Prompted by a viewing of Emiko and Chizu Omori’s Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, high schoolers examine a series of documents, including the Bill of Rights and the UN’s...

Following the reading of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the ninth lesson plan in this unit involves emerging experts in a science talk about how bullfrogs survive. Looking back through the text, young scholars prepare for the...

Primary readers predict and check for understanding by using comprehension strategies. Prepare readers the first day by frontloading vocabulary and using pictures to visualize the words. On the second day, read the story The Old Woman...

Using everything they have learned about writing paragraphs over the past few lessons of the unit, class members compose an informative paragraph independently. This is an authentic assessment of their ability, since learners have...

More on the fictitious takeover of the Apple Corporation by Microsoft. In this scenario, Microsoft has $28.00 per share to spare, so how many do they need to offer to make an even trade? This is an engaging problem to solve when...

Explore the cultural heritage through of your class through reading, writing, and speaking exercises. They create illustrated mini-books that express their unique cultural and personal experiences. They share their stores with the class...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Students listen to and read legends and see that these legends helped the Aboriginals explain their everyday life. Through their stories and legends we find that Aboriginal values, attitudes and cultural identities are shared.

There's nothing like the prospect of writing a scary story to get your middle schoolers' writing juices flowing! In the lesson presented here, pupils listen to scary short stories read to them by the teacher. Then, a discussion ensues...

Learners read a story called King Tut On the Move and answer vocabulary and comprehension questions about it. In this current events King Tut lesson plan, students respond to literature by answering questions, recalling details, sharing...

Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...

Learners read and discuss an article about Olga Loya, a modern storyteller. They watch a videotaped performance of a story and then create a storytelling experience for a story of their choice to share with the class.

How did Native Americans react to the arrival of the Lewis and Clark expedition? Here, learners review excerpts of journal entries that chronicle the arrival of the Corps of Discovery to the Shoshone and Blackfeet tribes. Your young...

Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...

Learners explore cultural myths in America by collecting images and characteristics of stereotypical Americans. They read a primary source document, discussing the views of the author in class. Next, they compare the terms used to...

Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...

Foster your high schoolers' creativity - and generosity - with this writing lesson. After reading the article "Homemade Holiday Gifts" by Frances Janisch (from the GALE Student Resource Center - Gold), pupils meet in groups to brainstorm...

Young scholars examine Beverly Cleary as a reader and an author. They write a letter to Beverly Cleary that details their personal journey as readers and writers after reading her work and keeping a reading journal.

Celebrate the arrival of winter with a reading of Jack Ezra Keats' book The Snowy Day. Engaging children by asking them about their own experiences in the snow, the teacher goes on to read the story...

Literature circles let kids interact with each other and hear different perspectives. explore literature circles. Group your class into small reading groups, and then assign each class member a specific role to keep them focused. After...

Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...

Although this lesson is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content and style used by...

Students explore the life cycle of a butterfly. For this life cycle lesson, students read the book the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Students use this book throughout the year to create a year round bulletin board showing the stages of the...

Young scholars explore the book Billy Brown and the Belly Button Beastie. For this verb, onomatopoeia, and syllable lesson, students pantomime verbs, read onomatopoeia from the story and clap out syllables. Young scholars unscramble...