Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William...

Why did Chinua Achebe write "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" in response to Conrad's novel? As part of a study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a socratic seminar focused on Achebe's purpose and...

A handy guide offers high schoolers support as they read the American novel, The Great Gatsby. Complete with a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a timeline of the Roaring Twenties, discussion questions about the novel, and more, this...

Study the 16 Habits of Mind with a professional resource. Based on Describing 16 Habits of Mind by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, the resource details 16 ways learners perceive problems around them and produce ways to deal...

While designed to supplement a viewing of the PBS Masterpiece Classic The Diary of Anne Frank, this resource can also serve as an excellent informational text and activity source for your students on the historical context and timeline...

As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...

Personal correspondence in the form of letters is not as common as it once was. This resource presents an opportunity for you to introduce your class to letter writing and cover topics in social studies. Learners read a letter written in...

Considering using Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies? Here's a resource designed to be used before and during a reading of her powerful story of the murder of the Mirabal sisters. Included in the packet is a vocabulary...

Here's a poster that highlights the skills needed for the close reading of primary source documents when gathering evidence to support historical claims.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...

A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...

Is a person's sexual orientation determined at birth? With the informative website, scholars prepare for a debate about the topic. They learn the top pro and con arguments and read through a historical timeline of homosexuality. They...

Explore the world of copyright law with a variety of activities to instill the importance of respecting creative property. Scholars watch an animated tale then take part in a grand conversation detailing the video's main idea, details,...

Here is great packet of worksheets to introduce your young learners to the general history of California and basic facts about the Golden State. Topics covered range from state counties, Sacramento, and the capitol to...

How much does your class know about the relationship between climate change and carbon dioxide? Science scholars explore the nature of greenhouse gases and rising ocean temperature through demonstrations, research, and experiments. The...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...

Many teenagers don't have adequate access to health and nutrition information beyond a quick Internet search. Guide them into health advocacy and proficiency with a lesson focused on MedlinePlus as a reliable source for health...

Why do soybean plants that are planted weeks apart in the spring mature simultaneously in the fall? Four independent activities cover the history of phytochrome research, scientist collaboration, the electromagnetic spectrum, and...

The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of...

Students read facts about dolphins and background about the book Dolphin Song. In this Dolphin song lesson plan, students also answer short answer questions about the book after reading it.

This site provides biographical information on the author, as well as facts about the novel's context, plot, and major themes, this study guide is an excellent tool for anyone studying George Eliot's novel, "Middlemarch." Also includes...

This resource explains six ways authors use context clues that might help readers understand unfamiliar words. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4, 8.2.B

A series of articles (links) on the various books of the New Testament. The author provides background information such as author issues, the general structure of the individual books and more.