How does the point of view of Poe's protagonist in "The Tell-Tale Heart" contribute to the suspenseful tone? Help your middle schoolers identify the point of view in a literary work with this instructional activity, which goes on to...

A reading of Whale Journey, a fact-filled picture book by Vivian French, launches a study of the life cycle and migration of three generations of gray whales. The interdisciplinary instructional activity offers opportunities extensions...

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...

Start kids thinking about point of view and autobiographies by telling them a short story about your morning (first person), and then asking a volunteer to re-tell the story to you (second person). There are tips to help you tie this...

Teams select a society to investigate and create a chart comparing and contrasting the status of girls in that society with their own. They then craft and illustrate a personal narrative written from the point of view of a girl living in...

Fourth graders read the book, Good Dog by Alexandra Day. In this writing lesson, 4th graders re-write the story from a chosen character's point of view. This lesson can be used with many other wordless picture books.

Students complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. For this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Students choose a character from the story and...

Help your learners discover empathy and understanding by investigating two sides of a situation. In this humanities lesson, pupils examine different pairs of shoes and hypothesize about who may have worn them. Discuss real life...

Students explore the Manifest Destiny. They interpret quotations, study point of view in writing, research English words that derived from Mexico, and analyze reasons why settlers moved west. After writing journal entries in first-person...

So many politicians, so many endorsements! Learn to differentiate between facts as well as the process of endorsements with an informative resource. Class members watch current endorsement videos, research candidates from three different...

Sixth graders investigate point of view of a Native and a Missionary by reading articles by each.  In this Native Person versus Missionary instructional activity, 6th graders look at the contributions of the Atlantic First...

Young scholars analyze the factors that affect exploration such as religion, trade, territorial expansion, and science. In this Great Explorations lesson, students determine the names of famous explorers as well as their routes and...

Students read excerpts from The Story of an Old Piano. They choose a personal object and write paragraphs from the object's point of view. Their stories can be bound for the class library.

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...

Do you want to live forever? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” class groups adopt the roles of an ethics committee, product manufacturers, concerned scientists, and potential users of an...

Learners explore social justice, the civil rights movement, and everyday heroes. They view video clips, learn about James Armstrong: The Barber of Birmingham, and create their own hero wall. They present their walls to the class and...

Film is a wonderful way to communicate any concept or idea. Fifth graders will use IMovie and GarageBand software to create a IMovie about one of eight European explorers. They will chose an explorer, research his travels and life, then...

Students read about and study insects--their distinguishing characteristics, habitats, camouflage methods, defense mechanisms, etc. They draw pictures and write a story from the viewpoint of an insect and share their pictures and stories...

Students discuss how people are influenced by their cultures and backgrounds, make artwork that documents creative process, write character sketch of Colonel Massey from different points of view, examine issue from different perspectives...

Reflect on the art your class can view at a museum. In this art history activity, young scholars draw six elements of art. They discuss original art versus reproduction artwork and write about their thoughts of a museum. It would be...

Students journey with Lewis and Clark. In this literature lesson, students read The Journal of Augustus Pellitier-The Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804. Students keep a journal in the persona of a member of the expedition crew.

Students watch a video about the rainforest and create a large wall mural of rainforest features. Students write a first person point of view article by an endangered rainforest animal and discuss logging.

Before your young scholars reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory lesson inspires class members...

High schoolers are introduced to the characteristics of documentaries and making films. Individually, they write their own proposal for an idea of a documentary making sure to identify the point of view of which it is going to be...