Times health blog, and produce their own health blog featuring teen health issues. In addition, they read and discuss the article "Well: A Times...

Learners identify controversial topics on which they have strong opinions and model their own persuasive opinion pieces after the featured article. They compose persuasive essays on controversial issues that "hit home" for them.