Examine with your class the practical uses of journals and discover how journal writing can help academically and personally. Pupils discover the different types of journal writing and decide which style works best for them.

Who are you? Scholars draw a shield on the front of their journals that includes four items with which they identify and discuss them with a partner. Readers then use topic suggestions from the board to write about themselves on the...

Involve your readers in finding works of literary genius. Have each individual write down compelling sentences that they read or hear, whether in a newspaper, advertisement, book, movie, song, or any other place! Once each person has a...

Readers of The Joy Luck Club, use a double-0entry journal to record and reflect on passages from Amy Tan's novel.

What is the difference between a proactive person and a reactive person? Scholars explore the topic, and many others, with helpful lessons, discussions, role play activities, and games. Each activity supports one of the key principles...

Academics take turns as actors in an engaging poetry cafe. Elementary learners work in small groups to create original poems or stories addressing community issues and read their work in front of a live audience. Scholars also reflect...

Strengthen the bonds of friendship within your class with a reading of E.B. White's award-winning novel, Charlotte's Web. Focusing on the unique characters in the story and the relationships they develop, young readers draw...

Develop an understanding of the open-ended questions that are a part of the college Common Application. Future college learners collaborate, discuss prompts acquired from the application, and philosophize on their plan of attack for the...

Chapter 3 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses how central ideas are developed in a narrative. Readers use the provided annotated bookmark to record evidence of ideas such as racial identity, integration/separation, and systemic...

Using questions they developed, class groups discuss Chapter 2 of Malcolm X's autobiography, focusing on the individuals and events Malcolm X feels contributed to his character development.

Zoot suits, the Lindy hop, and conks. Readers carefully examine the rhetoric of chapter 4 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, analyze the effectiveness of using slang to develop a narrative, and consider how they might incorporate Haley's...

Angela Shelf Medearis' Poppa's New Pants provides third graders with an opportunity to stitch together their own narrative filled with sensory details. After reading the story and noting the sensory and concrete details in the tale...

A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to...

Sixth graders read and discuss the book, The Diary of A Young Girl, by Anne Frank, analyzing the autobiographical writing style of journal writing. They write their personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences of their own daily...

Students explore strategies to help focus on writing a personal narrative. In this personal narrative writing lesson, students read a book and discuss how the author lets readers know how they feel. Students find a moment in their own...

Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...

High schoolers form opinions about children and television censorship after analyzing literature. They complete a journal writing activity to identify the topic and make a list of inappropriate television shows for children. Next, they...

Laurie Halse Anderson tackles challenging topics for teens. An educator's guide shares activities for many of her novels such as Prom, Shout, and Wintergirls. Questions, perfect to use as either discussion or as essay prompts, accompany...

Learners review proper classroom behavior and anger management techniques.

Students create a graphic timeline depicting who they are, where they've been and where they think they are going in their lives. They analyze and reflect upon the important events of their lives, and then use this as a starting point...

After reading Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House on Mango Street, class members design a canned food drive, create advertisements for the drive, and use digital cameras to document the entire process. In addition, pupils journal their...

Do some good with social media. Secondary scholars participate in a live Twitter chat focusing on social justice issues. The thought-provoking activity allows academics to set up a live chat, create responses, and express their personal...

What were the virtues and values that helped form America? Pupils watch and discuss a video, read biographies of early Americans, chart the differences between early American religious movements, write journals and letters, draw, and...

Twelfth graders rewrite a story in a different format to understand the effects of the author's style. In this writing style lesson, 12th graders read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and rewrite the...