Combine informational reading skills with fictional text in an innovative historical fiction lessons. After reading a fictional text related to diseases, class members read non-fictional text to gain knowledge about specific infectious...

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...

Lights, camera, action. Scholars use page 33 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to create a readers theater. They work in triads and use sticky notes to mark and create their own speaking parts from sections of the text. They...

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Shark! Scholars read about sharks in Facts about Sharks by Susanna Batchelor. They then pretend they are shark scientists and choose a shark they want to study. Learners research their sharks and record information in graphic organizers...

Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.

Accuracy, phrasing, flow, and pace, the four traits of of oral reading fluency, are the focus of a series of exercises that are designed to help readers develop these comprehension and literacy skills.

A instructional activity looks at the Pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe during the first Thanksgiving. Scholars compare and contrast information presented by an online activity then discuss their findings. Learners examine the two group's...

Thirteen steps make up a lesson that challenges pupils to compare and contrast the daily lives of Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe. Learners revisit the Graffiti Wall then break into small groups for an investigative reading assignment...

Remember the Lusitania! As part of their study of the causes of World War I, class members examine newspaper articles and propaganda posters about the sinking of the Lusitania and then craft their own news story about the event.

What were the arguments put forth by those who opposed the 19th Amendment? For those in favor? Class members examine primary source materials that illustrate the intense debate in Alabama about women's suffrage.

The topic of consumerism seems easy to those who participate actively in the US economy, but pupils who are new to economics may see the idea as foreign. Help them understand their rights as consumers and what to expect when interacting...

What are the qualities of a strong written response to a prompt? Class members use the provided text analysis rubric to self-assess their responses to their homework assignments to prepare for the mid-unit assessment.

Energize a shared reading of the Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip with this collection of supplemental materials. Whether your looking for discussion questions, reading comprehension worksheets, or writing prompts,...

Choose a side! Pupils watch and read several nonfiction resources about zoos. After gathering their research, they choose a side either for or against closing zoos. Scholars complete KWL charts, anticipation guides, flow charts, and...

Here's an assignment sheet that models for readers how to craft a literary analysis of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The packet includes a graphic organizer, a model outline, a model essay, and a detailed rubric.

As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...

After listening to a variety of interpretations of "When the Saints Go Marching In," partners compose and then perform their own renditions of this classic before joining a full-class jam session.

Conclude a study of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning with a research project that asks readers to investigate what various religions and philosophies believe is the meaning of life. The resource packet includes a list of...

As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history....

Scholars read newspaper articles relating to a longer school day and complete note-taking organizers as they read. They then form opinions and complete outlines before writing essays supporting their point of view. 

You have the power! Scholars learn that they have power of the pen in their writing. After reading and viewing various sources about standardized testing, they express their own opinions about the testing by writing letters to the...

What better way to elicit the support of parents and guardians in project-based learning than with a letter directed to them that details the project, the activities involved, and suggestions for how they can support their learner. The...