How is a poem similar to and different from a news article? Pupils use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two genres. Also, as part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars participate in small-group discussions based on poetry...

Great minds think aloud! Pupils participate in the Fishbowl protocol, discussing their opinions about the Mary River mine proposal. As they share their thoughts, peers provide feedback about their thesis and supporting ideas.  

Continue work with an informational text by following the procedures detailed here. The plan, part of a series, focuses on My Librarian is a Camel. Class members complete text-dependent questions and then prepare for and participate in a...

Readers learn together with a group discussion activity. As they read William Shakespeare's The Tempest, high schoolers prepare for a fishbowl discussion in which three or four learners sit in the middle of a large circle and...

Challenge your class to hold a discussion about the theme of death in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead without direct teacher guidance. After going over the discussion protocols and quotes from the text, learners move in a circle...

What is science? Sitting in a whole group discussion, scholars first share their ideas on science and how to conduct investigations. They learn about the steps for scientific inquiry and experimentation. Once finished, individuals then...

High schoolers work in four different groups to examine the many factors that led to the American Civil War. They research an assigned topic, prepare questions, and finally engage in a class discussion using the Socratic Seminar method.

After reading through Act II of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, take some time to discuss the references to death in the play. For this fishbowl discussion, learners prepare questions, practice answering individually and with...

Jonathan Safran Foer's phrase, "heavy boots," becomes the focus of a class discussion of grief and sadness. During the reading of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, individuals place examples of their own experiences with these topics...

Is laughter really the best medicine? Middle and high schoolers discuss the truth behind this adage by reading and discussing a New York Times article about Dr. Patch Adams. They participate in a round-table debate in response to...

Read a short book with your first graders! Anansi and the Tug O' War is the focus of this lesson. After reading the African story together, they complete language arts activities to practice reading comprehension. A stellar...

What are the current trends in divorce? What contributes to this? Examine celebrity relationship trends and how they relate to the general public with this discussion lesson. Middle schoolers analyze the results of a Census Bureau study...

Get your class ready to read with this anticipatory set for Running Out of Time. Small groups each consider one thought-provoking statement. After each group comes to a consensus, the whole class participates in sharing ideas and voting...

Split the class into two groups for a fishbowl discussion using of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. The first group initiates the conversation by reviewing the important points of Chapter thirteen while group two...

Filter young teenagers' opinions and perspectives with a classic fishbowl discussion. Given any topic relevant to your curriculum, a group of class members engage in discussion for their peers to observe.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Academics learn strategies to share their opinions and agree or disagree with others in a respectful manner. The resource provides scenarios to help individuals form opinions and share them with...

Students locate, access and listen to a variety of radio and audio samples found on the Internet. They discuss the material in small groups and identify areas of interest for further discussion.

All things considered, it will be a good day for readers as they manage on their own to develop questions about what intrigues, bothers, or confuses them in Laurie Halse Anderson's tale of Mattie Cook and the Yellow Fever epidemic...

Continue on. Scholars continue the research they began in their expert groups in lesson six. They read text and task cards from their research folders and share what they have gathered in research thus far. Individuals then spend the...

Speak up and listen up. Scholars participate in a speaking and listening mid-unit oral assessment. They discuss whether their rules to live by should be a personal choice or made into a law, and then they complete an exit ticket to...

Students read about the history of the one room school house and complete language arts activities to go with it. Students answer comprehension questions, role play, group discuss, and more.

What are the best foods to eat, and how much is too much? Kids discuss the importance of eating the right amount of each of the four food groups. They discuss the food pyramid and make meals by cutting and pasting foods from a magazine...

Encourage your students to think about how and why people and categorized in terms of social class. They decide what "class" they belong to, and then brainstorm about the indicators that society uses to define class and to categorize...

Creative projects are a great way to engage your class and can be a fun way to assess mastery! Learners create brochures and postcards that might have been created by and for travelers to ancient Mayan cities. They read and discuss the...