Students review the five steps to summarization. They then read the article "Whoooo-o Are You?" silently. As a class they summarize a small section of the article using the five steps included. Finally, the students summarize...

Middle schoolers summarize a one to two page article of informational text. They compose a summary according to the guidelines on the "Five Rules for Writing a Summary" chart. They take turns reading their summary to the group, and...

Students explore the four seasons and the ways that their five senses give them information about each of the seasons. They work in groups to create a class quilt with one block for each season. Each block should include sensory details...

Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical...

Students explore language arts by completing a graphic organizer in class. In this story structure instructional activity, students read the classic tale "The Three Little Pigs" and discuss the main characters, conflict and setting....

Seventh graders write a short reaction to the "Zero Tolerance" policy in regards to students and play guns. They read several news articles about the problems associated with the zero tolerance and students with play guns. They write a...

Students complete five worksheets which correspond to the five problems the American government faced and the five solutions they instituted, accompany this instructional activity. They select and research one of the steps in this plan...

Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson, they read a variety of...

Guide your learners through the water cycle with this lesson plan. Over the course of the instructional activity, they read two Magic School Bus books, discuss the water cycle, come up with water facts, complete a diagram of the water...

Surf's up, big kahunas! How do surfers know when the big waves will appear? They use science! Over the course of five days, dive in to the inner workings of tidal waves and learn to predict sea levels with the moon as your guide.

Young scholars create an ocean haiku. In this haiku lesson, students use their five senses to write a haiku. Young scholars watch videos about the ocean, make a sensory portrait, and create a class haiku.

Learners enrich their writing of an original scene by incorporating imagery, visual pictures and scenes painted in the readers mind by using one of their senses as a unique writing tool.

A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...

Students watch a video clip from "The Path to 9/11" and write a summary of one of the events depicted. Next, they read the 9/11 Commission Report to compare information from the report to that of the media clip. They chose one more print...

Compare and contrast two subjects with this Venn diagram template. The printable graphic organizer has made writing in each part easy with printed lines and it can be implemented in a variety ways.

As part of a study of immigration law, class members read a summary of the Supreme Court case, Arizona v. United States. They then examine a series of examples and acting as federal court judges, must determine if the scenarios...

Students read the novel, Across Five Aprils and investigate the theme of the individual vs, community loyalties. They keep a daily journal, role-play situations, hold a mock debate, and write a research paper on "coming of age."

After conducting research on a given scientific animal name, group members take a walk around their school and look for the specified animals in that classification. Then, they come back to their worksheets and create five creative clues...

Middle schoolers read and review informational texts, analyze cause and effect, and distinguish fact from opinion. They assess a "one-minute mystery" you read aloud for cause and effect relationships. Resource includes complete set of...

Fourth graders explore the main characters in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud. In this Hatfield-McCoy instructional activity, 4th graders gather information about the feud from the Internet and books. Students research the main characters...

Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...

Class members examine two documents—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The Rights of Migrants in the United States—and then use reports in the media to assess how well the US is doing in ensuring these rights.

Most people support the idea of an independent judiciary in theory until they hear about a court case that violates their principles. An informative resource explains why the concept is important. It also provides scholars of criminology...

Students discover details about Mexican Revolution era artists. In this Mexican Revolution lesson, students research the events and people of the time period. Students then research the artists of the time and create their own artwork in...