Overcoming Obstacles
Identifying Options
Making a decision can be more like a multiple-choice question than a yes/no one. Through a series of activities, middle schoolers learn how to consider and identify options, choices, and alternatives when faced with an important decision.
Overcoming Obstacles
Gathering Information
Before making important decisions, gathering as much information as possible is best. That's the take-away from the second lesson in the Decision-Making module of the Overcoming Obstacles course. Middle schoolers engage in a series of...
Overcoming Obstacles
Expressing Opinions Constructively
Everyone has opinions. The trick is to learn how to disagree in a way that doesn't cause problems. The activities in the final instructional activity in the Communication Module focuses on learning how to express opinions constructively....
Facing History and Ourselves
First Chapter Fridays
Fridays can be a challenge with learners already dreaming about their weekends. Here's a routine that will bring their minds back to the classroom. Read aloud the beginning of a story, sure to engage your listeners.
Mr. Nussbaum
Sacagawea
A reading comprehension interactive practice focuses on Sacagawea. Scholars read an informational text, then answer 10 questions.
Facing History and Ourselves
Slow Down with The Slowdown
Help learners bring their focus to the classroom with an opening routine that asks them to listen to a podcast about what a particular poem means to the narrator. Participants then share what's happening with them.
Mr. Nussbaum
Spiders
Spiders are the topic of a reading comprehension reading practice interactive. Scholars read an informational text, then answer 10 questions.
Mr. Nussbaum
Ponce de Leon
An informational text about Ponce de Leon tests scholars' reading comprehension skills. Learners read the text and then answer 10 questions. Question types include multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank.
Facing History and Ourselves
Notable Quotable
Engaging learners in the classroom can be a challenge. Here's a bell ringer that can easily adapt to any subject area. Instructors post a "Notable Quotable" and ask learners to respond to it in their journals.
Mr. Nussbaum
Mt. Vesuvius and the Lost City of Pompeii
Mount Vesuvius and the lost city of Pompeii are the focus of an interactive reading practice designed to increase comprehension skills. Scholars read an informational text, then answer 10 questions.
Mr. Nussbaum
Pennsylvania Colony
An informational reading sheds light on the history of the Pennsylvania colony. Scholars read the text, then answer 10 questions.
Facing History and Ourselves
Picture This
Sometimes what you get is far more than what you first see. The third routine in the Building Community series asks participants to engage in a See, Think, Wonder strategy. Small groups analyze a projected image, infer what is happening,...
Mr. Nussbaum
Penguins
Penguins are the topic of an informational text that scholars read or listen to, then answer 10 multiple-choice questions.
Mr. Nussbaum
North Carolina Colony
Ten multiple-choice questions make up an interactive practice designed to increase reading comprehension. The topic of the informational reading is the North Carolina Colony.
Mr. Nussbaum
New Jersey Colony
Scholars answer 10 questions after reading an informational text about the New Jersey Colony.
Mr. Nussbaum
Narwhal
An informational reading all about narwhals tests scholars reading comprehension skills. After a short reading, learners answer 10 questions.
Mr. Nussbaum
Meteors
An interactive designed to boost reading comprehension skills focuses on meteors. Scholars read an informational text, then answer 10 multiple-choice questions.
Penguin Books
An Educator Guide to Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
Call Us By What We Carry, a poetry collection by Nation Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, is the focus of a 10-page teacher's guide.
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Julie Otsuka's haunting novel, When the Emperor Was Devine, is the subject of a 14-page teacher's guide. The guide includes the text of an interview with Otsuka, background information about Japanese immigration to the United States, and...
Mr. Nussbaum
Maryland Colony
Practice reading comprehension skills with an interactive all about the Maryland Colony. Scholars read a short informational text and then answer 10 questions.
Mr. Nussbaum
Planet Mars
Four questions follow an informational reading about the planet Mars. Scholars receive instant feedback and a progress report at the end of the practice.
Penguin Books
The Discussion Guide to the Inaugural Poem: The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb," featured at the 2021 inauguration of President Joseph Biden, is the focus of a six-page guide. The guide includes before reading, during reading, and after reading...
Mr. Nussbaum
James Madison
Ten questions—fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice—follow an informational reading about James Madison.
Mr. Nussbaum
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman is the focus of an interactive that challenges scholars to read an informational text and answer 10 questions about her.