What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...

Is a college education necessary for success in today's world? The class investigates the question, along with others at the end of the sixth workshop in a 15-part series. The instructional activity has four parts with multiple...

When planning for your next learning stations or literacy center activity, use this resource as an outline for what will happen at each center, which students will be involved in each group, and how the small group activities will...

Why is it important to use precise language? Participants explore this question in the fourth activity in a series of 15 on effective instruction. Perfect for all content areas, the activity promotes appropriate language choice through...

Reading between the lines helps discover important information! The 11th lesson of a 22-part series on American history has scholars use historical thinking skills to uncover the deeper meaning behind the words on a page. Using backward...

Art classes, like any lab class, require extensive preplanning and set-up time. Use this planning template in the quiet before the storm to identify the equipment and materials that will be needed, the procedures and processes...

You'll C-E-R a difference in classroom achievement after using a helpful lesson. Designed for economics, civics, government, and US history classes, participants practice using the CER model to craft arguments about primary and secondary...

How have educational standards evolved? Educators of adults examine expectations in the 10th workshop out of 15 to better determine how standards have grown. Participants respond to a variety of sample questions to determine how they...

How can primary sources bring history to life? Scholars create detailed lesson plans on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in American history. The 17th installment of a 22-part program exploring American history examines...

Comprehension strategies are conscious plans - sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading...

The Monitoring/Clarifying strategy teaches students to recognize when they don't understand parts of a text and to take necessary steps to restore meaning. This technique is a component of the Reciprocal Teaching model in which teachers...

Discussion of the critical reading skills needed in Social Studies, although the skills discussed can apply to a variety of areas. This is part of a larger site containing numerous lesson plans for Social Studies, and this page is really...

Teachers will learn how to use Writing to Learn as a formative assessment tool. Teachers will learn how to implement the strategy, measure progress, and find research to support writing to learn. A list of Writing to Learn activities is...