In this critical reading exercise, students evaluate the credibility of a piece of writing. Students read descriptions of various interest groups and lobbies and identify the group that made a quotation.

Inform your class about the origins of photography with this short passage and accompanying questions. After reading a short informational text, leaners answer 3 questions about the content of the text. This resource could be used in a...

Discuss the difference between legitimate debate on a political issue and arguments that are based on hate through a science-fiction scenario that shows how a controversial issue can be discussed in both ways. Then learn how purveyors of...

Can you imagine living in a totalitarian country? Learners will read several primary source memoirs to gain a deeper understanding of what life is like under a controlled government. They'll discuss each piece in pairs, research...

If you teach health, sociology, ethics, or a class that addresses controversial issues, this resource related to schools' sex education programs may be useful. The New York Times' Learning Network provides a lengthy article on a unique...

Middle schoolers can analyze primary source documents to answer the question, "Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?" They will read the provided excerpts then answer 11 different questions to uncover the ultimate answer.

Instruct your class on biomimetics while practicing reading comprehension with this worksheet. Learners read a passage that describes the efforts of scientists, starting with Leonardo da Vinci, to emulate nature to solve issues in...

Marian Wright Edelman's 2014 Commencement Speech at Lewis and Clark College serves to inspire young scholars to investigate a problem in their community, to determine why the problem is important, and then to develop a plan for one thing...

Students discuss the difference between primary and secondary sources and consider how an exhibit is researched. They design and create a montage that reflects themselves in a social and historical context.

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...

In an age of fake news, alternative facts, and biased reporting, it is more important than ever that 21st century learners develop the critical-thinking skills necessary to recognize, analyze and resist the propaganda techniques used 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.

Has any progress been made in desegregating schools since 1954's Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education? To find out, class members examine charts and graphs representing U.S. schools' racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic...

After reviewing persuasion techniques, young historians examine how a specific technique was used in the pro- or anti-suffrage messages. They then examine how that same technique is used in modern-day media messages.

Young historians learn how to make generalizations based on primary sources in a lesson plan that uses the autobiographies of two women born into slavery. The class watches a historical re-enactment of scenes from the lives of Harriet...

Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...

The second lesson in the series asks groups to analyze an exchange of love letters between Abigail and John Adams. Scholars identify the many allusions and references in the letters and consider what they can infer about the writers.

Just what did Ben Franklin read? By juxtaposing Ben Franklin’s reading material as a young man with an analysis of his developed ideas, learners gain the opportunity to see how the influences of his youthful reading played out. Roman,...

Build young scholars' confidence in analyzing art and poetry with a lesson plan that first asks pupils to list details they notice in Edouard Vuillard's painting "Garden at Vaucresson" and then to describe how the painting makes them...

Have you ever been called an expert before? Pupils analyze how to break down sources of information using group work and individual skills. They begin to understand the tools of becoming an expert on a topic by using subtopics and...

Complex, disturbing, and challenging, Beloved is the focus of a instructional activity that provides three activities to guide a close reading of Toni Morrison's novel. Readers create chapter titles based on key plot elements...

Students are able to critically read literature addressing historical data and answer relevant questions. They are able to formulate an opinion and support it using all knowledge documented and learned in this and previous lessons.

Sometimes the most important details of an informational text aren't within the text at all. Teach your class how to read timeline with a set of activities that prompts them to find specific dates and events on the timelines, as well as...

Encourage readers to compare and contrast the information that they find in informational text with a variety of reading passages and worksheets. Learners read all about subjects in science, social studies, and literature...