“What do you think life is like at the South Pole?” After responding to this journal prompt, class members read and discuss the New York Times article, “At South Pole, New Home for a New Era.” Using resources available from the Times’...

How can acknowledging opposing viewpoints reinforce one's argument? Use this New York Times activity to study consumerism and the environmental impact of new products. After reading the article "Whether a Hummer or a Hybrid, the Big...

How do the films we watch affect our purchasing behavior? Considering the profiles of given consumer demographics, the class analyzes real advertisements and the effectiveness of their power on consumerism. THey create posters that...

Students list comparisons between technology and nature. Then they create superheroes with special animal characteristics and describe how ordinary persons might replicate the changes with technology.

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

What does it mean to rebuild and recover after a major event? Your class will explore this theme while they discuss and discover the events surrounding September 11. They will also look at other examples and then create art pieces that...

What is technical knowledge? The class explores what technical knowledge might mean to an Olympic athlete. They catalog the different types of information that athletes would need to compete in various Winter Olympic sports and develop...

How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...

Inform teenagers about safe driving techniques. Young journalists use the Internet to investigate safe driving practices and technologies then publish a manual for the teen drivers in their life.

Discover the damage that was caused by the terrorist attacks on September 11th with your class. They will learn about the events of that day and the litigation process for damages incurred that day. Their research will cover the various...

A substantive New York Times article about the U.S.A. Patriot Act, military tribunals, racial profiling, and the Bill of Rights forms the basis for a discussion of the complex interplay of fundamental American rights and the aftermath of...

Investigate current local elections across the United States with this New York Times reading lesson. Using informational text, middle and high schoolers research local elections and create their own news reports about what they...

How do facts and opinions impact the news? After reading "How to Cover a War" from the New York Times, middle schoolers evaluate the claims in the article. They also consider the media's responsibilities in reporting during wartime....

Review economic vocabulary, presidential election campaigns, and current campaign budgets (2004). Your class will determine how they feel about the amount of money spent on presidential campaigns, they will read an informational article,...

Research guidelines for correct usage, then explore how creative writers employ punctuation as an essential tool in their craft. Secondary classes create board games to teach elementary school students how to properly punctuate. From the...

Encourage your learners to explore the differences between hard news and news analysis. They outline a complex news analysis about the upcoming presidential election, then endeavor to write an analysis of the same topic, using local...

How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...

You can demonstrate the destructive force of volcanic mudflows to your early earth scientists using this lesson plan. Messy, but memorable, the two demonstrations require some preparation. Use one or both! Included is a link to activity...

Study how plants grow with your English language learners with a cross-curricular lesson plan revolving around pumpkins. These activities provide opportunities to practice new scientific vocabulary while practicing skills such as...

What would you ask a presidential candidate if you had the chance? Bring politics to your language arts classroom with this lesson, in which young readers brainstorm questions they would have liked the presidential candidates to answer....

Study opposing viewpoints with this instructional activity, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or...

Consider the possibility of a new U.S. draft with this lesson, which encourages class debate and persuasive arguments. Middle and high schoolers discuss how such a draft might be enacted and how they would feel about it. They write...

Explore how the informality of electronic correspondence has affected communications in the workplace. Writers develop pages for a basic writing guide that contains rules and examples to help correct common writing errors. A great way to...

Pupils examine how they greet the holiday season and participate in a class discussion to explore the ongoing debate on how best to celebrate the holidays. They read and discuss an article, and write a personal essay.