What do consumers need to know about overfishing before buying fish? Scholars consider the question as they prepare for their performance task, which is to create a consumer guide for people about purchasing fish responsibly. After...

A pet can offer comfort, friendship, and loyalty in the most stressful of situations. Here is a lesson plan that explores the important role animals played during the Civil War. Class members read informative texts, complete a...

"First Appearance," Mark Twain's tale about overcoming stage fright, serves as a model of a personal narrative and gets young writers thinking about milestones in their own lives. After examining student models and considering the...

Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...

William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...

Powerful orators make their messages compelling with a combination of factors. Learn how to be an inspirational speaker with a reading assessment activity that presents a list of persuasive speaking techniques, as well as two...

Here's a collection of unit plans for middle school musicians. Topics include the mbira, opera, rhythm and culture, music in Africa, music in the movies, music theory and notation, blues and jazz, and the ocarina. Definitely worth a look.

To conclude a study of the French Revolution, young historians adopt the voice of critics of Napoleon Bonaparte and lay charges against him. They then craft a memoir in Napoleon's voice that details his motives and what he sees as his...

Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...

Young adventurers embark on a journey, setting sail along the blue ocean with Christopher Columbus. Teachers will find that this unit makes their lesson planning smooth sailing!

Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...

Elementary learners explore language arts by completing a text identification activity. They discuss the importance of a main idea in a story or paper and how to present it properly. Then they practice identifying the main idea in sample...

Students practice close reading skills to edit the text of Julius Caesar as they read. They identify the features of the conspiracy. They discuss use of image of dark and light in the text.

Learners read given information and identify the main ideas and specific detail of the story. In groups, they read a historical title and create a "book talk" for each one, summarizing the story. In addition, students create a...

Middle schoolers receive a handout that lists the five types of context clues. The class divides up into groups of three or four, and each group chooses five unfamiliar words. They write a multiple-choice question for each of their five...

Students use tables of content, chapter titles, and key words as a strategy for organizing non-fiction information. They write a paragraph with a partner using information from a graphic organizer.

Students investigate pattern books. In this literature instructional activity, students read the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and use echo and choral reading strategies. Students identify the pattern in the text and write...

Students study directional words and opposites. In this inside, outside, upside down, lesson, students illustrate words and are captured on camera sharing their words. The digital pictures will be compiled into a class slide show to...

Students increase their reading fluency through the use of various strategies. After discussing the importance of reading fluently, students complete an initial read of a novel text. Working with a partner, they read complete a timed...

First graders create a map and display an understanding of the cardinal directions. In this map skills activity, 1st graders listen to stories where a map would come in handy, create their own map, and use the cardinal directions...

Finish your unit on Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation with a two-part written assessment. As ninth graders refer to their notes, annotations, and discussion guides from the first part of the unit, they prepare for a writing prompt...

To conclude a unit study of Octavia E. Butler's Kindred, groups use MovieMaker or the class website to publish an original story about slavery in America. The detailed project assignment sheet includes a list of possible topics,...

Real-life mathematics is not as simple as repeating a set of steps; pupils must mentally go through a process to come to their conclusions. Teach learners to read, analyze, and create a plan for solving a problem situation. The...

Scholars read Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal before writing essays to analyze the use of rhetorical devices in the text. Essay writing begins by underlining key words in the writing prompt and discussing the prompt with...