Begin your discussion about Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility before you even open the book. Kids fill in a worksheet that lists five statements about the literary themes of the novel, and then discuss their opinions as a...

Begin your unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea with an anticipation guide. As kids read 12 statements that relate to the novel's themes, they decide whether each is true or false in their own opinion.

Is American growing fatter? Scholars begin with a mini instructional activity on reading charts and graphs using information about Human Body Fat in United States. They then transfer what they learned to charts and graphs using ...

Study cause and effect in both literature and informational text with a instructional activity designed for several different reading levels. After kids review the concept of cause and effect, they read an article or story and note the...

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

How do authors play to people's moods? After briefly reviewing mood using a Conditional and Subjunctive Mood handout, learners practice identifying conditional and subjunctive sentences in the Montgomery Bus Boycott speech before reading...

Monster trucks, action figures, and video games. Are these toys designed for boys or girls? Scholars work in small groups to find and categorize examples of boy and girl toys from catalogs. Next, learners analyze the two sets of pictures...

What is your interpretation? Scholars look at their Cascading Consequences Charts and interpret the information they have gathered. Learners match claims with evidence and then watch a video. At the end, they carry out a fishbowl...

Ninth graders read and analyze the William Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet" and compare it to the 1996 modern version of the play and the movie "West Side Story." They write an essay comparing and contrasting the three versions.

Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Explore the complexities of reproductive genetic testing respectfully in the learning space. Scientists read articles, view a slideshow, and complete a do-now about genetic technologies. A fishbowl activity allows scholars to discuss the...

What's the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing? Show class members how to find the main ideas from informational text and condense it, restate it, or quote it directly with a series of educational activities based...

Unfortunately for young mathematicians, the world isn't made entirely of parallelograms, triangles, and trapezoids. After first learning the area formulas for these common shapes, students apply this new knowledge to...

Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...

Young scholars recognize flags as a symbol through writing and imagery. In this artifact lesson, students investigate Tibetan prayer flags and their significance. Young scholars create personal prayer flags and write about their life...

What's the best way to learn Spanish? The instruction needs to be authentic and provide more opportunities for real-life Spanish practice. Read this article for some ideas of how you can bring this practice into your classroom or school!

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...

Students make connections between music and visual art. In this integrated arts activity, students design paintings that challenge them to examine the relationship between art elements and principles.

Explore connections within and between informational texts with this lesson about encyclopedia articles. Middle schoolers write encyclopedia articles focusing on topics in American history. They discuss how to determine credibility...

Students explore characterization in Little Women. In this literature lesson, students participate in written analysis and research in order to explore Alcott's characterization in the novel.

Students examine the influences and similarities between the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist artists. They analyze paintings and poems, and write original poetry.

Chapter 3 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses how central ideas are developed in a narrative. Readers use the provided annotated bookmark to record evidence of ideas such as racial identity, integration/separation, and systemic...

High school artists observe and research the illustrations and techniques of N.C. Wyeth. They read (and reread) stories and illustrate the texts using methods inspired by Wyeth's practice. Includes detailed instructional plan and useful...