For any teacher of American History, The Lewis and Clark Expedition is a watershed event that should be shared with your students. This is a very good lesson plan on the Expedition, and the events that led up to it; including The...

Help your young writers through the sometimes difficult process of beginning to write. Direct them through how to choose a topic and write to a specific audience. Great refining statements guide them to writing focused, clear essays. 

The activities in this packet are designed to ensure that all class members have the necessary background knowledge to successfully engage in an assessment of advertisement appeals. After examining a series of ads, individuals use the...

To culminate a study of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, individuals craft a persuasive essay in which they assume the voice of a member of one of the political parties during the early 1920s, and advocate that their party offers the...

Hip Hop? Country? Punk? R and B? So many styles. Young song writers consider the emotional effects of various style options before selecting the style best suited to the emotions they want to express in their song. The sixth in a...

Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.

A talkative old man? A naïve believer in Human Perfectibility? A Sage? Who is this guy, anyway? The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin launches a study of the way Franklin uses structure, style, and purpose, as well as different...

Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what),...

Silly journal and essay prompts may be fun to write, but they don't model the kind of writing needed for college papers and standardized tests. The 15th part in a series of 24 covers the concept of reading to write—during and after...

Fair, balanced, and reputable information? There's an acronym for that! Scholars learn the E.S.C.A.P.E. method for evaluating news sources. Then, pupils work in small groups to read and analyze a news story and discuss the activity to...

A powerful introduction and conclusion can really pack a punch. Using the resource, scholars first read and discuss a model essay. Then, as part of the end of unit assessment, they draft the introductory and concluding paragraphs of...

In conclusion ... Scholars analyze the model essay Adversity Faced by Townspeople in the Middle Ages to gain a better understanding of introductory and concluding paragraphs. After studying the author's strategies, learners begin...

Stop ... grammar time! Pupils complete worksheets to practice using the correct verb tense and identify correlative conjunctions. Next, scholars apply their new grammar skills to edit their draft opinion speeches.

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

Design an informational brochure to urge people to move to a specific community. The purpose of this activity is to expose pupils to expository writing. After creating the brochure, they write a three-paragraph persuasive or...

Readers make personal connections to Saturday Market by Patricia Grossman and answer comprehension questions while reading the book. Comparing and contrasting the different characters in a Venn diagram leads to a kinesthetic...

Sixth graders discuss their likes, dislikes, hobbies, goals, and special events in their lives. They write a five paragraph autobiography focusing on style, transitions, and details. This is well-suited for either explanatory or...

After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...

Words, words, words. The function of words in persuasive writing is the focus of a group activity that asks members to analyze how words advertisers use are designed to influence targeted audiences.

Young scholars examine "masterpieces" and mass-produced objects as they discuss humankind's inventiveness and creativity. They also analyze the role of problem solving in the creation of masterpieces and mass-produced items.

Small groups brainstorm their roles in the community. Then, individually, complete a community roles web worksheet. Peers share their completed product and extend the conversation to include the feelings and character traits that go...

After a read-aloud of the story Goldielocks and the Three Bears, scholars gather into small groups to answer a series of questions. Peers examine the idea of smart decisions and identify three feelings of characters alongside three...

An eye-catching hook makes a smart analogy between ingredients for a food recipe and ingredients for quality relationships. Scholars discuss and list qualities they feel contribute to positive interactions. Pupils create a recipe card...

Before your high schoolers reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory lesson inspires class members...