Combine poetry and reading comprehension with an engaging writing assignment. Readers of The Winter's Tale craft a sonnet in the voice of one of the characters in Shakespeare's play.

Seventh graders have a golden opportunity to learn how to read poems and short stories with a unit that introduces them to the techniques writers use to craft their works. They examine poems by William Carlos Williams and Edgar Allen Poe...

A confidential message written by Thomas Jefferson provides readers with an opportunity to practice their reading comprehension skills. The resource, part of a series, includes questions that require a close reading of the message and a...

The main idea of this resource is that you should take a look if you're planning to teach main ideas in your class! Cover just about everything you need to know about main ideas with a packet of materials that includes information and...

Let's compare and contrast! Scholars use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the experience of reading a poem and listening to its audio version. Next, they complete graphic organizers, comparing two different genres: a poem and a...

How did women use President Wilson's ideals and rhetoric in their bid for suffrage? To answer this essential question, class groups analyze primary written documents and visual images.

Just how strong is a twins' bond? Jake and Lily, in a novel by the same name, have a powerful bond until they turn 11. Then, everything changes. As scholars read about twin trouble, they learn eight new vocabulary words, create...

Students play games.  In this comprehension and recall activity, students play Give Me A Break, Bingo and Jeopardy to reinforce the knowledge they've learned about Lewis and Clark.

US history from 1776 through 1877 is the focus of a comprehensive curriculum guide designed for seventh graders. Each of the seven units in the 102-page packet includes a list of guiding questions, grade-level expectations, links to...

Help your class examine humanity's unpredictable nature through "Life Steps Almost Straight." Learners read various works from philosophers such as Viktor Frankl, The Buddha, and Nietzsche to gather textual evidence and explain their...

Looking to improve your classes literacy program? Then look no further. This comprehensive collection of resources includes worksheets and activities covering everything from r-controlled vowels and consonant digraphs, to the...

Focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis while reading A Weave of Woods, a colorful picture book by Robert D. San Souci. Young learners use worksheets to preview, predict, practice paraphrasing, and make comparisons. The...

Scholars look into the country's current president, past presidents, the White House, Washington D.C., and the Declaration of Independence. They identify the flag, the Statue of Liberty, as well as Mount Rushmore and the significance of...

Young readers continue to strengthen their fluency skills with a text of their choosing. The teacher first engages the class with an audio recording or read-aloud of a short poem, modeling for children how to read fluently. Next it's...

How difficult was it for everyone to get voting rights? Understanding voting rights and the fight to get them for everyone in the United States can be tricky for some learners. However, they are clarified after engaging in the...

A must-have resource for classes that engage in debate, this packet contains 20 detailed plans for debate games and activities. Everything from how to select evidence to support a position, to structuring a debate on which candy bar is...

Help readers develop awareness of comprehension issues and employ tools for better understanding. The best way to begin this strategy is to model it through a think aloud. Choose a book scholars will also be reading, preferably one they...

After having a bad day, Sally took scholars' suggestions and had a super day. Pupils listen to her newest short story then discuss the events that occurred. They sort each event by what was in her control and what was not. Participants...

Making decisions can be stressful, even for sixth graders. And even students this young have developed coping skills, some positive and some negative, to help them deal with stress. Class members are asked to identify several of their...

Blundering, audacious, obscurest. Class members develop strategies for teaching each other vocabulary words drawn from The Hobbit.

Look no further—here's a resource packed with focused intervention materials for special education teachers. A unique unit plan provides 10 days of structured text-based intervention strategies for fifth-grade learners. Each 30-minute...

As a final assignment in a unit study of Edward Bloor's Tangerine, individuals assume the voice of Paul Fisher and craft the witness report Paul mentions in the final pages of the novel. A great way to assess the...

Groups create a list of the character traits of Steve Jobs and Buddy, the main character of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy, and share and select evidence from Jobs' 2005 Stanford University Commencement Address to support their...

Study the 16 Habits of Mind with a professional resource. Based on Describing 16 Habits of Mind by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, the resource details 16 ways learners perceive problems around them and produce ways to deal...