Class members discuss the gist of chapter four of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park with a partner and share their responses with the class. Next, they complete graphic organizers to answer text-dependent questions based on a close...

Pupils consider the varying perspectives of people in different cultural groups as they read an informational text about the Dinka tribe of Southern Sudan and complete graphic organizers. They also respond to a constructed-response...

Deafening, dusty, debris. Such were the working conditions in the 1800s textile industry as portrayed in Katherine Paterson's novel Lyddie. Scholars watch a short video clip about life and work in the mills. Next, they work...

Scholars grapple with whether the title character of Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie, should sign a petition about working conditions at the factory. They engage in close reading and discussion before adding their thinking about the...

Scholars complete the Pygmalion mid-unit assessment to show their progress toward the unit's stated goals. The assessment requires learners to read text and successfully answer multiple choice and extended response questions.

Take a closer look. Scholars learn how to read closely using chapter six in The Lightning Thief. While reading, they write the gist of paragraphs on sticky notes and stick them in the book. They then answer text-dependent questions over...

What to do with all that feedback? Scholars use colored writing instruments to circle any feedback that relates to the first two rows of the grading rubric. After working on revisions for their papers, learners view the performance task...

The gist should be short and sweet! Pupils practice finding the gist of an informational text and then write a summary of the text. Next, they gather with their research teams to discuss a focus question based on the novel Bud, Not Buddy...

Perspective is everything. Using a graphic organizer, pupils determine Laurence Yep's perspective of the police in his novel Dragonwings. Additionally, scholars complete anchor charts to identify connotative language in the text.

Quiz time! Serving as the mid-unit assessment, scholars complete a Two Opinions Word Sort activity. In addition, they read an article about the importance of sports in America and answer text-based questions. 

Breaking barriers is not an easy thing to do. Scholars read a section in Promises to Keep and summarize how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. They write the gist of the passage in their journals and then complete...

Sharing is caring! Using the collaborative lesson, scholars engage in a shared writing process with the teacher. Working together, they compose opinion letters about Jackie Robinson's legacy. 

Writers examine the elements of an informational essay, identify them in several essay snapshots, and then craft their own to demonstrate what they have learned.

Young scholars find out about the social changes that caused the collapse of important ancient civilizations in Central America, Mesopotamia, the southwestern United States, and western Africa.

Is much required of those to whom much is given? That's the central question asked of middle schoolers in this lesson. Scholars consider the actions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Colin Kaepernick, Lady Gaga, and others who have taken...

Fourth graders read a short story and then answer questions based on what they read. Learners are asked to support their answers with evidence from the text.

Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...

Working in groups, middle and high schoolers describe and discuss photographs depicting working conditions experienced by child laborers in the 19th century. They then write a persuasive paragraph supporting an amendment to regulate the...

As 3rd graders continue reading Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, they focus on the concepts of predator and prey in the fifth lesson plan of this unit. Scholars further develop their ability to answer questions using evidence from the text...

Students receive bloodstain pattern evidence from a crime scene. They answer a series of questions through inquiry, observation, measurement, and analysis. Pupils complete this challenge, by reconstructing the evidence through four...

Explore a story's character by using this character wheel. Kids will love this graphic organizer. It's easy to use, and there are spaces to write character traits and textual evidence that supports those traits. This is a great middle...

The class finds and cites evidence showing India's unity in diversity and work to recognize some of the complex interactions of a civilized community. They read to understand how geography, history, politics, economics,...

Writers work on a plan for their argumentative essays using a Pygmalion Essay Planner to help develop a claim and counterclaim for their essays. They determine what information from the Eliza Character Tracker to incorporate and write it...

As the great and hilarious Tim Minchin once said, "Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organizing our curiosity." Science is more than just a guess; it is based on questions, observations, and evidence. High...