Curated OER
Exploring Contrasts in "The Lanyard" by Billy Collins
Middle schoolers analyze the speaker's ideas and tone in the Billy Collins poem "The Lanyard." After identifying how each of the five senses is addressed in the poem, they compare images to draw conclusions about the speaker and his...
Illustrative Mathematics
Paying the Rent
Learning how a bank account works is a useful tool. The exercise in the resource is to deduct rent from a checking account and create an equation from a description. Participants then graph the balance of the bank account versus months...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: January 2011
Scholars read an excerpt from the short story "The Bonfire" by Kunikida Doppo as well as a nonfiction passage about handcycling. Next, they answer comprehension-based multiple-choice questions. Additionally, they respond to short-answer...
101 Questions
Representative Sample
At what point does data switch from being an outlier to part of the average? Scholars view conflicting news articles about protesters. They must decide which, if any, side is using the correct sample to draw their conclusions. It's a...
Media Smarts
Taking Charge of TV Violence
Encourage your class to become aware of the violence that is present in children's television programs and how this violence can influence children. Do this by holding the planned class discussion in this lesson plan and providing...
Curated OER
Ethical and Critical Thinking: Genetically Modified Food
Students read statements representing different points of view on Genetically Modified Food. They identify the "facts" and "opinions" in each statement, and then briefly summarize the issue of Genetically Modified Food in a short...
Curated OER
"Tree of Peace": Critical Thinking About Revolution to Global Conflict
Tenth graders explore the importance of peace in society. In this Global History lesson plan, 10th graders create a common vocabulary for the different elements that exist in a peaceful society. Students discover the...
Curated OER
An Activity to Introduce Critical Thinking
Students discover how easy it is to accept oulandish claims by witnessing a fellow student show that they have a form of ESP but is secretly working with the teacher. This demonstrations uses skepticism as a starting point for...
Curated OER
Imagining Back Story: Creating an Artifact for an Extra-Extended Text
Students create a "back story" for a character from Measure for Measure. In this Measure for Measure lesson, students read the text closely as they look for clues about where the character came from and how he or she became what...
Novelinks
Things Fall Apart: Bloom’s Taxonomy
Promote critical thinking and literary analysis with a short activity. Readers of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart respond to a series of questions modeled on Bloom's Taxonomy.
Curated OER
Cover Up: Tools for Integrating Math and Engineering
Blend art, adolescent snacking habits, and math to create new cereal boxes. Secondary learners review scale drawings. They use this information to construct cereal boxes to scale and will compare their creation to the original product to...
Vanier College
Analyzing Short Stories/Novels
Good questions can help focus readers' attention on the elements writers use to add depth to their stories. The questions on this worksheet do just that and encourage readers to think critically about a story and author's purpose.
Brooklyn Museum
Lorna Simpson: Gathered
Lorna Simpson is a photographer who has put together a collection of photos from the 1950s in order to challenge the idea that primary source documents are objective in their portrayal of history. Learners are introduced to Ms. Simpson's...
Curated OER
How are People Portrayed by Different Media?
Your 9th - 12th graders can hone their analysis and critical thinking skills by studying the way a subject is portrayed across media types. They examine how various print, visual, and online sources have portrayed key players in the 9/11...
Curated OER
Taming of the Shrew: Act 4.4, Study/Discussion Questions
This 4-question handout addresses key elements of Act 4.4 of Taming of the Shrew. It is intended for small group discussion, followed by individual written reponses. The prompts require critical thinking and analysis.
Population Connection
The Carbon Crunch
Carbon is in the air; should we care? Teach the class why it is important to pay attention to carbon levels and how the world population and various countries across the globe affect the carbon levels in the atmosphere. High schoolers...
Curated OER
Evaluating the Strength of Scientific Evidence: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
A happy discovery occurred in Arkansas in 2004: a woodpecker, believed to be extinct since the 1940s, reappeared! Or did it? Middle to high school ecologists examine scientific evidence and use critical-thinking skills to determine...
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #11 - Power Maximum: An Electrical Determination
Collaborative groups connect resistors and solar panels in series and measure electrical resistance, voltage, and current. The objective is to order 16 solar panels from strongest to weakest. They graph current-voltage and power curves...
Curated OER
Laboratory: Micro Rockets
If you know how to employ the exothermic reaction between hydrogen gas and oxygen gas to make a miniature rocket, then this worksheet is a fabulous lab sheet for your chemistry charges. First, they observe a spark in pure oxygen and one...
Curated OER
Are Gay Rights "Special"?
Inspire critical thinking with this activity, which prompts students to compare lesbian, gat, bisexual, and transgender rights with the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By collecting topical articles about...
Curated OER
Chapter 13 Review, Section 2: Ions in Aqueous Solutions and Colligative Properties
Here is a general chemistry worksheet that incorporates practical applications. Four questions employ critical thinking about solutions, boiling and freezing points, and molar mass. Your class will practice what they learn in class by...
Curated OER
Unit IX: Worksheet 3 - Impulsive Force
Eight motion-related problems are contained in this physics assignment. Upcoming physicists calculate combined velocity after collisions, impulse, and momentum. They also address critical thinking situations, making this a well-rounded...
Curated OER
7.012 Genetics Section Problems
A set of phenotypes is listed for mice, flowers, blood type, and plants. For each, biology buffs analyze the percentages of phenotypes in the offspring and then identify the genotypes of the parents. This is a different approach to...
Wordpress
Darwin’s Natural Selection Case Studies
This editable worksheet is set up so that biology pupils read four case studies and identify points that are present in each, such as overproduction, heritable variation, struggle to survive, and differential reproduction. They also...