Close reading doesn't mean to literally read text close to your face, but rather to pay attention to particular details in order to develop a deep and purposeful understanding of text. The first part of a five-part resource provides an...

By using explicit textual evidence, individuals can strongly support their ideas and opinions. The presentation suggests in order to use explicit textual evidence, one must state their idea, cite evidence in the text that led...

Pose the question to your historians: who really freed the slaves? They critically assess various arguments, using primary sources as evidence. In small groups, scholars jigsaw 5 primary source documents (linked), and fill out an...

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...

Drama and story elements go hand-in-hand. Have the class dive into a dramatic play to show character intention, conflict resolution, main events, and the dialogue in a Hawaiian folk tale. They read the story, then group-up to...

The most effective way to support an argument is with clear and relevant evidence. As seventh graders read and listen to Cesar Chavez's California Commonwealth Club Address, they work through five sections of a textual analysis unit,...

As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...

This resource is part of a three-activity unit that introduces your class to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. Here, learners examine the importance of the music industry and music videos in pop...

Are you in need of a new way to teach learners sequence of events and how to interpret a character's external motivations? Why not engage them in dramatic play? The class will use tableaux to convey the sequence of events in a familiar...

Class members meet the original scrooge, the Dickens character whose name has become synonymous with a cold-hearted, tight-fisted, miser. Using the provided worksheet, readers closely examine context clues to determine the meanings of...

Lesson 7 focuses on building academic vocabulary and writing an explanatory letter with supported textual evidence. For the first five minutes of the lesson, the educator reminds the class of how to read and refer to the accordion...

Oedipus' lack of literal and figurative vision does not mean he cannot see his guilt in the terrible fates of Laius, Jocasta, and all the lives touched by prophecy. Conclude a literary analysis unit on Sophocles' Oedipus the King with a...

Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents that...

Does identity come from within, or do external forces shape it? Explore the complex identity concept with a two-unit module for 12th-grade language arts. The first unit uses A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and "A Daily Joy...

Allow your class to figure out what they will be studying through an inquiry-based anticipatory set that involves analysis of mystery documents and practice with making inferences. The lesson plan document includes a detailed description...

Ninth graders study the study of animals in an informational text lesson plan that focuses on analyzing text structure. As learners continue reading the first chapter of Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation, they form inquiries and...

Are cattle prods beneficial for herding cattle, or do they cause more harm than good? Investigate Temple Grandin's claim about animal behavior with a instructional activity that focuses on pages 20-23 of the first chapter of her book,...

A Three Threes in a Row note catcher enables class members to dig deeper into the theme in Unbroken. They work with partners for 10 minutes and then rotate around the room to work with others. After regrouping and class discussion,...

C.S. Lewis outlines in his final book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, the struggle of what happens during prayer, and the purpose of the action. The resource provides two sets of questioning. The first furnishes deep...

Karen Russell's short story "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" has a unique structure that adds value to the story. With the fourteenth activity in a unit about literary analysis and textual support, analyze how Russell has...

The intricate craft of narrative writing can make a happy story feel exuberant or a sad story feel devastating. With 42 extensive lessons that include poignant discussion questions, standards-aligned self-reflections, engaging writing...

Eighth graders demonstrate their understanding with the final assessment in a literary analysis unit based on Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." Having prepared for the assessment in the last few...

Word choice can drastically alter the tone of a piece of writing. Ninth graders read Karen Russell's short story "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" and use textual evidence to help them analyze how word choice affects their...

Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions...