Ninth graders read and analyze the William Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet" and compare it to the 1996 modern version of the play and the movie "West Side Story." They write an essay comparing and contrasting the three versions.

"O pun" the door on this activity. Have your pupils compare the puns and word play in scenes from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to those in Gary Blackwood’s The Shakespeare Stealer. Warm up and introductory activities, as well as...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day instructional...

Different media sources portray news in a variety of ways. In groups of three, learners look at different news sources, bringing in all the findings the next day. Three handouts help scholars compare sources, define specific terms used...

Using primary source documents, young historians explore the strategies the US used to defeat Japan during WWII. They also learn about the American military experience, and innovations that changed the style of warfare. Learners benefit...

Whether it's an election year or not, a unit on voting patterns and political campaigns will awaken the civic pride in your high school citizens. Divided into six parts, the curriculum covers various facets of an election, including...

When your class members have completed the novel Esperanza Rising, they will be ready to write an expository essay on how Esperanza responds to events and what this says about her character. Set your pupils up for success by...

Students read one of the following books: Minn of the Mississippi, Paddle-to-the-Sea, or Seabird, all by Holling C. Holling, and identify the five themes of geography as well as make a literature journal with chapter field notes. They...

The lives of middle-class Victorian women were circumscribed by strict standards that governed all aspects of behavior. To gain a better understanding of the Victorian Ideals for women, class members research the life of a middle-class...

The toss of a die determines what questions your pupils will answer in this lesson plan. Learners respond to questions based on Bloom's taxonomy, discussing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with classmates along the way. They finish by...

Students investigate the economic and daily activities in a typical African community. They design and construct a small scale house, play an African board game, create African money, discuss vocabulary, and write an essay.

Global warming isn't just an issue on land; deep ocean waters are also showing troubling signs. Young scientists learn more about deep water corals and the many recent discoveries researchers have made. Then they examine data related to...

Young scholars explore Christopher Columbus's motives. In this character education lesson, students research Internet and print sources regarding the life and actions of Christopher Columbus in order to write essays that his actions as...

In this online interactive history activity, learners respond to ten short answer and essay questions about the Articles of Confederation. They may check some of their answers on the interactive activity.

If you teach AP English language and composition and are looking for a way to address the differences between written and spoken arguments, consider this lesson plan. Over the course of three days, class members research Charles Darwin...

Display this list of commonly misspelled and frequently confused words for your learners. Though there is no interactive component, this handout is a great reference tool comparing many homophones such as sole and soul. One tip...

Although designed as an assessment, consider using this resource as the basis for a lesson on reading comprehension strategies or as a practice exercise. The five multiple choice questions, based on a short passage about stock market...

Your budding scholars spent the day in the library looking for a topic for their research essay, and now they are all in tears because there is too much information available on their topics. Wipe those tears away with the ideas and...

Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...

Take a dramatic trip to the beach with a narrative writing prompt. Kids examine a picture of a seagull stealing food from a man at the beach, and write a short story from either the seagull's or the man's perspective.

Assess your learners on the five themes of geography and the most important key terms and concepts from an introductory geography unit. Here you'll find an assessment with 15 fill-in-the-blank and 14 multiple-choice questions, sections...

Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written...

The California Gold Rush was not just an opportunity for the male gold miners sifting for shiny nuggets. Small groups read accounts of the ways women took advantage of the influx of workers to run hotels, bake pies, and wading out into...

Did Western settlers receiving free land from the Homestead Act realize it wasn't really free at all? Scholars investigate the impact Western expansion had on Native American culture in the mid-1800s. They use documents, timelines, and...