Why do books end up on the banned book list? How do these banned books contribute to the literary canon? Start by showing the photo slide show, and discussing notably banned books. Then focus on some of the most popular objections:...

High schoolers examine the relationship between a poem's form and its content in Robert Frost's poem, 'Mending Wall.' They read and analyze the poem, explore websites, listen to an audio clip of Frost reading the poem, and write an...

A Dorothea Lange photograph launches this study of metaphors. Using the questions provided, the class examines the image and the title to consider how Lange uses her photo as a metaphor. Class members then select an object they can use...

A picture really can speak a thousand words—no matter how old! Scholars become history detectives as they learn how to analyze historical photos and evidence to uncover the past. The fun hands-on activity makes history come alive through...

A lesson plan instills the importance of locating reliable sources. Scholars are challenged to locate digital sources, analyze their reliability, search for any bias, and identify frequently found problems that make a source unusable. 

Students analyze poems about death. In this poetry analysis lesson, students read poems from both Dylan Thomas and A.E. Housman and analyze them in groups for common poetic devices. Students present their analysis and complete a Venn...

High schoolers consider the implications of anti-Semitism. In this World War II lesson, students examine selected documents and images featuring the propaganda that promoted Jewish persecution. High schoolers write essays that highlight...

Meant to be used in connection with the article "In Teacher Ratings, Good Test Scores Are Sometimes Not Good Enough" also available on The New York Times website, this resource provides 12 short-answer writing prompts that ask both basic...

Analyze the poetic devices used in Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" to those found in Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Critical analysts discuss poetic meter and rhythm and its relationship to theme. They compare and contrast...

Students conduct research in order to use primary and secondary sources. They interpret and analyze information from textbooks and nonfiction books for young adults, as well as reference materials, audio and media presentations, oral...

Students analyze the art for the Young Countess of Schouvalof and also practice recognizing the work of Le Brun, Leonardo da Vinci, and Andy Warhol. In this portrait art lesson, students analyze copies of the artists work and mark on the...

Students focus upon the Civil War era using research methods of drawing information from primary sources. Literature and photographic images reflect, communicate, and influence human perspectives of historical events. The instructional...

Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.

Students conduct Internet research and answer worksheet questions regarding the Spanish royal family. They list the family members they would like to meet, write Jeopardy answers, and create a family tree or a photo album for their own...

Imagine what would it have been like to watch a dramatic battle of the Civil War in your own backyard. Young scholars ponder this scenario while looking at firsthand accounts from the Battle of Franklin, along with modern photos of the...

Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....

Young historians practice in-depth, quality analysis of primary source texts in this three-lesson unit, which examines excerpts from the slave narratives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Caleb...

Photos can challenge stereotypes. To gain an understanding of the big picture, groups examine a series of photographs and analyze how a photographer's choices can shape a viewer's reaction to an image. For the first set of photographs,...

There's no way a child can operate heavy machinery ... right? Pupils examine a photograph of a child operating a loom at mill to learn about child labor and its impacts. Prompts provoke thoughtful discussion or fuel a writing exercise.

Young scientists compile everything they have learned into a report in the fifth and final lesson in a unit on the visible light spectrum. Access to photos from observatories, telescopes, and satellites allows learners to compare...

Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...

Learners practice the skill of photo analysis. In this Great Depression lesson, students analyze photographs from the era and write fictitious diary entries based on the images. 

Young scholars examine historical images of the Alaskan Gold Rush and complete a worksheet to better explain this era. They create a PowerPoint related to the images.

Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.