Students practice problem solving skills by asking questions and participating in a design challenge. In this asking questions lesson, students work in pairs to ask questions to design a solution for a difficult personal problem....

How many treats do you buy each week? Learners investigate diets and how the media tricks consumers into purchasing unhealthy snacks. They will investigate the designs and logos affiliated with cereal boxes and identify specific phrases...

Elementary learners identify the main elements of story structure and form questions to summarize their reading. They listen as the teacher reads a story and then write questions to determine (1) main characters, (2) setting, (3)...

Readers participate in activities designed to increase their fluency with language. They collaborate in small groups to complete stem sentences about themselves. They write facts about themselves and answer questions asked by the other...

Help young readers learn to read and interpret complex text independently. Teach young children to ask interpretive questions and use the text itself to answer them. Use art, word play and drama to provide a deeper understanding of...

Young scholars explore Cherokee legends. They read The First Strawberries by Joseph Bruchac, and then do several activities to help comprehension. They discuss the book and answer comprehension questions. In addition, they retell the...

A picture is used to begin considering point of view. Then, have kids role play included scenes which all involve some type of conflict where the character's have very different perspective. Discussions ensue each role play, with kids...

What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...

What would it have been like to have heard the debate on the issue of slavery at the Constitutional Convention of 1787? With this resource, you are given the opportunity to read through a reconstruction of speeches on the topic with your...

Students investigate syllabic metre and rhyming techniques by analyzing poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students read the poem Considering the Snail and discuss the nature and mood of the poem with their classmates....

Students explore human anatomy by creating an oral report in class. In this five senses lesson, students read several real life situations and identify which of the five senses help in certain situations. Students create an oral...

Mansa Musa was so rich that his gifts of gold made the value of the metal drop throughout Africa. As he traveled from Mali to the Middle East to make hajj, his gifts were so extravagant, they devalued the gold already in circulation....

Did you know that the United States Constitution was adopted after many state constitutions were already in place? Young scholars examine facts about the influence of states through an informative and interesting resource. Groups then...

Has United States military intervention in the conflicts of other countries always been warranted? After reviewing a brief background on contemporary US conflicts and reading articles describing the civil war in Syria, your learners...

How can you tell if someone is happy? The lesson works with elementary and middle school scholars to activate their schema and pay attention to details to make inferences in their daily lives, poetry, and other literature. Cleverly...

Why did the Founders make it so challenging to amend the US Constitution? To gain an understanding of why the process is so difficult, class members engage in a Constitutional Convention simulation. Groups draft, propose, and debate...

The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...

Learners explore reading comprehension by completing a graphic organizer. In this journalism technique lesson, students discuss important questions they can ask about stories they read to improve comprehension. Learners identify keywords...

Drama enthusiasts explore the importance of set and action in conveying dramatic tension. They act out a polished dramatic piece using the set as a key component of their story. This should be connected to setting as it is also used in...

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States..." Scholars investigate the nomination process of Supreme Court justices when assuming office. Through examination of primary and secondary...

Students write words that describe the Ghost in Hamlet and act out scenes to grab the audience's attention. In this Hamlet lesson plan, students use language to interpret feeling and grab the audience's attention.

A great idea for a fun homework assignment! The class fully and critically analyzes Daniel Sprick's painting, Your Plans. They then generate questions to ask the artist as they attend a mock press conference. They pretend to ask the...

Where did the Olympic Summer Games originate? The class takes a look at ancient origins of modern Olympic games. They research the Olympics and write a compare and contrast essay that describes how the Olympic Games have changed since...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson plan from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson plan are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a...