The beauty in this resource is the lengthy list of highly charged, controversial-issue research topics. Categories include issues of race, politics, law, environment, education, athletics, gender, and technology. After selecting a topic,...

Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...

There are some historical events that may warrant greater reflection and more in-depth analysis, and the decision to intern Japanese-Americans in the United States during World War II, as well as to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and...

Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...

Using a constructivist approach and a graphic organizer, small groups work together to begin a paper, comparing and contrasting the novella Night and the movie Life is Beautiful. Assuming that your learners have studied both of these...

Students create a standard outline, using a word processing tool, while they are learning about the basic writing device of the 5 paragraph essay.

Analyze magazines as a class, looking carefully for the target audience, advertisements, and topics presented. Small groups then work as a publication team and receive a magazine that they have to "sell." Each individual has a different...

Break down some of the most foundational components of writing a research paper, such as incorporating and formatting citations, creating a thesis statement, and using quotes effectively, into manageable tasks for your young writers.

What is it that makes people keep going when they face challenges in life? Ask your class to consider this question in relation to their own experiences and as they read material from The New York Times. Using personal experiences...

Explore the world of amazing mammals with your kids with special needs. Each child identifies one mammal from a previous lesson and writes a short paragraph on that mammal. This lesson states that it is intended for all levels, but not...

Summary writing is tough for native English speakers, let alone English language learners! In this plan, high school English learners examine how to annotate online articles and write a one-page summary. They can post this summary on...

Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique high schoolers' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book,...

The Internet is known as the information superhighway, but sometimes it's hard to know when to hit the brakes on unreliable sources. Using a well-rounded lesson plan, pupils read and summarize articles about the gender pay gap and...

Middle schoolers practice writing emergency reports. In this emergency reports lesson, students participate in a visit from a police officer or emergency technician. Middle schoolers then write a historical report based on the fictional...

Students use their critical thinking skills to write about historical events. In this historical perspectives lesson, students read documents about historical events and make annotations and marginal notes. Students then respond to...

Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical...

Pupils practice researching sources and logging citation information with this graphic organizer. After posing a general topic, groups of students are asked to devise general questions about that topic, and to research sources...

What can you contribute? Scholars read text to determine how ants contribute to the rainforest. First, they categorize and sort facts gathered from reading. Next, readers focus on specific terms in each paragraphs of the text Ants by...

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

Ninth graders develop ideas for an invention and write a persuasive essay explaining why their invention is best. In this invention essay lesson, 9th graders review persuasive essay writing. Students create a graphic web for an original...

Despite the slightly off-putting title, the instructions and activities detailed in these project guidelines for researching a noteworthy figure will serve as a fantastic supplement to your next famous person research...

Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly...

Middle and high schoolers participate in a seven-part lesson creating Escher-Esque tessellations. They demonstrate their knowledge of geometric transformations after viewing a PowerPoint presentation, conducting Internet research, and...

The Scarlet Letter is the anchor text in a four-week unit that examines Hawthorne's novel through the lens of the intolerances found in a supposed civilized society. In addition to their reading, class members watch clips from...