What do Whoosh and Jet Stream have in common? They are both characters in a fantastic game designed to help students identify various positive and negative spending behaviors. Through an engaging activity, worksheets, and...

Using or considering using Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God? Then this packet is a must for your curriculum library. The examination of how Hurston combines folklore and folk language to create the voice of her...

After rereading the full text of Walter Mosley's essay "True Crime," groups complete an evidence collection tool worksheet, and then class members independently draft a multi-paragraph, evidence-based response that identifies how Mosley...

Imagine a year-long writing plan aligned to Common Core standards. Here it is! This resource packet, the first in the series of units, introduces the plan, provides an overview of the research-based approach, and a...

Make a study of Timothy and his development as a character over the course of the first half or so of The Cay. This idea focuses in particular on chapters 10 through 12. Learners start out by working on double-entry journals created in...

Designed with many of the Common Core standards in mind, this 10-lesson unit is brimming with ELL strategies, teacher's notes, and the best of core instructional methods for teaching the common elements of folktales, and exploring...

Translate the Common Core math standards into a series of achievable "I can" statements with this collection of classroom displays. Offering posters for each standard, this resource is a great way to support your seventh graders as...

Work out your core, Common Core State Standards, through the first workshop in a series of 15 designed for educators. Inquiry-based activities designed for all content areas and grade levels explore the shifts to new standards,...

After viewing the West of the West's documentary Cache, individuals craft either a newspaper article chronicling the discovery of the cache on San Nicolas Island, a historical narrative of the placement of the cache in the cliff side, or...

High school readers examine George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" for examples of symbolism, metaphor, connotation, and irony. They analyze how these literary tools convey the writer's main point and contribute to the persuasive...

Having problems with proportions? Then solve these proportion problems with an exercise that asks learners to first individually solve a set of problems involving ratios and proportional reasoning. Groups then discuss provided...

Individuals learn to apply the Euclidean algorithm to find the greatest common factor of two numbers. Additionally, the instructional activity connects greatest common factor to the largest square that can be drawn in a rectangle.

After watching the documentary Dark Water about a traditional Chumash ceremony and reading a Chumash origin story, viewers are asked to create a coat of arms and to craft an essay that details a family tradition or their own origin story.

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and oppression....

Did the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves during the Civil War? Why was it written, and what were its immediate and long-term effects? After reading primary source materials, constructing political maps representing information...

First and last impressions are important. Using the helpful resource, scholars draft the introductory and concluding paragraphs of their literary analysis essays. Next, they use a writing evaluation rubric to self-assess their work. 

The answer is blowin' in the wind. Using the resource, scholars read and analyze a model essay about wind power. Next, they work in groups to write an introductory paragraph that expresses an opinion about the topic. 

This 13-page assignment was designed for English language learners. It includes a one-page reading on the comedic actor Rowan Atkinson and 10 activities/exercises that focus on listening and reading comprehension, speaking, vocabulary...

What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a...

After watching West of the West's documentary on Catalina Island, The Magic Isle, class members research how Walt Disney's and William Wrigley's different visions impacted the island.

Bring environmental issues into your classroom! Practice writing and peer editing research reports on global warming and the greenhouse effect. Middle schoolers can work on their research skills, their writing skills, and how to...

Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....

There's a fine line between a numerator and a denominator! Learners find common denominators in order to add and subtract rational expressions. Examples include addition, subtraction, and complex fractions.