This is a great way to build community in your school, experience process-based art, and explore the critical-thinking process. While quilting as a class collectively (just like a quilting bee) pupils listen to poetry and prose of a...

Pupils explore the meaning of the ancient Greek word aretê and the place of virtue in historical athletic competition and modern sports. They begin by reading an informational text on the goal of sports in education, and then...

Young social historians examine immigration debates of the early 20th century through primary sources, such as political cartoons. They analyze the material, discuss their findings, and complete a critical thinking worksheet. All...

Using ichat or Edmodo 4th -6th graders participate in an inter-school literature circle. Students from two different schools pair up online through ichat and use a blog to conduct a book circle. This instructional activity is wonderful;...

Help your class determine why European was able to dominate the African continent. They read 5 excerpts, each related to a reason why Europe colonized Africa. Then they answer 4 critical-thinking questions.

Analyze a primary source document "Our America" which depicts a Spanish-American point of view. The class answers 3 critical-thinking questions based on the reading and create a time line of Cuba's struggle for independence. 

This New York Times "Learning Network" activity poses 11 questions on an article and video about commercial branding and marketing on college campuses. The related article, "On the Market: Thinking Critically About Advertising", is...

Read all about it! Check out this article from the New York Times. Kids read about changes made to the wording used in Catholic Mass. They consider these changes by responding to each of the 10 related questions that ask, who, what,...

With this New York Times "Learning Network" exercise, high schoolers read an article about the death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and then respond to several prompts that require them to shape their own opinions...

Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...

Just how much influence did television have on the results of the 1960 presidential election? Media critics contend that the results were all about how the two candidates appeared on the screen. Give your young historians a chance to...

Let your class voice their opinions with a group debate activity. Before reading John Milton's Paradise Lost, they work in small groups in assigned roles to form a position about authority and rebellion, comparing a...

Examine three speeches while teaching Aristotle's appeals. Over the course of three days, class members fill out a graphic organizer about ethos, pathos, and logos, complete an anticipatory guide, read speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.,...

A great way to incorporate math into life science, this lesson has learners measure migratory routes on a map and calculate the actual distance that shorebirds on the routes would cover. Learners compute the distance covered in both...

Bone up on bone density. The second installment of the seven-part series has pupils read articles on two different websites to learn about bone density and its measurement, as well as X-rays and other imaging tools. A quiz assesses their...

Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...

Sweethearts® candies are a beloved Valentine's Day treat—so much so that eight billion hearts are produced every year around the world! Learners use number sense reasoning and critical thinking to solve nine word problems about the...

For decades, the sight of blue books has struck fear in the hearts of collegians. Those books usually signal an essay exam, the topic of one of the handouts in a larger series on specific writing assignments. Using the handout, writers...

The question of how to balance Fourth Amendment Rights with national security concerns becomes critical in an age of planned terrorist attacks, election interference, and fake news. Get young social scientists involved in the debate with...

Scholars read newspaper articles relating to a longer school day and complete note-taking organizers as they read. They then form opinions and complete outlines before writing essays supporting their point of view. 

How does examining an ice core tell us about weather? Learners set up and explore fake ice cores made of sugar, salt, and ash to represent historical snowfall and volcanic eruptions. From their setups, scholars determine what caused the...

Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...

Socratic seminars are a great way to encourage the development of critical thinking, speaking, and listening skills. And Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a perfect text for such a seminar. Use the questions in the packet to...

The arctic seas contain currents that are both warm (with high salinity) and cold (relatively fresh water) that circulate throughout the year. Through discussion, a lab, and a web quest, participants explore the impacts of melting and...