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...

Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...

Deepen understanding of email correspondence. Begin by tapping into prior experience with email and word processing. Learners then send emails to one another, practicing attaching images and copying and pasting their work into a word...

Here's an interesting way to incorporate technology into your classroom. Have your young readers conduct an e-discussion of a story they are currently reading. Learners can post and/or respond to the comments of others reading the same...

Emerging poets design a website and then post seven original poems as well as their written critique of these poems. Although the resource mentions Inspiration and FrontPage technologies, any software could be substituted. 

Here's a clever technology twist to writing in the round. Participants rotate through a series of computers adding to stories and editing by keystroke and mouse click. "Locked" forms prevent the loss of stories filled with suspense and...

Students discriminate initial sounds of words and categorize words based on the initial sound. They generate ideas and topics for writing and use prewriting and drafting strategies to formulate text.

Fifth graders brainstorm a list of characteristics people have when they are happy with their career. In groups, they review their material from the previous lesson and share their information with the class in the form of presentations....

Sixth graders participate in question and answer sessions and develop a skill-based resume. They identify and explain resume-writing situations in which an ethical dilemma may present itself. Finally, 6th graders identify and project the...

High schoolers assess persuasive techniques in propaganda. They identify and critique rhetorical devices in primary source documents (sources are not specified, but links to sites that contain various documents are included). Groups make...

Students work together to examine the tastiest towns in the United States. After discovering the names of the equipment, they identify the seven continents. They take a survey and locate the cities and states of the foods mentioned.

Students create a cover letter that they can use. They discuss the type of employment they are seeking. Students discuss the parts of a cover letter, body, and closure. They use a template to make their own cover letters. Students go...

Students discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times.  In this Louisa May Alcott lesson plan, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist movement,...

Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...

Help your learners discover empathy and understanding by investigating two sides of a situation. In this humanities instructional activity, pupils examine different pairs of shoes and hypothesize about who may have worn them. Discuss...

Students practice problem solving skills by asking questions and participating in a design challenge. In this asking questions lesson, students work in pairs to ask questions to design a solution for a difficult personal problem....

Practice citation skills with this activity, which takes learners to the Library/Media center. There, they will view a Powerpoint presentation and practice collecting data in both print and non-print sources. All necessary materials are...

If you could travel anywhere in the United States, where would you go? Use this question to interest your fourth, fifth, and sixth graders as they experiment with Mapquest or other direction-based resources. They choose where they'd like...

Although this legislative process lesson is designed to accompany a specific text, it is valuable independently. Young learners participate in a picture walk (worksheet included) through My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View...

If you are planning on working on a research paper in your class, take a look at this resource first. Starting off with information about plagiarism, the series of activities briefly described here should give your pupils a general idea...

Designed for teachers, this resource identifies problems learners face when attempting a research project and approaches instructors can use to help their class members overcome these obstacles. Suggestions are included for how to help...

Introduce Cyrano de Bergerac with an anticipation guide that asks class members to rate a series of qualities that they look for in a friend. Groups then share their responses and present the class with the quality that provided the most...

"It is better to ignore something unpleasant than to face reality." Readers of Death of a Salesman complete an anticipation guide before tackling Arthur's Miller's tale of Willy Loman and his sons. After completing the play, class...

Making predictions is an important skill that experienced readers tap into when tackling a difficult text. Prepare your pupils to read My Antonia by Willa Cather with an initial prediction activity and this anticipation guide, which...