How does the point of view of Poe's protagonist in "The Tell-Tale Heart" contribute to the suspenseful tone? Help your middle schoolers identify the point of view in a literary work with this lesson, which goes on to discuss the...

Which comes first? The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, or Future? What clues can readers use to establish the chronology of A Christmas Carol? The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Marley, and Tiny Tim provides the text for an activity that...

Students design an amusement park attraction based on a fantastic journey from literature, film, or their own imaginations. Each design team must submit a formal proposal. The proposal should include: a two- or three-dimensional visual...

Help your future college graduates prepare for higher education with this series of lessons. High schoolers complete research projects about the colleges they would like to attend, and create PowerPoint presentations about their careers...

Middle schoolers write an editorial giving an opinion of whether or not Quetzalcoatl has arrived and if so, what the Aztecs should do.  They discuss whether or not they believe Quetzalcoatl is a god or a man, and use an Editorial...

What is a bully? Romeo and Juliet's Act 3 Scene 1 gives eighth and ninth graders the perfect opportunity to explore bullying. After doing some Internet research on bullying characteristics, groups reenact the scene to decide who is...

Act and act, address and address...there are so many words in our dictionary that can function as nouns or verbs. Start this lesson by having your class list as many as they possibly can. When an adequate list presents itself, have your...

Considering an examination of point of view? Use visual arts to engage learners in of this element of art and literature. Class members select a portrait from the Renaissance Connection and, guided by a series of brainstorming...

Improve your youngsters' descriptive writing. They study an object and write about what they see as a warm-up, then they read an excerpt from Paul Guest's memoir, One More Theory about Happiness. The next part of the...

What are you doing today? What have you done this week? What will you be doing next month? Focus on verb usage with a series of fill-in-the-black exercises on basic tenses, inappropriate shifts in tense, and active and passive voice.

Guide your readers to explore character traits. As a class, discuss and record the traits of a commonly-known fairy tale character. Then do the same with the main character in the class novel. Finally, have learners use magazines...

Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...

Middle schoolers work on summarizing a story, and they determine if it is a legend, a myth, or a fable. Working in groups to read and summarize stories, they then list evidence whether the tale is a myth, fable, or...

Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...

Post-It notes, highlighting, underlining. Sam Anderson’s New York Times Magazine article, “What I Really Want Is Someone Rolling Around in the Text,” launches a study of “marginalia,” or writing thoughts in the margins of a text. After...

When choosing what foods to eat, there are a lot of factors to consider. To help make the decision a little easier, young learners work in small groups developing short plays, stories, or advertisements that address the different issues...

If you'd like your class to write in varied sentence patterns, use a instructional activity focused on adverb clauses to enhance their writing. After reading a short explanation and example of adverb clauses, young grammarians underline...

Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...

If you've ever looked at the US immigration system, you know that it is complex and a source of controversy. An insightful lesson plan encourages learners to conduct their own analyses of the US immigration system by asking them to...

Reinforce persuasive and argumentative writing skills with this lesson, which utilizes SchoolNet News Network's website/SNN Monthly magazine. Young writers review journalism writing styles that help them explain that writing a persuasive...

Students identify both views on U.S. immigration policy. They write a persuasive essay defending either a liberal or restrictive immigration policy. Students identify the major laws regulating immigration since 1875. They create a...

Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...

Based on Alex Haley's moving essay "My Furthest Back Person: The African," these 11 questions support comprehension and prepare readers for discussion of the text. Use this tool, and the essay, as a nonfiction addition to units on...

Help your class understand the difference between fact and opinion by exploring the New York Times homepage and articles. In pairs or small groups, pupils complete a scavenger hunt, answering the provided questions. Next, discuss the...