A series of four activities focuses young scholars' attention on what it means to be an American. They identify key qualities, values, and virtues they consider shared by Americans. Participants then pretend they have been selected to...

A lesson on magical realism has young historians research how Garcia Marquez weaves historical events and his own experiences into One Hundred Years of Solitude. Using historical records and information found in a biography of Garcia...

The third lesson in the Goal Setting series looks at the impact of a positive attitude on achieving one's goals. Participants create and then share visuals that represent positive attitudes. They then brainstorm ways to develop positive...

What do you remember about your childhood home? Scholars listen to Oscar Gonzales reading his poem "We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born" in Spanish and English, then discuss what they learned about Gonzales.

Can organic molecules come from a pre-biotic environment? Stanley Lloyd Miller proved it is possible when exactly the right conditions exist. Learn about his experiment and the other experiments later building off of it that changed the...

Students use a news article about the celebration of the Lincoln Bicentennial to answer questions about Abraham Lincoln and the celebration. In this current events and US history lesson based on a news article, students participate in a...

Students experience a shared reading regarding the importance of feeling like a valued member of the community within a family. In this family member feelings lesson plan, students discuss the feelings and the motives of the characters....

Yes, Virginia, there really is a reader's theater script for "The Night Before Christmas." The exercise is a great way to productively channel pre-holiday energy.

Support your end-of-year instruction with planning kits from PBS. Five planning kits are provided: Special Lessons and Collections; Planning Sheets for Pre-K through 5 and 6-12; Summer Bonus Resources; and Relevant Professional Learning...

Start with the question in mind with a discussion activity on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. With four focus questions, note-taking prompts, and discussion points, readers practice answering thematic questions based on textual evidence.

What do the flag, the bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty remind you of? After reading a short article about these national symbols, middle schoolers are asked to identify ideas that these items represent.

Scholars examine the first Thanksgiving through books and interviews while they complete a KWL chart. Pretending they are part of the feast, learners craft a scrapbook page that features images related to their experience. Pupils reflect...

A class discussion on reference materials opens up a lesson on how to use these important resources. They discover that dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses are called word reference resources, and they practice using them. The...

Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...

Fans of Sherlock Holmes may be surprised to learn that in addition to stories of the famous deductionist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is also the creator of Professor Challenger. An irascible, unpredictable scientist, Challenger was featured...

J.K. Rowling's world of wizards and magic focuses on some topics that relate to our own society, especially in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Have kids complete a KWHL chart (what they know, what they want to know, how...

Readers of Twelfth Night use a KWHL chart to record information about what they know about Shakespeare's play, what they want to find out, how they plan on finding this information, and what they have learned or still want to learn about...

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Gain greater insight into poems using a poetry analysis worksheet. Here, scholars follow steps and answer questions to dissect any poem. Topics include the poem's meaning, theme, technique, and structure, as well as personal...

Explore a variety of fables to learn life's lessons through engaging stories. Add rigor to the learning process with activities that include matching a a fable to the story's moral, short answer exit slips, and a three-column graphic...

Music is beneficial for all learners. Help your learners with special needs learn about different styles of music, as well as the ways that music is represented on paper, with 30 different worksheets. 

Is graffiti art? Writers explore that question as part of a source-based argument within a set of questions from the NY Regents examination. The assessment from June 2018, part of a larger set of standardized tests, consists of three...

For this ESL advanced vocabulary worksheet, students read 10 sentences that have a missing word. From 4 choices of similar words, students select the correct word to complete each sentence.