The 41 slides in a professional development seminar model how to use close reading techniques to examine the many layers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In addition to passages from the novel, slides provide biographical...

Here's a fresh twist on a comprehension quiz. Readers of The Great Gatsby use their answers to questions about the story to complete a crossword puzzle.

One photograph can represent so much more than the images on the film. Eighth graders select a photograph from the Civil War era and conduct additional research based on the subject matter from the picture. Once they complete the...

The great Roman general, Regulus, was known for keeping his word. Read about the extent of his honesty in a reading passage about his imprisonment in Carthage, and assess reading skills with four comprehension questions.

Go West, young man! Scholars use PBS video clips, slide shows, and interactive materials to create a picture of Manifest Destiny in the American West. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, young historians learn about the...

The various peace proposals, made by both sides, to end the Revolutionary War come under scrutiny in this final lesson of a three-part series on the war. Class members read primary source documents and compare them with military...

History sleuths read articles for and against Uncle Tom's Cabin, examine visual images, print responses, and multi-media tomitudes to better understand the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on American culture prior to...

Guide your class through the imagery of Lois Lowry's The Giver with a peaceful meditative experience. After you create a serene environment in your class, read through a provided script in which kids sift through their favorite...

After reading a series of primary source documents detailing the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, class members craft newspaper columns assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each man's vision, and present their...

Students complete activities with the book Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. In this literature lesson, students read this story and view the Dust Bowl history from the eyes of a child. They discover the Great Depression and life in...

Scholars investigate the Holocaust through the eyes of an Auschwitz survivor. They analyze and research a firsthand account of events inside the gas chambers moments before hundreds died. Using Holocaust Reading Passages and...

Henry V is certainly not a drama "of few words." It's a sprawling study of a good yet complex king, a tumultuous time in European history, and an examination of justice and mercy. The 20-page guide to the play provides instructors...

To understand how the Homestead Act of 1862 changed the US and the lives of the people during that time, class members examine primary source materials including letters, broadsides, and images. They then assume the voice of a...

Using primary source documents, including maps, learners examine Revolutionary War events from 1775 to 1778. The focus here is on the challenges George Washington and the Continental army faced and how they persevered in spite of those...

How did Union General Ulysses S. Grant view the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in 1865, which effectively ended the United States Civil War? After reading an excerpt from Grant's autobiography, your young historians will...

Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....

The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...

Students explore the Korean War through photography. In this Korean War lesson, students examine photographs taken by a soldier and respond to question about them.

Ponder the complexities of war, peace, and country with Stephen Crane's "War is Kind." After reading the poem, learners answer six questions in a class discussion or as an individual assessment.

After reading a short passage about Japan's involvement in World War II and why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, readers are asked to analyze how the attack effected the attitudes of Americans who previously had not wanted to go...

Question the text with a reading comprehension activity based on Chaim Potok's The Chosen. Learners read four passages from the book and decide if the question after each passage is between the reader and the author, for the reader...

Students examine world geography by viewing a documentary film in class. For this World War II lesson, students discuss the role Hawaii played in the great battle and what type conflicts happened among the island chain. Students view a...

Unscramble letters of the Boarderland tribe names in The Looking Glass Wars to uncover the names of popular games. Some questions give you the anagram of the Boarderland tribe, others give you the name of the famous board or card game...

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...