University of California
The Cold War (America)
The Cold War—with its roots in World War II—impacts the world today. Using an extensive curriculum, scholars consider its impact through primary sources, including speeches and propaganda, as well as other skills-enhancing activities. An...
Curated OER
Wildwood Dancing: Anticipation Guide
Themes in Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier's young adult fantasy novel, are the focus of an anticipation guide that asks individuals to agree or disagree with a series of statements.
Teaching Channel
Storyboard Lesson Plan
Good books are accessible through a variety of literary lenses. To consider how the same story can be seen in different lights, groups develop a storyboard for a movie teaser that would focus on one of six concepts found in Suzanne...
Novelinks
Man's Search for Meaning: Anticipation Guide Instructions
To prepare readers for the major concepts in Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, an account of his life in Auschwitz, class members respond to a series of statements on an anticipation guide.
Curated OER
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Vocabulary Strategy
In order to truly understand The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, you'll need to provide middle schoolers with background information about the Holocaust. After contributing as many words as they can associate with the Holocaust, such as...
Curated OER
Women in Science: Dr. Grace Bush
Learn about the study of paleoecology with a resource about Dr. Grace Bush and her contributions to the field. After reading a one-page passage, learners answer comprehension questions and explore their personal interests in different...
Curated OER
The Pigman: Problematic Situation
What would you do? To prepare readers for the death of Mr. Pignati, one of the characters in Paul Zindel's The Pigman, individuals complete a problematic situation worksheet and then compare their responses to others in their group.
Novelinks
The Good Earth: Questioning Strategy
Readers use Bloom's Taxonomy to create multi-level questions about Pearl Buck's The Good Earth.
Curated OER
The Glass Menagerie: K‐W‐H‐L Strategy
Readers of Tennessee Williams' award winning memory play, The Grass Menagerie, will be neither disappointed nor discouraged by this prereading strategy that asks learners to consider what they know about Williams and his play, what they...
Saddleback College
How to Find the Main Idea
What's the difference between the main idea of a text and the topic? Take kids through the process of literary analysis with a presentation about finding the main idea and supporting details. Additionally, it guides learners through...
Curated OER
The Red Badge of Courage: Vocabulary Bingo!
To reinforce recognition of vocabulary words drawn from Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, readers engage in a vocabulary bingo game.
Novelinks
Wildwood Dancing: Questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Process
Readers respond to a series of questions focused onJuliet Marillier's young adult novel Wildwood Dancing, and crafted to reflect the levels in Bloom's Taxonomy.
US House of Representatives
Traditionalist, Feminist, and the New Face of Women in Congress, 1955–1976
As part of a study of women in Congress, class members read the contextual essay, "A Changing of the Guard; Traditionalist, Feminist, and the New Face of Women in Congress, 1955–1976." Groups then research a woman serving during this...
New York State Education Department
Global History and Geography Examination: August 2015
Need a comprehensive test about global history and geography? Look no further! Test young historians' understanding of how to use primary sources to formulate answers with an assessment that uses multiple-choice questions that...
Facing History and Ourselves
Literature and Imagination Make Democracy Work
The final lesson in the "What Makes Democracy Work?" series examines the connections between imagination, literature, and democracy. Class members listen to a podcast, read an excerpt from Azar Nafisi's, The Republic of Imagination, and...
Novelinks
Man's Search for Meaning: Problematic Situation
What are the three most important items for survival? Readers of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, ponder this question individually and share their list with a group, that must then reach consensus on the three most...
Novelinks
The Joy Luck Club: Writing Strategy
Readers of The Joy Luck Club, use a double-0entry journal to record and reflect on passages from Amy Tan's novel.
Novelinks
Wuthering Heights: Unsent Letters
To demonstrate their understand of the characters in Wuthering Heights and their motivations, readers assume the identity of one of the characters and write a letter to another character in the Bronte's novel.
Novelinks
Things Fall Apart: Problematic Situation
If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...
Reading Through History
The Slaughterhouse Cases
Do modern citizens interpret the Fourteenth Amendment the way it was intended? Scholars study the Slaughterhouse Cases to see how judges interpreted the amendment in the 1800s. Following the reading on the subject, they answer...
Nemours KidsHealth
Food Labels: Grades 9-12
Check the label! That's the big idea in a lesson about using the nutrition facts on food labels rather than advertising hype to make healthy choices about what to eat. After reading background articles and learning how to read nutrition...
Curated OER
The Pearl: Found Poem
It's hard to beat the beauty of John Steinbeck's prose, so borrow a little of it to form your own found poetry. After kids finish Chapter One of The Pearl, they select the most evocative and vivid words to create found poems.
US House of Representatives
Women Pioneers on Capital Hill, 1917–1934
As part of a study of the women elected to Congress from 1917 to 1934, groups research and then design a museum exhibit that describes the life and the congressional service of one of these women.
Curated OER
Shizuko's Daughter: Concept of Definition Word Map
Help your class use critical thinking when it comes to unfamiliar words. With vocabulary from Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter, kids write the word in the center of a graphic organizer, and find its category, comparisons,...