Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...

Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.

Combine landscape with collage to create unique art pieces. Class members examine works of art before creating their own pieces with photos of a special place. Learners create a panoramic image and add in figures.

Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...

Through this exercise, high schoolers identify character traits present in Romeo and Juliet. They listen to an excerpt from "The Office of Christian Parents: Showing How Children Are to be Governed" and participate in a Socratic...

They always say to write what you know. This approach is used to get middle schoolers prepared to write novels of their own. Using a favorite book as a model, potential novelists respond to prompts that ask about characters, plot, main...

Readers must go beyond the surface level of Guy de Maupassant's story, "The False Gems," to answer the questions on this worksheet. They must draw inferences, evaluate character's actions, and analyze how irony and symbolism give depth...

Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...

Here are four engaging lessons that focus on visual art, but also bring in elements of science and social studies. Learners view artwork, locate focal points, and visit and research community sites. They conduct internet research, and...

Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...

Students apply research skills to obtain information on training and education requirement for post-secondary requirements. They complete a scavenger hunt, complete a checklist and a college comparison worksheet.

Students examine inkblot images. In this visual arts lesson, students consider perception as an element of art as they partipate in activity that requires them create and analyze inkblot art. Students analyze several pieces of art...

Students research the rights and the responsibilities of journalists in dealing with First Amendment issues. In this First Amendment lesson plan, students research the Alien and Sedition Acts and study the five elements of...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 20 short answer and essay questions about Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the stories at the bottom of the page.

We take a steady shower stream and clean drinking water for granted, but in many countries around the world, the lack of water or a clean water supply is responsible for higher sickness and death rates. Taking a closer look at the water...

Class members examine depictions of Thanksgiving in various mediums and discuss how point of view influences the composition and presentation of the work. While the focus here is on important events in American history as seen from the...

"How does our environment shape our identity?" After researching biographical information about John Knowles and considering how these experiences are reflected in A Separate Peace, class members consider the strengths and weaknesses of...

Learning to create depth when painting or drawing takes skill and the ability to understand how things should be placed on the canvas. The class will use the Charles Deas painting Long Jakes to learn about composition, sharing...

A unit on persuasive writing guides elementary learners through the writing process. The first part examines the elements of persuasive writing, including expressing an opinion, connecting ideas, using supporting facts, and writing...

Seventh graders examine different pieces of Dutch Art. They identify its social and political meanings by using cultural and historical information. They examine maps of the time period as well.

Students create commercials using a digital camera. After brainstorming their ideas, they spend three days writing their commercials. Students practice and edit their commercials and then present them for review.

Second graders describe the impact of certain figures in United States history, including Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They describe experiences of early American explorers and compose narratives from the perspectives of others.

Students discover the influences of mid 19th and early 20th century art styles: Realism, Impressionism, Post / Neo Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism through an analysis of styles, subject matter, and media.

First graders analyze the events of early American exploration. This is a unit resource for teachers in which there are six lessons about the American Western exploration and expansion. Within each lesson there are objectives, materials,...