Three annotated passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on "Nature" provide young philosophers a chance to improve their reading comprehension skills as they gain insight into Emerson's ideas.

After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...

Students examine the trait of courage. In this Declaration of Independence lesson, students discuss what it means to be courageous and identify the courageous acts the signers of the Declaration showed. Students research the...

Seventh graders write a five paragraph essay and then branch out from there.

Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...

Fourth graders are taught how to outline a fictional narrative essay. They review the definition and structure of narrative essays. Students use the activity to brainstorm specific ideas for narrative essays. They are given a...

Students examine the use of primary sources. They read and discuss excerpts from the "Diary of Anne Frank," write journal entries, identify examples of altruism from the book, write an essay, and complete a worksheet.

Students examine the origin and elements of Hip Hop music and the associated culture. They visit websites and listen to examples of the music.

Students examine the use of adjectives in a product review, then write their own descriptive review. In this writing and word usage lesson, students first analyze the choice of adjectives in a New York Times article about the iPhone,...

Ninth graders explore the French Revolution. In this French Revolution lesson, student research citizen action and public policy during the war. Students write essays regarding their research findings.

Ninth graders investigate the growth of Christianity in Rome. In this Roman Empire lesson, 9th graders listen to a SMART Board lecture about the Jesus, Christianity, and the empire prior to composing thematic essays about the spread of...

Challenge your class with this comprehensive list of literary vocabulary words. Learners take a pre-test, look up definitions, come up with an example, and then take a post-test. You might use this prior to a unit about poetic devices in...

Students complete essay writing activities. In this essay writing lesson, students use an outline activity to learn about the advantages and disadvantages for various essay writing types. Students also break down the paragraphs into...

Students consider how to internalize group norms. They descirbe a situation where people internalize group norms and a situation where people do not internalize group norms. They brainstorm examples of group norms and define...

Encourage your writers to use sob instead of cry loudly to trade in adverbs for strong verbs. Improve your middle and high schoolers' writing with this humorously written lesson which demonstrates how to remove excessive adverbs. 

High school freshmen craft their own definition of honesty. They provide an example from their lives and reflect on the outcomes of their honest behavior. They also identify a time when they may have been dishonest in a relationship and...

Learners brainstorm story idea in preparation of writing an expressive essay. They study how to outline essays to assist them in writing an expressive essay. Each students conclusion should summarize their main idea and restate their...

Eighth graders read copies of The Declaration of Independence, United States constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They write an opinion about the document they feel is most important in the history of the united states. This is their...

Students examine sources of conflict. In this global conflict lesson, students discuss how peer pressure, bias, oppression, ethnocentrism, miscommunication, and fear contribute to personal conflict as well as global conflict. Students...

Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students discover what philanthropy is and identify people who benefit from philanthropy. Students read selected newspaper articles regarding philanthropy and...

Students analyze Thoreau's writing style. In this writing style lesson, students describe Thoreau's literary style and use the devices he employs in a response to one of his essays.

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass serves as the anchor text for a lesson on symbolism. Readers use the provided worksheets to examine the symbols in the novel as well as in the world around them.

This is a simple but effective introduction to democracy. It requires the class to generate working definitions of key terms (provided) and to determine the degree of democracy in various geographic locations today. After they conduct...

Elementary learners study and research an important historical figure. They research a historical figure and use a four square organizer to take notes. They develop a timeline and poem that reflects the life of the historical figure....