Sixth graders read and utilize the facts from the story "Abd al-Rahmen Ibrahima" by Walter Dean Myers to analyze the main character's life which is ruined by conflict, jealousy, and greed. Journal entries are created in response to the...

Pupils investigate the military by examining their uniforms.  In this design lesson, students analyze the military uniforms from different locations and time periods.  Pupils create new ideas for current military uniforms.

“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...

Have you used the directed reading thinking activity in your classroom? Doubling as either a prereading strategy, or a during reading strategy, it helps readers connect the historical background of the text to the text itself. As the...

There is nothing more frustrating than discussing theme in literature, and now the Common Core requires that your learners determine two or more, and discuss the development of it throughout the text. This is crazy, but manageable with...

Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida is used in an activity that models how to develop questions to aid in comprehension of a text.

Eighth graders read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and participate in whole class discussions. They evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information in the text in order to explain character motivation and action. Students produce an essay...

Seventh graders choose a poet to research and find a poem by that author to explicate/analyze using a variety of sources for their research that will include their textbooks, the school library, and the internet. After conducting...

Introduce how Literature Circles are formed in a classroom with this slide show. The slides go over each of the jobs that the students take on, such as: Discussion Director, Character Analyzer, Artful Artist, and Text Connector. After...

When people and characters make choices, there are positive and negative consequences. Focus on a situation in a text your class is reading and analyze the characters' decisions. There is space in the graphic organizer to write about...

Students identify what a good government should provide for its citizens, and link their ideas to those of the founding founders by analyzing the Preamble to the Constitution. They create a mural depicting their understanding of the...

Tenth graders analyze a biographical piece of art by Raymond Saunders. They identify shapes, symbols, and lines that are used, and how the piece relates to the artist's life and modern society. They design and create an original piece of...

Young scholars analyze a collection of advertisements or photographs in a text or magazine and identify the stereotypes used or possible biases of the editors. They discuss how these stereotypes are formed, and the ways in which they...

Young scholars draw on their previous studies of American history and culture as they analyze primary sources from Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s - 1960s in American Memory. A close reading of two documents relating...

Students review the text of The Spirits of the Alamo part of the site, and each assume the identity of one person at the Alamo. They write a letter home describing his/her experience at the Alamo.

Sixth graders analyze the primary force that drives a character's actions in a character analysis lesson. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders analyze how characters present their actions and participate in a group activity...