In the hustle and bustle of life in the classroom, it's easy for teachers to lose track of the standards they have taught, and those that still need to be addressed. This Common Core checklist provides educators with an easy-to-use...

Students conduct research to put Anne Frank's diary into historical context. They use maps, timelines, essays and websites to examine the early victories of the German army, paying special attention to the Netherlands and experiences of...

Mars, Earth, and Venus contain atmospheres that generate weather. Young scientists explore the temperature of inner planets. They create a model simulating the greenhouse effect before researching and answering guided questions to...

Students examine the concepts of diversity and assimilation. They identify the validity of sources and recognize bias, and create original illustrations from the students' point of view which show the impact of the Spanish friars on the...

Discover Modernism through the eyes of artists. Over the course of six well-thought-out lessons, learners examine works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse while completing a range of collaborative and hands-on activities. A great resource!

The class gets their mean and median all in a row with an assessment task that uses a population of ducklings to work with data displays and measures of central tendency. Pupils create a frequency chart and calculate the mean and median....

Explore the elements of science fiction. Students investigate the literary elements present in science fiction and write their own science fiction stories.

Wrap up your unit on The Cay with an engaging argumentative writing assignment. Writers must decide if they believe The Cay should be banned. The resource includes links to several articles, which have been addressed and examined in...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

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

Put your thinking cap on, it's quiz time! Here, scholars use their knowledge of the book, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi to create six questions to be used in their upcoming quiz. 

How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star...

Claudia Kincaid decides to run away to bring some excitement to her life, but she never expects the adventure she finds. A helpful study guide takes readers through the novel From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler....

Change is not always easy. That becomes evident in the story Fourteenth Goldfish. Ellie, the main character, does not like change and struggles with new things in her life.  Scholars learn how Ellie deals with change as they...

They say when you are told something enough times, you eventually begin to believe it's true. Sadly, Max in Freak The Mighty believed he was stupid and dumb, so he learned to be alone. That changed when he met another outcast, Freak....

Nothing good comes from being under a curse. A study guide introduces the novel Holes by Louis Sachar and the curse the main character faces. Readers analyze key vocabulary words from book, as well as complete a series of short...

The Great Depression was a devastating period in American history that lasted for an entire decade. Using an enlightening novel study, scholars uncover additional facts about the era. They also write quatrain poems focusing on themes...

What do wizards smell like? A novel study for Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy walks readers through chapter one to help them answer the question. Scholars also practice vocabulary from the chapter and invent original similes.

The Princess and the Goblin's main character, Irene, has a special bond is with her magic great-great-great grandmother that lives in a mysterious part of the castle. Worksheets focused on George MacDonald's novel offer eight vocabulary...

Jade from Renée Watson's Piecing Me Together wants to improve the world—and herself. Worksheets introduce new vocabulary, asks comprehension questions, and review personification and alliterations.

Can you really knock the sense into someone? It seems that the bump on Billy's head changed his perspective on things in The Year of Billy Miller. Readers discover that after his injury, Billy appreciates his parents more and is nicer to...

True friends stick together. In the case of The Wind In The Willows, the friends just happen to be a toad, mole, rat, and badger who team up to beat the weasels. The resource covers the first chapter of their raucous adventures. Scholars...

What doesn't break you makes you stronger. Katy, in What Katy Did, learns this lesson the hard way. After a terrible accident and a long recovery, Katy becomes what she always wanted to be—good and kind. Scholars learn about Katy's...