How does your lifestyle measure up in terms of your ecological footprint? Young ecologists examine their impact on the planet using an insightful online calculator. A short quiz asks users to rank the size of their homes, their energy...

Who is in line for the presidency? Learners research the line of succession in the executive branch. They analyze the role the cabinet plays in a situation where the president and vice president are not able to serve. Along the way,...

Why is it so important to have a trial by jury in the American judicial system? This right is one of the hallmarks of American democracy, but it also comes with the responsibility of serving on a jury if called. Young legal scholars...

Young scholars boost communication skills with a lesson that explores what it looks like to listen with the whole body. Through modeling and practice, pupils observe what it looks like and then practice. A friendly game of "Simon...

Connect with the text using helpful annotation strategies. As your class reads the first section of Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," they note important passages that establish character...

As you work through a literary analysis unit based on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," use a writing assessment to measure your class's skills. They choose one epigraph from the story to analyze and track...

Young historians use their planning graphic organizer to prepare a personal narrative draft on expert trades. Since the instructional activity is considered the mid-unit assessment, learners respond to a writing prompt related to the...

It may not be 4 o'clock in the morning when you have ended these labors, but it's still time to work on textual analysis. Study the resolution of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" through the thematic lens of guilt and confession,...

Delve into the heart of dramatic dialogue with a unit focused on Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Having completed an online exploration about ancient Greece beforehand, ninth graders read the play's opening lines and analyze how...

Oedipus may be the king, but he certainly does not rule—or see—all. Analyze his interaction with Teiresias in an instructional activity focused on the central idea of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As pairs of ninth graders discuss...

Prophecy and blindness often go hand in hand, as in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Explore Oedipus' thoughts about prophecy, fate, and responsibility with an activity focused on the discussion between Creon and Oedipus regarding the murder...

After viewing an informational video that introduces Bernard Madoff and the concept of a Ponzi scheme, class members begin reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It," Liaquat Ahamed's New York Times book review that explains Madoff's crime, and...

The second instructional activity in a unit about how writers develop their central ideas and use evidence to support their arguments focuses on the role that scholars at Jundi Shapur, "The World's First True University," played in the...

Scholars use their Golden Rule Note-catcher to examine passages from To Kill a Mockingbird. They then take a gallery walk to compare and contrast the quotes before sharing Think-Write-Pair-Share ideas on how the quotes demonstrate the...

The focus is on written communication as class members respond to questions about the text Unbroken in their Written Conversation note catchers. They trade note catchers with a partner every two minutes and then share ideas from their...

Caption this. Scholars look at pages 50-57 of Promises to Keep and discuss the photographs on the pages. They analyze the captions with the pictures and then discuss vocabulary such as human rights and civil rights. 

Pupils plan for a historical fiction narrative based on their previous research on expert trades from the Colonial Era. Individuals use the four-square graphic organizer to organize the information they want to be detailed in their four...

Oedipus' lack of literal and figurative vision does not mean he cannot see his guilt in the terrible fates of Laius, Jocasta, and all the lives touched by prophecy. Conclude a literary analysis unit on Sophocles' Oedipus the King with a...

How do writers create a specific tone in their text? As class members continue their study of Sugar Changed the World, they focus on the words and phrases that Aronson and Budhos use to create that tone in their descriptions of arduous...

In a close reading of "The Overseer" chapter from Sugar Changed the World, groups focus on the words Aronson and Budhos use to contrast the lifestyles of enslaved people and their enslavers. The whole class then engages in an...

Finding the central idea in a text is equally important in fiction and nonfiction. Work on analyzing a piece of writing for the central idea with Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," complete with supporting...

Wrap up your literary analysis unit with a discussion activity as tenth graders prepare for an end-of-unit assessment. After they have read and annotated Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepard to His Love," Sir Walter Raleigh's...

Class members continue their discussion of David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, focusing on how the author uses the conversation between Jason and Madame Crommelynck to refine his central idea of the meaning of beauty.

As a mid-unit assessment of a series of lessons that use Ethan Canin’s short story “The Palace Thief” as an anchor text, writers craft an in-class essay discussing how Hundert's character has developed throughout the text.