Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson plan. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson plan includes several options to...

Learners research the western movement in order to learn note taking strategies with nonfiction texts. They use the Internet to search for important information about the western movement using the Cornell Notes note-taking system. They...

Tired of searching for complex passages suitable for high school level assessments? A challenging examination includes numerous complex text excerpts as well as question items to match them. Learners analyze literary elements, author's...

The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

Close up your study of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a letter-writing assignment. Pupils prepare by journaling and sharing with a partner. They then compose letters that focus on a big idea from the...

This is just the transition phase. Scholars participate in a mini lesson about using transitions in writing. They then have a brief peer critique of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs for their end of unit assessment. Learners...

What is APA format, and how is it different from MLA format? Dive into the world of APA, investigate how to properly cite resources in-text, and look at a reference list of sources. Intended for higher education, not all of the...

Demonstrate how to cite information from Internet sources without plagiarizing. If your class is working on an Internet research paper, and you have observed learners cutting and pasting directly from the Internet, the activities and...

Writers compose an original found poem by searching for words that inspire them. Words are taken from everyday conversation, books, cut from magazines, the mail, or an already written poem. 

Use the Internet, write an expository text, and have learners share their knowledge of the planets in our solar system. They compose an expository writing piece and publish it to a web page.

After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...

Pupils have the unique opportunity to learn about the institution of slavery by reading first-hand experiences as described by George Moses Horton, the first slave to publish anti-slavery poetry.

Students become familiar with oceanography terms by writing an oceanography horror story.

Students research dating abuse, particularly as it affects teens in general and specifically when technology like cells phones and the Internet is involved. They develop and use a survey on dating abuse in thier school and use the...

Polish organization skills in your youngsters. With this lesson, they are introduced to the trait of organization and participate in activities that reinforce organization. They cut apart a familiar story, receive different...

It will cost you little to ask class members to engage in a free writing exercise that helps even reluctant writers craft a poem.

Designed to assess your class's ability to follow directions, this reading activity has learners split into groups, read a series of instructions, read a passage, and answer two lists of questions. Can they remember to raise their hand...

This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...

Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...

Look into the future with a lesson plan on biodiversity and natural habitats. Learners read articles about different perspectives when it comes to planning future development, and decide which angle is the highest priority in a...

Seeing a hummingbird in the wild can be a magical experience. Learn more about these delicate members of the animal kingdom with a short reading passage, complete with four short-answer questions.

Elementary learners identify the main elements of story structure and form questions to summarize their reading. They listen as the teacher reads a story and then write questions to determine (1) main characters, (2) setting, (3)...

Challenge your young readers with a passage about physical science. After reading about sound waves and electric currents, kids answer five reading comprehension questions about what they have read.