Begin the writing journey of an evidence-based essay detailing a rule to live by with various activities to familiarize learners with the topic and jump-start brainstorming. First, pupils take part in an in-depth review and discussion of...

Students analyze a graphic from an article and predict what the article might be about. After reading an article, they discover a journalist's experience of traveling across the United States to compare fast food restaurants. They...

Pick a topic, any topic! Working in small groups, scholars choose three topics they think would make interesting podcasts. Next, each group shares their ideas with the class to narrow down their choices.

Internet research is becoming more common, so why not conduct an online research project in your classroom? Use this resource to get you and your class started. The lesson includes basic instructions and a list of questions to help...

Here is a lesson that offers a great hybrid of forming new skills and using current knowledge to come up with a plan. The class brainstorms information they would need to know or already know about hybrid vehicles. They then group...

While this focuses on Ancient Rome, the objectives are improved research and information evaluation skills. In one class period, class members narrow their topic, research it, select the best information, log useful sources, and discuss...

Students examine and participate in an inquiry process. They brainstorm recall, comprehension, and synthesis questions for a research topic, and write the questions on sentence strips.

Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...

Use the well-known KWHL chart as a tool for building up to a research project and oral presentation related to Willa Cather's My Antonia. Starting with a class brainstorm, pupils research and gradually narrow down topics relating to...

Help your class make a connection between salt water and nanoscience. In the introductory lesson of a seven-part unit, the class explores why salt water helps a sore throat feel better. Pupils conduct preliminary research about the...

Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research instructional activity, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in...

Work on research procedures in this lesson, which prompts writers to collect and evaluate information pooled from a number of sources. They work in teams to collect information about crocodiles from different sources. They compare the...

The attached resource is no lie! The K-W-H-L activity, which is fourth in a series of seven, serves as a pre- and post-assessment. First, pupils brainstorm what they know about a specific topic, then they list what they want to know, how...

Pupils begin the process of completing a research project. Working in groups, students brainstorm various topics for research. After selecting a research topic, pupils begin to narrow the topic down and create a research question to...

Your budding scholars spent the day in the library looking for a topic for their research essay, and now they are all in tears because there is too much information available on their topics. Wipe those tears away with the ideas and...

Thinking of assigning a research paper? Get writers off on the right foot with a lesson that introduces the BEAM research model. Writers brainstorm the background of their topic, explicate the aspects of their topic, consider the...

Students brainstorm criteria for reliablility, currency, and accuracy of information. They research a given topic, write a research report then develop a bibliography of sources for the research report using the designated format.

Students investigate animals. In this animal research lesson, students choose an animal to research online and record facts from at least 3 types of resources. Students complete a webbing tool, write a paragraph, and use MS word or...

The perfect resource for a beginning journalism teacher or someone designing a journalism unit, this activity prompts students to write a newspaper article. It covers all aspects of the writing process, such as a guided warm-up...

A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory instructional activity in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide...

How should America respond to acts of domestic terrorism? What motivates or prompts a terrorist attack? After reading an opinion piece on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, your learners will critically analyze factors that could have...

Fifth graders brainstorm a list of holidays celebrated by a majority of people in the United States. They each select an American holiday from the list as well as another country that may have a holiday that is similar. Next, they...

Readers of Freak the Mighty employ a KWHL strategy to explore the topics of bullying and friendship prior to reading Rodman Philbrick’s story that is “like truth serum. . . whether it really happened or not.” Research could be extended...

A free press, free to investigate and report on responsibly, compelling stories, is essential to a democracy. A 10-slide presentation details where to get ideas, how to go about an investigation, gather data, and assure the accuracy of...