Guide learners through a discussion about Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a helpful graphic organizer. As they read through the novel, individuals note their reactions to statements about the book's themes, and fill out...

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in...

Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...

Challenge your class to hold a discussion about the theme of death in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead without direct teacher guidance. After going over the discussion protocols and quotes from the text, learners move in a circle...

Following the reading of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the ninth lesson in this unit involves emerging experts in a science talk about how bullfrogs survive. Looking back through the text, young scholars prepare for the...

Teach learners how to communicate and collaborate in a discussion on a shared project with this rich activity. It asks participants to channel their unique imaginations to produce a fictional "groupworld", while adhering to proper...

As part of a final discussion of The House on Mango Street, groups examine a concept question about the text, record arguments for and opposed to the question, and then a draw their own conclusions.

Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the classroom....

Good discussion questions are hard to find and even harder to craft. If you're looking for questions that will stimulate in-depth discussions for all four books in of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, check out this resource.

As you work through Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, try out some or all of the 20 questions and activities included here. Useful for discussion questions, group assignments, or individual projects, this resource covers plot as...

Scholars take part in a philosophical discussion about truth, thoughts, and feelings following a reading of Tiger-Tiger is it True? by Byron Katie and Hans Wilhelm. 

Words can hurt! But self-esteem can blunt the impact. That's the takeaway when discussing the themes in Sharon G. Flake's powerful novel The Skin I'm In. A discussion guide leads groups through a study of this narrative of a girl...

After reading up to page 371 of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, get insight into how Percy felt making a major decision through active discussion strategies that enable both academic...

Why is reading important? As part of the mid-unit assessment, scholars read, summarize, and analyze an article about the importance of reading. Additionally, they continue their discussion about whether their rules to live by should be a...

Picture books aren't just for primary learners. Your scholars compare and contrast literary themes between the novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and the children's book, The Dream Tree by Winfried...

Five questions challenge scholars to make inferences after reading a poem, "Picture-Books in Winter" by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

All things considered, it will be a good day for readers as they manage on their own to develop questions about what intrigues, bothers, or confuses them in Laurie Halse Anderson's tale of Mattie Cook and the Yellow Fever epidemic...

Designed to encourage readers to consider both sides of of the question of whether Ender is responsible for the death of all the buggers, individuals search for examples from Orson Scott Card's popular science fiction novel, Ender's Game...

September's "Banned Books Week" brings attention to the number of books that are challenged, censored, or banned each year. After watching a video about banned book week, reading articles about the history of book banning, and examining...

Jonathan Safran Foer's phrase, "heavy boots," becomes the focus of a class discussion of grief and sadness. During the reading of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, individuals place examples of their own experiences with these topics...

Young readers take part in a meaningful discussion following a reading of Aesop's fable "The Fox and the Stork." Five questions focus on the characters' actions and offering apologies. 

Immerse yourself in the beautiful, twisted world of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. A detailed lesson plan provides important details about the writing, stagecraft, music, and literary elements of the famous musical,...

Literature circles can be so enjoyable and enlightening, but it's tough to make it around to each group in a short amount of time. This activity suggests that each group records their discussion, and a different reading strategy is used...

Love, war, race, class, religion, honor are just a few of the topics readers of Gone with the Wind are prompted to discuss by the questions included in this very thoughtful reading guide.