Use the present tense to create written assignments. Critical thinkers take a passage written in past or future tense and rewrite it in present tense. They then write a set of instructions in present tense.

This activity is better utilized as a peer-editing exercise and not as an activity on how to write counterarguments. Writers take their argumentative rough drafts, peer edit in groups of four, and review the author on common essay...

Show your class how to experience their world with the five sense. With worksheets on each sense, learners investigate their surroundings and categorize them into sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste.

Readers select a character from Call of the Wild, record their responses to a series of prompts in a spiral notebook, and use details from the novel to support their thinking. The spirals are then used as source material to support...

Students in adult ESL education classes evaluate and compare information about computers. They demonstrate the correct use of compound nouns in their description of computers. They review information and skills needed to actually visit a...

To conclude a study of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in a Socratic seminar discussion of Martinez's novel.

A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to...

What kind of mouse is Despereaux Tilling ... a field mouse? A white-footed mouse? With the novel study for The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, scholars research the different species of mice and draw pictures of the one that they...

Wild feral hogs and an alligator wrestler are just two interesting aspects of Kathi Appelt's novel The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp. Using the novel study, scholars search the text for examples of the eight parts of...

A car crash, a murder, a hurricane. With such a plot, why is the title of Sheila Turnage's novel Three Times Lucky? After making a prediction about the plot, scholars use the novel study to research and record facts...

Many turtle species can retreat their heads into their shells when threatened by predators. With the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing novel study, pupils conduct research to uncover other interesting turtle facts. As they explore Judy...

Unlike mathematics, statistics comes with a context. The author reminds teachers that data analysis involves using the context to make sense of the numbers. The article stresses good communication skills by highlighting the scoring...

Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...

If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...

When you understand the relationships between words, your vocabulary and reading skills will increase! Work on a set of analogies with multiple choices for learners to select.

The dry Oklahoma landscape in America's Dust Bowl sent many farmers in search of the promised land. A teacher's guide to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath discusses the characters' desire for a better home along with other themes...

How do authors use rhetorical devices and word choice to emphasize their ideas? Pupils consider the question while reading paragraphs 16–19 from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." Readers engage in evidence-based discussion...

Invite your learners to discover the efforts of Night author Elie Wiesel to promote awareness of genocide in the world. After watching and reading an interview of Elie Wiesel, high schoolers work to create a living Holocaust...

You can often track a character's development based on others' reactions to their words or actions. Using Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," ninth graders work in a jigsaw activity to analyze how Mirabella's...

Children who are three to five years old study two rank badges from the Qing dynasty to develop an understanding of social rank, language skills, and symbolism. The lesson is discussion-based and requires learners to compare and contrast...

Tired of those blank stares after your class reads a particularly complex passage from a Shakespearean play? Help high schoolers untangle that prose with a literature circle activity. Ten different roles prompt class members to focus on...

Guide young learners through the tumultuous emotions of growing up with a set of worksheets about self-esteem and empathy. Each worksheet focuses on a different skill, allowing youngsters to work through their feelings and relate to...

To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...

Use the well-known KWHL chart as a tool for building up to a research project and oral presentation related to Willa Cather's My Antonia. Starting with a class brainstorm, pupils research and gradually narrow down topics relating to...