How can good study habits set someone up for a successful career? Learners explore the relationship between study skills and job skills in the fourth installment of a five-part college and career readiness lesson plan series. The group...

What skills do employers look for in potential employees? Introduce scholars to the skills that pay the bills during the second of six career and college readiness lesson plans. Once they have defined critical 21st-century skills, groups...

A unit covering stories of Ancient Rome examines spelling rules, suffixes, verbs, quotation marks, writing, and dictionary skills. Lessons follow a similar routine; reading, skills practice, and extension activities, followed by...

Simulate soil sample assemblages. Individuals create soil layers in a cup. They then use straws to collect core samples from these layers. What information can they glean from the core samples, I wonder?

Using the resource, learners share their essay revisions with a partner. Afterward, they participate in a Fishbowl discussion, receiving peer feedback about their editorial essays. 

Only a thorough understanding of history can save us from repeating it. Practice close reading skills with an eighth grade unit that focuses on 19th century America, including European immigration into Ellis Island and Frederick...

Unfortunately, not all students learn to read at the same pace, but with the help of this resource, you can ensure that they all receive the support they need to reach this important goal. Comprised of short...

Nothing aids in comprehension more than an explanation and understanding of why things are done. Address why the Common Core requires the reading percentages that it established and analyze how this affects your readers. Learners read...

Understanding, analyzing, citing, linking—the four steps required by CC ELA Literacy Standard RH.11-12.1. Enjoy the humor of the explanations of these steps as you examine the suggestions for Common Core designed activities related to...

Imagine a cross-curricular project that not only rewards learners for examining the textbooks used in their other classes but builds literacy skills as well! Groups compare the formats and writing style in their various textbooks. Teams...

Following the reading of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the ninth lesson in this unit involves emerging experts in a science talk about how bullfrogs survive. Looking back through the text, young scholars prepare for the...

Lesson ten in this unit for the book Bullfrogs at Magnolia Circle, prepares third graders to begin writing an informational paragraph about the adaptations of bullfrogs. First, young writers work either independently or in pairs to...

Dive your class into a reading of Island of the Blue Dolphins with this in-depth study guide. Breaking the novel into three parts, the resource begins each section with a focus activity that identifies a specific theme or question...

Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...

Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...

You want your class to meet all of the Common Core standards, and here is one way to tackle the first speaking and listening standard. Given a theme to focus on from "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy, small groups come up...

As the saying goes: there are no new stories. Standard 9 for reading literature in the Common Core addresses this fact and requires that students be able to analyze how authors use the themes, stories, and characters of earlier works....

The fourth standard for reading literature in the Common Core calls for young readers to be able to determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases. Use this resource, a continuation of a series of Common Core...

Focus on complex characters with a lesson from a series that teaches individual skills from the Common Core. Specifically, this resource provides practice with standard RL.9-10.3. Get pupils thinking and talking about characters with the...

Being able to identify and understand the point of view of fictional characters across a wide range of time periods, places, and cultures is a skill that is necessary for becoming a proficient reader. It is also a skill identified in the...

Does your ELA class need some practice with the specific skills outlined in the Common Core standards? Then this is the perfect resource for you! One in a series of connected lessons that cover the standards for reading literature,...

Use this resource's pairings of classical literature and paintings to practice the skill of comparing different artistic mediums with your ELA class. Addressing standard 7 for literature in the Common Core, the resource encourages your...

Your students already know when they like a story and when they don't, but they may not know that the plots of these stories are shaping that opinion. Like all resources in this series, the two activities and quizzes provided here deal...

Compelling discussions are the result of open-ended, challenging questions. An introduction to Paideia discussions includes explicit directions about how to prepare readers and how to model the kinds of questions they should develop...