Virginia Department of Education
Creating Thesis Sentences
Growing writers explore what it takes to develop and support a thesis statement with pre-fabricated ideas provided by the Virginia Department of Education. Learners take notes on what makes a thesis statement and a topic sentence, and...
Novelinks
The Hobbit: Directed Reading - Thinking Activity
An in-class reading of Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece Meets the Big O introduces class members to the journey motif that forms the basis of The Hobbit.
Civil War Trust
Civil War Soldier: Experiencing the Battle of Franklin
Fighting a war over home soil makes a living nightmare even more real. Class members describe the experience of a Civil War soldier during the Battle of Franklin, poised right at a major turning point of the war, after researching the...
EngageNY
Efficacy of Scientific Notation
How many times could California fit into the entire United States? Pupils use scientific notation to find the answer to that question in the 12th installment of 15 lessons. It asks scholars to write numbers in scientific notation and...
Concord Consortium
Bill the Ball Bearing Man
Just how durable could a hollow ball bearing be? Learners model the strength of the walls of a ball bearing as a function of the radius of its cavity. They use their models to make reasonable conclusions about the probability of failure...
Virginia Department of Education
Identifying Audience and Purpose
Use a fun and creative activity to introduce junior high learners to how writing changes for different audiences and purposes. The activity begins with a reading by the instructor where teens visualize a food fight in the cafeteria. In...
University of North Carolina
Summary: Using it Wisely
Sometimes summarizing keeps a writer from going deeper into their analysis—don't fall into that trap. Learn the difference between summarizing and analyzing using an insightful resource. Focusing on introductions, the lesson shares...
Education World
Pumpkin Puzzler
Light the Halloween festivities with an exercise that connects math, physical science, and language arts. After watching a demonstration of a burning candle, learners use division, multiplication, or algebra to determine how many boxes...
Virginia Department of Education
Using Specific Vocabulary and Collaboration
Develop concepts on how to change your improving wordsmiths' writing from blah to wow with the activities and ideas in this resource. The instructor provides the class with examples of writing that lacks detail and precision, and then...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - The Platinum-Blond Man
Before reading Chapter Six, "The Platinum-Blond Man" in Matilda, readers preview the illustration of Mrs. Wormwood dropping her plate of food, and think about what may have happened to cause the scene. After reading the chapter, class...
Scholastic
Connecting with Ruby Bridges
When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...
Novelinks
Oedipus the King: Biopoem
The biopoem is a great way for instructors to get to know class members, classmates to get to know each other, and readers to flesh out their understanding of a character. Why not create a biopoem for a character from Oedipus the King?
EngageNY
Ferris Wheels—Using Trigonometric Functions to Model Cyclical Behavior
Have class members going in circles as they model the path of a Ferris Wheel using trigonometric functions. Building on the previous lesson in this series on transformations, learners use trigonometric functions to model wheels of...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Feelings and Emotions
Eighth graders express their emotions with a set of activities about self reflection and feelings. With a set of emotion cards and a worksheet that details negative thought patterns, the resource empowers young learners to discover and...
EngageNY
Operations with Numbers in Scientific Notation
Demonstrate the use of scientific notation within word problems. The lesson presents problems with large numbers best represented with scientific notation. Pupils use these numbers to solve the problems in the 11th installment in a...
EngageNY
Evaluating Evidence: Adversities Faced in the Middle Ages
How is that relevant? Scholars gain an understanding of the words relevant and compelling. They then go back to the End of Unit 1 Assessment Prompt: Adversity in the Middle Ages and look at the second bullet that pertains to relevant and...