Encourage learners to think deeply about the information they read or hear. Through a series of life skills worksheets, your pupils will consider the need for objectivity, identifying missing information, and problem solving.

What experiences lead people to change and how do they do it? After reading about Cole's encounter with Touching Spirit Bear, readers complete the second out of a series of five activities to predict future events in the text. The...

What types of questions help readers learn the most? Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders learn how to ask four types of questions from the Question Answer Response (QAR) reading strategy to help grow their comprehension of Touching Spirit...

Reading out loud can be a real thrill for some, and a real issue for others. Teach your class that reading with inflection and fluency can be as easy as singing a song. They'll first analyze two Bobby McFerrin songs for intonation,...

Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson...

Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...

Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

Young scholars write a story.  In this critical thinking and writing lesson, students read a fable, answer the provided thinking skills questions, and write their own fable.

This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they...

Even though readers investigate matters of the heart, this activity promotes the inner workings of learners' brains. The fifth lesson of six has the teacher first model the strategy to the class before having small groups practice. To...

How do you grow a goal from a dream to reality? You make a plan! After reading chapters two and three of Where the Red Fern Grows, learners map how Billy earns his dogs by completing an organizer in pairs and then discussing answers in...

Almost every profession today relates to websites in some way! The resource tasks the class to fill out three individual graphic organizers to help them analyze each website they visit.

Help your child hone his/her verbal communication skills and basic understanding of sentence structure with an app that promotes descriptive verbal interactions. The child is presented with an image, prompted to make a sentence, and then...

Pupils explore critical thinking strategies. In this critical thinking lesson, students evaluate multiple choice answers. Pupils note similarities between incorrect answers and discover how to compare and contrast incorrect and correct...

Help your learners grow their critical thinking and analytical skills by asking them to examine logical fallacies. After reading an example, pupils determine if two sets of premises and conclusions are logical fallacies or not and...

Fourth graders work independently or in a small group to (1) practice test taking strategies, (2) practice using story details, and (3) use critical thinking skills. Reading passage, comprehension questions, and teacher script are...

Use this question and answer worksheet as an assignment for Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons. The questions listed support better comprehension and critical thinking of chapter seventeen.  

The dialect words for types of food from across the British Isles get pupils thinking about native dialects and how they differ from Standard English. Class members create a dialect dictionary and discuss the difference between accent...

The class examines the new tax cut plan proposed by President Bush. They practice calculating income tax rates and interpreting the data. Then they research topics that are of interest to them related to taxes.

Several social activities provide showcase the perspective of many prominent figures in World War I history. Students read an assigned case study about a memorable person and complete several activities to further understand this...

Readers use the provided illustrated Venn diagram to compare and contrast the traits of two characters. A great way to encourage critical thinking skills.

Students discover the meaning of the word genealogy as it appears in the context of reading. They continue finding new vocabulary words and entering them in their personal dictionaries.

Sixth graders discover idioms. In this idioms lesson plan, 6th graders evaluate idioms and discover their meaning. Students read Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein and create unique idioms. Assessment rubric is provided.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates saw two primary political candidates debating seven different times about one of the most important social movements in United States history. Middle and high schoolers read an article that describes the...