Spark an animated debate in your class! Young adults consider some of the fads or trends that are prevalent at their school, as well as their own level of participation in them. Just how much of a role does popular culture play in their...

"You are pigs." With those three simple words, the lives of the Piggott family were changed forever. Read aloud the children's story Piggybook by Anthony Browne and teach your class the importance of personal responsibility,...

One of three lessons on gender stereotype, this resource from the Media Awareness Network discusses the violence that is inflicted on men and women as they try to live up to the stereotypes of their gender. The section on women focuses...

A complete resource from BBC World Service provides informational text for English or ESL classes to teach vocabulary, grammar, and reading skills. Learners participate in small group work, whole class discussions, and role-plays to...

Research current and proposed peace talks around the world with this New York Times lesson, Using the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria as a starting point, middle schoolers create a news program on the subject. They propose a future...

Although not a complete lesson plan, this set of emotionally powerful texts could be used in a variety of lessons. From The New York Times' Learning Network site, the resource includes a poem, an excerpt from a New York Times article and...

Students investigate historic events through the eyes of people who were their age when the event happened. Through personal interviews, students gain insights on the impact of these events on these people's lives and on the world at large.

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

Use text marking and highlighting to explore the structure of a poem. After listening to Allan Ahlberg read "Please Mrs. Butler," learners locate stanzas and patterns on their copy of the poem using the text marking technique. Class...

The photograph, Nellie and her Italian Soda is viewed and discussed by the class. They are instructed to use the photograph as inspiration to write a poem about non-events, or things that are beautiful in every day life. Pupils use...

Students create a weekly current event podcast. In this podcast lesson, students find current events for the week and write out a script to explain this event. They add in music and sound effects and record their final product. 

First graders distinguish between living and nonliving objects, and compare living organisms and nonliving objects.

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. In this story elements lesson, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

The spirit of the Civil Rights Movement lives on in a more literal than figurative way in Ghost Boys. A focused lesson plan features Jewell Parker Rhodes' novel about ghosts of slain black teenagers, including the main character, Jerome,...

Focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis while reading A Weave of Woods, a colorful picture book by Robert D. San Souci. Young learners use worksheets to preview, predict, practice paraphrasing, and make comparisons. The...

As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history....

This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...

First graders create personal timelines. In this social studies lesson plan, 1st graders examine important events in their life and record them on a timeline.

Students explore the connections between non-fiction and fiction best-seller lists and current events that are shaping readers' lives and choices.

Young scholars analyze an African folktale. In this literature lesson, students read the story "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" by John Steptoe and analyze the acts of kindness in the story. Young scholars identify the setting of the story...

Fighting a war over home soil makes a living nightmare even more real. Class members describe the experience of a Civil War soldier during the Battle of Franklin, poised right at a major turning point of the war, after researching the...

Students recall and list details of an important event in their lives. They create an aesthetically pleasing accordion-fold Memory Book. Students write and illustrate highlights of the chosen event. They are asked: What were the most...

How much intervention is appropriate for America to take in cases of human rights violations? Class members ponder a question that has lingered since the birth of America with a series of primary sources that reflect the degree to which...

After viewing two documentaries about the history of the Channel islands, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the lives of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman San Nicolar Island, to Lester Holt and his family featured in the...