"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is the focus of a lesson designed to shed light on the importance of keeping promises. As a class, scholars take part in a discussion on the topic of honesty and consequences. Independent readers then take to...

Scholars learn all about the Puritans in the third installment of a 16-part lesson series. After watching a video, they read and discuss biographies of Puritans and Quakers from American history, write journal entries and poetry, and...

Seventh graders discuss promises they have made and whether they have kept them. In this promises lesson, 7th graders work in groups to discuss the importance of promises. They develop a verbal statement about their point of view on each...

Get the story straight. Scholars gather information about the Great Migration as they listen to a reading from Promises to Keep. They then examine the text to find evidence to support the feeling of resentment. Learners take part in...

Scholars take a picture walk through the book Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America. They make predictions and complete a Notice/Wonder/Inference note catcher. They then define and analyze words on pages six and...

Readers take a look at pages 40-45 in Promises to Keep and identify evidence to support Sharon Robinson's opinion about her father. They divide up the text and complete task cards before writing vocabulary from the story on index cards.

Scholars look at cause-and-effect relationships while doing a close read of the 1936 Olympics on pages 16-19 of Promises to Keep. They complete a cause-and-effect note catcher and add their ideas to an anchor chart. Readers then...

Learners determine the main idea of a timeline on pages eight and nine of the text Promises to Keep. They use the timeline to complete a Main Idea and Details note catcher and then share their thoughts with the class. To finish,...

Breaking barriers is not an easy thing to do. Scholars read a section in Promises to Keep and summarize how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. They write the gist of the passage in their journals and then complete...

Letters ... a lost art or good resource? Scholars add letter writing to their informational text chart and describe the features of a letter. They then look at page 38 in Promises to Keep and complete a Perspectives Venn...

Caption this. Scholars look at pages 50-57 of Promises to Keep and discuss the photographs on the pages. They analyze the captions with the pictures and then discuss vocabulary such as human rights and civil rights. 

Jackie Robinson left a legacy beyond the field. Readers look at pages 58-63 of Promises to Keep and summarize Robinson's legacy. They then form and opinion about the legacy and support it with evidence. Working with partners, class...

The teenagers in your class are probably involved in romantic relationships, but are they keeping themselves safe? Guide learners through the warning signs for dating violence with a series of lessons and discussions. 

Class members begin to work on the body paragraphs of their opinion essays about Jackie Robinson started in the previous lesson plan. They analyze a model paragraph and underline reasons for the opinion. Learners then take part in a mini...

Create a sense of accountability among scholars with a lesson that focuses on making and keeping New Year's resolutions. Writers compose a five paragraph essay focused on three resolutions—promises to self improvement, to...

Readers of Macbeth can use these study questions to keep track of key events in Act IV of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Consider adding interpretative and evaluative questions to encourage analysis and critical thinking skills.

The work of building and maintaining a democracy is, in the words of Justice William Hastie, "never finished." To better understand what Hastie sees as an ongoing building process, class members listen to a seven-minute podcast about two...

Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a lesson in which they choose, research, and learn more about a...

Learners read an article about the secrets young people keep from adults with regards to the internet. Small groups analyze a worksheet of common dilemmas and agree on solutions for each problem. The whole class shares solutions for...

Build trust—literally—with a lesson that sparks reflection, grand conversation, and creativity. Scholars construct a trust tower out of blocks showcasing a picture that represents a good deed they have done to gain trust from their...

Get your youngsters talking about what it means to be honest, and how difficult it can be to try to cover up the truth, with one of the several collaborative activities listed in this resource.

Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the...

Drug addiction, including prescription drug addiction, begins with a reason that's different for every user. High schoolers learn more about the reasons people begin abusing drugs with a set of videos and worksheets that discuss four...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...