Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

This instructional activity will focus on the aspects of Shakespeare's comedy that become more evident in performance. By viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions, high schoolers have the opportunity to...

Students use Shakespearean sonnets as part of a poetry analysis instructional activity. In this sonnet instructional activity, students perform a sonnet by Shakespeare but treat it as a script to be acted out. Students work in pairs to...

Students research life and times of Mark Twain. A multitude of activities are designed for use school-wide. All materials needed are provided in this comprehensive month-long lesson.

Students read and complete play analysis activities for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In this play analysis lesson plan, students read Act 4 Scene 1 and a summary of the scene. students complete close reading activities in discussion...

Discuss the lives of artists in the Lyme Art Colony in the 1900s with this resource. Young historians write and perform a short scene depicting individuals who lived in the Griswold boardinghouse, used by the colony artists. They use the...

How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...

Pupils 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."

Students investigate visual arts by reading a children's book in class. In this collage lesson, students read the book by Keith Haring titled Big and discuss the themes and settings. Students discuss how adjectives are used to describe...

Read Clap Your Hands to explore new vocabulary with your class. In this three-tiered vocabulary lesson, youngsters read the book and identify the plot, setting, and characters. They also define vocabulary terms from the book and...

Students interview employers and employees at local coffee shops about sales and profits and create graphs comparing and contrasting information obtained about the businesses.

Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

Jupiter has 67 moons! As the seventh in a series of 22, the exercise shows learners the size and scale of Jupiter and its Galilean moons through a model. They then arrange the model to show how probes orbited and gathered data.

Honing reading and communication skills through the theme of farm animals is the focus of this lesson. Students read a book about Scandinavian farm animals and complete prediction journal activities. They complete a worksheet about the...

Students inspect visual arts by analyzing their hometown. For this neighborhood lesson, students identify the different buildings, topography, landmarks and scenery near their home. Students utilize art products such as paints and...

Students read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. In this play instructional activity, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Students recognize...

Students read use their five senses to discover Chicano plays.

Students investigate historical context by reading poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students discover the work of Michael Longley and examine his poem "Ceasefire."  Students identify the sonnets used in the piece and...

Read this twist on Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell. Kindergartners listen, predict, and discuss the story. They then participate in a dramatization of the story and draw a picture...

Elementary schoolers look into the very real, and scary, practice of identity theft. They discover the main techniques used by people who steal other people's identity. Learners produce an identity theft tip sheet and share their tips...

Students explore how to draw contour lines from limited data and extend this knowledge to real data sets. They participate in many opportunities from students to assess their own progress and the exercise is completely online.

Students analyze the main themes of President Bush's UN Speech and discussion of the NewsHour report on the Iraq Debate. In this debate lesson, students answer pre-listening questions and view a transcript of the speech. In groups of two...

High schoolers discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....