Here are three guided reading lesson plan templates; each designed to meet the needs of a specific level of readers. Levels in focus are emergent, early, and transitional readers. Additionally, prompts to support your small group...

What's the difference between story reading and story telling? Participants in a summer enrichment program learn all about the difference as they listen to famous speeches, engage in dramatic readings, and craft their own short stories...

If you teach health, sociology, ethics, or a class that addresses controversial issues, this resource related to schools' sex education programs may be useful. The New York Times' Learning Network provides a lengthy article on a unique...

Good readers make connections between texts. The SAT regularly assesses the ability to make those connections using paired reading passages, a topic discussed in an official SAT practice lesson plan on synthesis. During the lesson plan,...

Class members continue reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It" and annotate how the author refines his idea that the Madoff scandal grabbed the attention of a public fascinated with crime stories.

Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...

Designed to be used after a reading of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and after a viewing of the film, the packet includes discussion topics, activities, and projects. A must-have resource...

Are your English language learners feeling unwell? Provide them with the tools to express how they are feeling and to talk about health in general. Included here are discussion activities, vocabulary, listening activities, grammar...

Turn your class' focus on how wheelchairs assist individuals with disabilities to become more independent with this disabilities lesson plan. Scholars listen to a read aloud of the book, Zoom! by Robert Munsch, answer...

The complex relationship between a teacher and his student takes center stage in an instructional activity that asks readers to pay close attention to how author Ethan Canin introduces his characters and how he develops the character of...

Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...

Gear up for Halloween by studying the horror genre with your class and analyzing films and texts to uncover the genre's traditional conventions.

Water, water, everywhere — but will there be enough to drink? Check out these detailed lesson plans to meet NGSS water cycle and CCSS literacy standards in your science classroom. Learners do a close reading of a challenging, poetic text...

Looking for ideas for your Lunar New Year celebration? Check out an interdisciplinary unit of study that includes lessons in counting, calligraphy, culture, geography, literature, art, and music. Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! (May you...

Scholars examine a list of questions and sort them into corresponding groups based on similarities. A gallery walk allows peers to see how their peers sorted questions and leave notes. Costa's Level of Questions is the topic of a...

Poison Dart Frog babies are the focus of a lesson that challenges scholars to compare and contrast two informational texts. Beginning with a read-aloud, followed by a discussion, readers complete a practice page that examines the main...

As teachers, we have a lot of patience. Our scholars, on the other hand, may need some support. Give your pupils the emotional intelligence instruction they desire with a lesson designed to teach patience through grand conversation,...

Two powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California. 

As they read and discuss Chapter 7 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, class members continue to use the Tracking Tool worksheet to record evidence on how the central ideas are being developed.

Sexual harassment and sexual violence are by no means new issues. What has changed is the role of social media in these issues. This powerful and troubling lesson uses a specific rape case to launch research into a discussion of the...

How does a trial begin without a lawyer for the defendant? The 1963 Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright serves as the backdrop for the study of the rights of the accused. Scholars use a short video along with paired discussion and...

Do you have a search warrant? Scholars investigate the concept of illegal search and seizure through the eyes of the Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio. A short video clip along with paired group work opens discussion on the concept of how...

Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...

How far does freedom of religion truly go? The 1972 Supreme Court case Wisconsin v. Yoder introduces the concept of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Individuals examine the case with a short video and open discussion. To...