Great Expectations can prove to be a challenge for instructors who choose to use Dickens's novel as required reading. Here's a curriculum guide that includes lessons that address some of these challenges. The first lesson in critical...

Instructors expect great things from a good teacher's guide, and this one delivers. The 48-page guide to Charles Dickens's Great Expectations provides information about plot developments and new characters and places introduced in...

Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.

A Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy for Great Expectations scaffolds and guides readers as they begin Dicken's novel. Step-by-step directions are provided, as are chapter one pair-share questions, a prediction worksheet,...

After completing the 11th chapter of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, take part in a KWHL chart driven by the question,When is it appropriate and admirable to defy authority? Focusing on codes of conduct,...

For learners with autism spectrum disorder, participating with others in a social setting can be stressful and overwhelming. A brainstorming activity prompts pupils to consider the expectations of a particular social occasion, including...

To launch a study of civil rights, class members brainstorm rules and expectations of behaviors at home, in school, in the workplace, and in sports. They then look at civil rights cases and examine the rules embedded in these cases. 

What is science? Sitting in a whole group discussion, scholars first share their ideas on science and how to conduct investigations. They learn about the steps for scientific inquiry and experimentation. Once finished, individuals then...

Learning to work together respectfully is one of those life skills learned through practice. The second lesson in the series has groups attempt to complete an activity and then discuss the obstacles they faced. Using what they learned in...

As Don Quixote asserts in the musical Man of La Mancha, it is possible to achieve your dreams. For the last lesson plan in the Getting Started Module, participants learn the importance of having dreams and setting goals that...

How have society's expectations influenced female writers? Pupils explore the topic by reading chapter three of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. Scholars complete a Quick Write to analyze how Judith Shakespeare's experiences...

Peer editors review critique expectations before offering feedback on each other's two-voice poems. They record their feedback on peer critique recording forms, and then begin revising their poems. 

Did you know that birth and life rates vary across the world? The resource, the second in a six-part series, discusses just how demographics differ across countries and why it might be the case. Scholars complete worksheets, watch...

“Yea, there thou mak’st me sad and mak’st me sin/In envy that my Lord Northumberland/Should be the father to so blest a son--.” Henry IV, Part I, provides the text for a series of exercises that ask class members to examine the...

High schoolers investigate the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders, and compare expected child development with development that may indicate a diagnosis of these disorders. The final project for the lesson plan is the creation of...

Learners collaborate to create a set of group norms and expectations by which they will abide in order to promote a safe, respectful online community.

Everyone needs to know what to expect when going through puberty. Intended for a special education class, this well developed and developmentaly appropriate resource provides a full days instruction on teaching teens with special needs...

Class members identify gender-specific roles and expectations in American society today by surveying adults, examining modern entertainment, and researching historical figures.

“There is nothing that becommeth a maid better than soberness, silence, shamefastness, and chastity, both of body & mind.” This line, from Thomas Bentley ‘s The Monument of Matrons published in 1582, typifies the way women were...

Explore various ecosystems from around the world as your class discovers the interdependence of all living things. Using the provided sets of ecosystem cards, young scientists work in small groups building food webs to demonstrate the...

This lesson will make an impact, especially on scientist-athletes who may have an interest in waterproof clothing! Acting as materials engineers, they work collaboratively on waterproofing pieces of cotton fabric. This challenge is...

What a fun way to review the year's learning! Working in small groups, learners select a major concept covered in class then create a game about it. The type of game is up to each group, but the expectations of what should be included...

Your young economists will be amazed at the effect of compounding interest more frequently in this collaborative task about making sound financial choices. Learners are walked through the calculations of a couple of examples and then...

More planning goes into a budget than a high schooler thinks. Here, they learn about the expected expenses and incomes, along with outside factors such as natural disasters. Learners prepare their own budget and adjust it based on...