Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally,...

Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson plan focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate  the relationship between word choice, mood, and...

What does your dialect sound like? Examine variation in English as it relates to geographic regions with your class. They recognize some of the major differences between regional dialects and determine that everyone speaks a dialect....

A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...

Prompted by a viewing of Emiko and Chizu Omori’s Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, high schoolers examine a series of documents, including the Bill of Rights and the UN’s...

Budding historians read six documents related to grievances that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. They then craft an essay in which they discuss the perspective of both the colonists and the king. This DBQ could be...

Ever heard of CTE? A passage about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) provides the text for a reading comprehension check. The subject matter is sure to engage your readers and the questions, based on the passage, assess whether high...

You're class just finished writing an expository essay! Instead of having them do a self-edit, pair them up and give each person this guide. This is not your average peer editing checklist; it is a list of 35 things to look for in your...

Young biologists define reproduction vocabulary terms, answer critical-thinking questions, label a diagram of the human life cycle, and complete a chart comparing mitosis to meiosis. This is a well-balanced worksheet. Even though it...

Short, but sweet, this handout questions the learner on the structures and processes of plant reproduction. Budding botanists draw a dicot seed, label a flower diagram, and describe the functions of different flower parts. It also covers...

Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...

Investigate the importance of author's point of view. Young linguists study primary source documents related to the Treaty of Casco Bay. The first source is authored by the Native American Chiefs, the second by an English...

Such a comprehensive way to learn vocabulary! Complete the puzzle, read the vocabulary in context, and get a thorough definition for each vocabulary word. This resource focuses on words containing three Latin roots: dict, vent, and...

This lesson plan will focus on the aspects of Shakespeare's comedy that become more evident in performance. By viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions, high schoolers have the opportunity to engage in a...

Have your class explore the effects of war by reading Eleanor Coerr's story, "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." This is a story about a sixth grader who lives in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb is dropped. Learners answer questions,...

Everyone loves the tales involving King Arthur and his knights. After reading Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Gross, learners draw inferences and conclusions, analyze story elements, and discuss figurative language, including...

Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...

Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...

Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...

The options are vast with this Ancient Greece and Olympics research project! Using Scholastic online resources, historians have interactive and educational supports to guide them through researching and writing about the 2004 Olympics in...

What is parallelism? Novice writers learn about parallelism and practice balancing 10 sentences for better syntax and parallel structure. A clear, straightforward learning exercise with answers included.

Take a close look at both the definitions and uses of commas, colons, and semicolons. Commas set off clear parts of sentences, colons come before an explanation, and semicolons join two complete thoughts. Review these types of...

Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...