Young scholars complete a variety of activities that revolve around the book "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen. They view and discuss stills from the move "Hoot" and compose original storylines, conduct Internet research about the life of Carl...

Students read and predict the outcome of a story set during the Civil War, then map the story. To prepare for the activity, students determine why it is important to look at historical events from all angles by using primary and...

Students give their book reports as oral "Meet the Press" type interviews. They team up with another student "reporter" and answer questions about main idea, details, and the point of view.

Students read Scott O'Dell's book, Sing Down the Moon, and answer questions about the forced migration of the Navahos from Arizona to Fort Sumter, New Mexico. They conduct research and describe a tenebrae service and its importance.

Students analyze an article written by an engineer at NASA proposing colonizing Mars with human explorers on the fastest track possible. They are invited to react to the article through several activities.

This teaching guide accompanies Madeleine's L'Engle's book, A Wrinkle in Time. Setting, plot, characters, and theme questions are included, along with guided reading questions for each chapter.

This is a teacher's guide to the novel Belle Prather's Boy which includes teaching ideas and related themes. In this vivid coming-of-age story, two cousins develop a real friendship while discovering the truths about their families and...

Are dark themes in young adult novels harmful or helpful to teens? Students will explore this question and will create an argumentative writing piece based on textual evidence. Videos of the lesson in action, examples of student work,...

Contains plans for four lessons that ask young scholars to read, compare, and contrast different versions of fairy tales in order to explore age-appropriateness and formats of texts. In addition to objectives and standards, this...

Sixth graders will learn about the influence of family expectations and religious values on the development of one's personal identity. Students will also learn how reading informational texts in coordination with literary texts can...

Ideas for connecting this novel with other parts of the curriculum, a pre-reading activity and thematic connections are the important features of this teacher guide.

Focused on the Dust Bowl and how families fought for a meaningful existence and survival, this unit will offer students different perspectives on how people respond to adversity, the lessons that can be learned from hardship and failure,...

A learning module that includes seven links to images, a PowerPoint, a video, and activities that focus on background information and theme in Laurence Yep's novel Ribbons.

After reading Lois Lowry's The Giver, students use a WebQuest to research ideas and themes from the novel. Students use their research and persuasive writing skills to create a brochure designed to sell a way of thinking or way of life...

This learning guide for the novel, Freak the Mighty, offers resources for both student readers and teachers. In addition to a synopsis of the book, significant themes and quotations are discussed, and a number of thought-provoking...