The Golden Years? Upper graders may think retirement is a long way off, but in life everything is just around the corner. They consider what it means to retire and the current trend of parents working for their Students. They research...

Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...

Investigate popular scientific claims and gather evidence to defend or argue against an author's stance. Writers synthesize information and compose their own "Really?" columns modeled after those found in the weekly "Science Times"...

Explore connections within and between informational texts with this lesson about encyclopedia articles. Middle schoolers write encyclopedia articles focusing on topics in American history. They discuss how to determine credibility...

A terrific lesson on homophones awaits your youngsters. First, pupils access a website that contains lists of homophones. Then, it's time to get creative! Everyone gets a piece of poster board and they create a homophone cartoon -...

Young scholars discuss the factors that can lead to war, and the motivations of countries going into war. They research two viewpoints on Texas during the Mexican War and participate in a debate with their classmates.

Music aficionados classify pop music into by musical genres or styles. They evaluate the positive and negatives of collaborative performances, view segments of VH1's "Save the Music" concert, and discuss the difficulties of...

What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson plan...

What are the differences between homeschooling, traditional schooling, and unschooling? Middle and high schoolers examine the opinions of their peers on these varied types of education. After reading a New York Times article, they...

Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...

How are disasters addressed by the Federal Government? This New York Times lesson, based on the article "Disaster Aid: The Mix of Mercy and Politics," prompts middle schoolers to discuss the idea of using a disaster declaration as a...

In this exercise, learners identify characters from an "Archie" comic and discuss the relevance of "Archie" to today's youth. They create public service advertisements featuring celebrities to address common concerns among teenagers in...

Learners review their knowledge on the First Amendment. After reading an article, they identify specific church and state issues. Using the Internet, they research President Bush's proposal from a specific point of view. They summarize...

Students analyze alcohol and tobacco ads and create parodies of them. The eight lessons in this unit include discussions about why teens smoke or drink, the psychology behind the advertising, and writing persuasive letters to agencies,...

Introduce the concept of myths to your class. Using the link to "Myths Around the World," read a story aloud and have learners list characteristics of a myth. Readers then choose their own myths from the site and work in groups to answer...

Begin this lesson by estimating the cost of a college education and comparing it to actual data. After reading an article, high school seniors discuss the processes of the college loan corporations. They listen to a lecture about how to...

Scholars share ideas about health topics relevant to teens. They read posts on Well, the Times health blog, and produce their own health blog featuring teen health issues. In addition, they read and discuss the article "Well: A Times...

Use your tablets to participate in a culture-sharing project with a class in a foreign country. Your class can communicate and share ideas with a class in another country, swapping information regarding language and culture. Together you...

Discuss your class' vision of the future. Learners create materials for use in a time capsule. They write letters to explain their contribution and provide photos.  Afterwards, they use higher-level thinking skills to reflect on why...

Students investigate Lewis and Clark. In this Lewis and Clark lesson, students search the Internet for information about Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. Students use maps to understand the explorations and decide which...

Ninth graders investigate the country of Canada by examining their media in this geography lesson. They use the Internet to research Canadian newspapers and analyze a topic covered by both US and Canadian media sources. After comparing...

Who were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? High schoolers examine the character traits of these historical figures and watch the video, The Duel. Hamilton vs. Burr: An Event that Changed History (available from PBS), to gain...

Investigate "respect" with your class. They will participate in a think/share activity in which they complete sentence starters about their personal experience with "respect." Then they view a video clip in which Holocaust survivors...

Have your class practice using adjective clauses with this resource. Learners discuss adjective clauses and the words commonly found in these types of sentences. This resource is a comprehensive and worthwhile exploration.