First graders read and discuss several stories. They share information about different types of shelter around the world. They explain that lifestyles and shelter depend very much on where people live and how they use the resources...

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...

Work on author's purpose with this lesson, which focuses on sequence of events and audience as well.  Middle and high schoolers describe the 50 State Quarters Program for background information. After discussing the images on the...

The New York Times article “Online Diary,” launches this study of websites and how to assess them. Richly detailed, the instructional activity includes warm-up activities, procedures, journal prompts, discussion questions, and links to...

Enter the fantastical world of  "Dungeons and Dragons" and other role-playing games with this instructional activity from The New York Times. Middle schoolers create the outline for a role-playing game based on their own...

Create a picture dictionary for one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. After readers finish The Tempest, they assign each letter of the alphabet to a concept or character, and add a description and evidence from...

Find the central idea in an excerpt from Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with a literary analysis lesson. As your class analyzes a section of the story, they determine how the author forms the central idea...

The brutality of Bloody Sunday—when non-violent protesters who supported voting rights for African Americans were beaten by police—captured a nation. Young historians examine the letter of one horrified American to Congress to consider...

High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...

Students combine elements of music with poetry.  In this creative writing lesson, students examine poems from a variety of authors with varying writing styles.  Students explore the different elements of poetry, including tone,...

Students investigate the currencies used by different countries, and explore the principles of currency trading by exchanging currencies at current market rates. They, in groups, access websites which give them current rates.

Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...

Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't  confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to...

Give your class a different kind of reading assignment with the text included here. Anne Miller's essay "Learning to Hate Mathematics" details a hatred of math that grew from early childhood and still haunts the author today. After...

Students examine quotes and text passages related to the Holocaust. They generate a list of questions about the Holocaust and analyze a piece of writing based on the authorship of the work. They infer the meaning of a poem and determine...

Pupils write a good title and edit their essay.  In this writing lesson, students examine several examples of good titles and discuss what makes them effective.  Pupils relate this to the sign on a building and discuss ways to...

Students complete job applications. In this written communication lesson, students discuss the purpose of job applications and then complete job applications in their field. 

Encourage close reading of the text and a focus on how Sandra Cisneros' develops her characters with an activity that asks teams to sort, group, and label character descriptions from The House on Mango Street.

Seventh graders examine the setting in pieces of fiction.  In this story analysis lesson plan, 7th graders investigate the setting in fictional stories and the importance it has.  Students discover new vocabulary terms applying...

Students complete autobiographical writing assignments throughout the school year that they save and rewrite to put into a published book during the last month of class. They include photographs, drawings and mementos of their lives in...

Students examine the need for a national library. In this Library of Congress lesson, students analyze primary sources to investigate the persuasive techniques that Thomas Jefferson used in a letter meant to show his...

Students try to find newspaper and magazine articles that are informative or persuasive. They practice determining the differences between the two types of articles. They identify the devices authors use to persuade the audience.