How can people better understand their rights? Scholars explore the question with the second of four installments in the Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lesson plan series. Learners watch and write descriptions...

Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...

The Yukon provides plenty of opportunity for adventure. A study guide for The Call of the Wild by Jack London, also the author of White Fang, helps readers navigate the novel which is set in Yukon, Canada. Chapter summaries give a...

Your class members may know that Jackie Robinson was the first African American man to play Major League Baseball, but they may not be aware of his efforts to achieve social justice. A clip from Ken Burns: The Jackie Robinson Collection...

How do Supreme Court justices determine which cases to consider? What happens when the Supreme Court decides not to take a case?  The lesson explores important questions and others in the field of criminology. It focuses on the...

Using primary and secondary sources—including classics such as the Communist Manifesto—class members consider the effects of these ideas on the course of history. Another essay prompt explores geography and history, while multiple-choice...

What makes an effective team? Scholars explore the question with fun teambuilding activities. Additionally, they learn about the common characteristics of effective teams. Pupils also participate in a think-pair-share to understand the...

Float across the Martian landscape. Using an online game, learners participate in teams to propel their hoverboards in a race across the surface of Mars. By correctly evaluating a numerical expression involving parentheses, individuals...

Wonder how many pieces of candy a teacher can eat. Pupils watch a video of candy in a bowl as some candy is removed to be eaten and others are added. Learners devise questions about the situation along with estimated solutions. Scholars...

Time for more candy! Learners view a video of a candy bowl where some of the candy is removed and more placed back. Scholars come up with questions about the scenario to answer and request additional information from the teacher. At the...

Just how racist were some people in the North during the American Civil War? Using excerpts of the Conscription Act, as well as graphic images of lynchings, young historians consider why white people in New York City rioted and killed...

Students examine lichens in an outside field trip. Students explore the diversity of this organism and ask questions about them.

Chapter 10 of Malcolm X's Autobiography introduces readers to Elijah Muhammad's teachings. Discussion questions focusing on syntax and diction draw attention to how Malcolm X's perspective on Mr. Muhammad changes.

Guided by the provided questions, readers of David Mitchell's "Hangman" examine the author's figurative language to develop the constant struggle in Jason and Hangman's relationship.

How does word choice influence the meaning and tone of a text? To answer this question, class members listen to a masterful reading of a passage from David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and then work with a partner to conduct a close...

Is identity unchanging? Do events in our childhood forever influence our character? Groups ponder these questions as they examine Ethan Canin’s short story “The Palace Thief.”

Can a life gone wrong be blamed on a single childhood incident? Hundert, the narrator of "The Palace Thief," and readers struggle with this question as they ponder events in Ethan Canin's story.

Go figure! Scholars examine the figurative language in the last half of W.E.B. Du Bois's work "Of Our Spiritual Strivings." They pay special attention to his metaphors and develop ideas with group discussion and guided questions....

It's finally time for pupils to show what they know! Scholars finalize the unit with an end-of-unit assessment. They use the book Inside Out & Back Again and the "Forgotten Ship" transcript to examine word choice, tone, and...

Scholars consider their reading in The Omnivore's Dilemma to develop a claim answering the question, "Which food chain would you choose to feed your family—the local sustainable food chain or the hunter-gatherer food chain?" To guide...

Time for more team work! Class members work in a team once again to complete Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Excerpt 5 Analysis note catcher. Before beginning, teams review the Group Work anchor chart and roles....

Peace and quiet. After reading page 12 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World, scholars participate in a silent conversation with a chalk talk activity. They take turns describing how the rainforest is diverse by writing on chart...

Pictures often reveal different meanings. Scholars analyze the images in Eight Days and discuss how they add meaning to the text. Readers answers questions about how specific colors are used to create different emotions. Learners then...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 16 short answer and essay questions about Faulkner's Light in August. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.