A change is coming. Pupils use unit cubes to investigate how changes in the length, width, and/or height affects volume and surface area. They extend the results to write and test predictions on the effect of changing multiple sides on...

The focus of the day's instructional activity is methods for creating a formal style and objective tone in an argument essay. After examining models, pairs engage in peer review of their essay drafts and continue to revise while...

Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...

Scholars create a brochure that features three aspects of the poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin." The program details information about Robert Browning, the poem's setting, and its events. 

What makes a good leader? Use the curriculum guide for William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to help scholars answer that question. Pupils research the play's historical context and other background information before engaging in...

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Learners find out what it means to them. Scholars write sentences, do a word sort, and list what makes them grateful. Additionally, pupils learn how to be more respectful by completing worksheets that would make...

A four-paragraph informational text details the life of the famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson. A prompt challenges scholars to write or discuss a time in their life when they were not included and how that made them feel. 

Scholars use the 2007 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions to write essays examining how a character's tie to the past affects the story. The resource also requires pupils to write essays comparing two related...

Let's get to the gist! Pupils work in research teams to gather information about specific refugee experiences from Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Kurdistan. Scholars then try to find the gist of informational texts about their topics,...

Scholars read Kafka's The Metamorphosis and research for essays and articles on existentialism. After gaining information and evidence from their research, pupils write essays defining existentialism and its relationship on the work...

The life of a tree is the focus of a packet consisting of several activities all covering a different subject. Second graders measure shadows, make pinecone critters, write poems, count rings, complete a word search, play tree tag, and...

Variables may be unknown, but expressions and equations are easy to understand. Pupils learn to write, evaluate, and simplify numeric and algebraic expressions. They also investigate how to write and solve simple equations and...

The proof is in the reading. Using the informative resource, scholars read a second article about either Althea Gibson or Roberto Clemente. As they read, they continue adding reasons and evidence to their graphic organizers to show how...

Introduce middle schoolers to the different strategies used when reading prose versus poetry. Groups use a Venn diagram and a poetry analysis handout to compare the characteristics of an informational text and a  poem on the same...

Look back on the school year by spending a few days putting together books that learners can reflect on in the coming years. Learners note down personal information and their favorite things, respond to questions with goals, stories, and...

The sixth in a series of poetry writing exercises asks young poets to craft a free verse poem.

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...

Design a plan for finding the best health insurance for your money. Learners compare two health plans by writing and graphing piecewise functions representing the plan rules. Using Excel software, they create a technical report...

Help your pupils find a pattern of direct variation. Young scholars use input-output pairs to find a constant of variation and then write the equation. As they build their equations, the interactive lesson provides feedback.

Have you ever felt like you are pulled into two directions? Some authors depict this feeling in their characters. Scholars choose a play or novel in which a character is pulled or influenced by two different directions and write essays...

Readers take all the information they gained from the last 19 lessons and complete an essay describing how King develops his purpose and claim in "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Pupils use a rubric and checklist to help guide their...

Scholars work in pairs to decide whether leaders wrote the Declaration of Independence for the rich and powerful or for every man. To draw their conclusion, pairs read excerpts from two historians and complete a graphic organizer...

Scholars take part in a close reading of pages four through seven and 12-15 of the book, Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Bullfrog Circle by Deborah Dennard. Readers identify the story's main idea, list its key details, and examine...

Fundamental differences between the North and South led to the South adopting a system of enslaved labor. These abstract ideas become concrete when class members create a standing cube using information provided in the resource. Young...