Imagine a year-long writing plan aligned to Common Core standards. Here it is! This resource packet, the first in the series of units, introduces the plan, provides an overview of the research-based approach, and a...

Discover the seven principles of Kwanzaa and the ways they apply to everyday life. High schoolers use the Internet to research two examples of the principles of Kwanzaa, and share their findings with their peers.

Employ this resource to expand efficient ideas on how to present and organize activities that describe how researchers can implement their research by using direct quotes, paraphrasing, and summarizing—without plagiarizing. Activities...

The world is full of possibilities for your ELLs. Help them explore their career options with a lesson that incorporates Internet research and expository writing. Not only will they learn more about their careers of choice, but both...

Not all sources are created equal, so how do you evaluate them? Writers learn how to evaluate print sources based on elements such as audience, tone, and argument in the sixth handout of 24 in the Writing the Paper series from the...

Have your young scientists explore a single element of the water cycle and write a report to explain findings. Your class can take their writing through all the steps of the writing process and publish it using a Web-based multimedia...

Darwin kept a travel diary as he voyaged to South America, noting the politics, geography, cultures, animals, and interesting facts he encountered. Your class will do the same. Each student chooses a country to research and keep a five...

Junior ecologists examine Arizona's biotic communities and research an animal or plant that is found in this community. In this lesson, learnerss write a narrative essay about their assigned animal or plant. They research online and in...

Young writers craft letters to the government stating their opinion on different topics. They pick an environmental or ocean issue, research it, and craft their formal persuasive letter. Ensure your learners include supporting facts and...

Note-taking is an essential study skill, and it needs to be taught! In the context of a research project on energy sources, learners find multiple sources, evaluating, paraphrasing, and citing them correctly. Two lists with note-taking...

State reports can be a lot of fun, especially when the learners get to choose the state they study. This research and writing-focused social studies lesson engages learners in collecting information, essay structure, research, and...

Famous quotations by American Presidents are the focus of this Six Trait writing activity, which could be used in a U.S. History class or in language arts. After reading the picture book Theodore by Frank Keating, have your 7th graders...

Enhance your geography class's knowledge of the countries on the Asian continent with this research instructional activity. Individuals or groups use books, the library, and the Internet to research one Asian country of their choice....

Learners roll two die; die one contains various onsets, and die two contains different rimes. They write down the onset and rime pair they get, then blend and read their word.

Engage early readers in a silent e activity to help them understand the changes the letter can make to a simple word. With the provided cards, learners read and write each word as it appears without the silent e. Then they read and write...

Students explore several different types of biographies to determine their area of interest, choose one notable person they would like to explore, complete online tutorial on biographies, and use written and Internet resources to...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...

What are characteristics of a planet? With this plan, learners investigate the characteristics of the planets in our solar system. They gather research of the nine planets by using the Internet and other research tools. Then they create...

Using an article from The New York Times, students answer discussion questions about gun control. They are divided into four groups to research different standpoints on gun control, including the Executive Office, Congress, Gun...

Eleventh graders examine the political demands put on one of four groups living in America during WWII. Each class member is asked to research and write a paper describing the homefront experience for women, Hispanics, African-Americans,...

Use this worksheet to research a future or past olympian. There's a space for researchers to brainstorm things they'd like to know, a space for them to record notes, and a KWL chart. There's also an open space to write a cumulative...

If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...

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...

With a fly swatter in hand, learners swat the rime-flys with their onset swatter to make, read, and write words by blending the onset with the rime-fly. Scholars blend words, make and write words, and also work to determine if the words...