Observe Constitution Day with a worksheet that delves deep into the who, what, why, when, where, and how of the U.S. Constitution. Scholars read a short informational text then answer 10 questions—short answer and multiple choice. 

In 1874, The New York Herald falsely claimed that several animals escaped from the Central Park Zoo, and panic ensued. Using the helpful infographic, pupils discover more instances of fake news throughout history, from as far back as 63...

Ever felt stuck in the middle? Some characters do. Scholars choose a novel or play and write essays describing how a character is stuck between cultures. Writers also analyze the techniques used in a passage from We Were the Mulvaneys...

Writing a bio-poem is a great way to have young scholars go below the surface and reflect on who or what has made them who they are. Check out this richly detailed lesson that provides step-by-step directions for crafting a bio-poem.

Young journalists create newspapers of individual biomes after researching their biomes. This lesson can be completed in three phases and concludes with each person publishing their individual newspaper pages.

Eighth graders compose or create works of communication for specific audiences and purposes. They locate, access, and select relevant information from a variety of sources. They revise and edit their work to improve content, organization...

Aligned with the Common Core writing standards, this resource has Spanish language learners create a question, write an explanatory paragraph, and identify the main points. You can either suggest an overarching question for your class to...

Focusing on writing an introduction, this presentation provides a variety of techniques for how to begin. Although the question marks on slide six obscure the writing, the other slides are clear and legible and display good examples for...

As a culminating assignment for a unit study of heroes that uses The Hobbit as the core text, class members engage in a multi-genre writing project.

This lesson plan, which promises to improve the essays of your middle schoolers, contains a list of characteristics an essay should include. It breaks it down into the introduction, thesis statement, body, etc. There's also a list of...

Imagine a day in the life of a child who has to work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week. After viewing images and reading stories of child laborers, class members select an image and write a richly detailed narrative about a typical...

Get historians writing about the American Revolution using this short-answer activity! Three big-picture prompts are intended to guide deeper thinking and prepare students for later discussion and application. They consider the influence...

How do poets convey emotion and represent their views of life? Pupils learn more about Whitman and Dickinson through the unit and analyze their bold reinvention of craft and style for poets to come. Looking at classic pieces such as...

Students work together to research a historical event. They create their own poems based on their research. They share their poems with the class and discuss the historical event further.

Fifth graders write business letters. In this business letter lesson, 5th graders discuss the format and reasons for writing a business letter. They pick who they want to write to and create their own letter. 

Students identify the attributes of informative brochures. In this written communication lesson, students examine sample brochures and persuasive essays to investigate the layout and the information presented. Students then create their...

Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs:...

Assess scholars' reading and writing capabilities with an exam that challenges learners to respond to an informative text. Through note-taking and peer discussion, pupils analyze a passage from the story, Follow the Water from Brook to...

The classroom might not be the best place for informal language, but it's a great place to teach middle and high schoolers how to identify the correct language register for their audience. A short lesson on formal and informal language...

Fifth graders prepare for their end of the unit essay assessment by continuing to look at what makes an earthquake a natural disaster. They complete a graphic organizer and write a topic sentence. To finish, they view a model essay and...

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...

Considering a college search project? After picking a possible career choice, and determining if that career needs a technical college or university education, individuals examine a wide variety of sources and select three schools...

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...

Middle schoolers read two articles about the same event: "Plane from J.F.K Crashes off Canada" from the New York Times and "No Survivors from Crash of Swissair Jetliner Off Nova Scotia" from the Associated Press. They then compare the...