While reading either a non-fiction or fictional text, have your class record new and unknown words. This graphic organizer has space for six words and their definitions, so challenge your kids to find at least six unknown words. 

Dive into Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and determine what it means to conform in society, and discuss as a group with the thoughts and plans available in these documents. Included are multiple activities and brain targets that form the...

What role did women play in pop art during the 1950s and 1960s? The class researches the role of women in mid-century America and how those roles were portrayed through the pop art of the time. They use an excellent set of...

Many people, when searching online, will type in what they are looking for without much thought. But what's the next step, if they don't get the desired results? Careful selection of search terms. Your class can develop a sense for...

Having a strong searching skill set can make a research project much easier and much for successful for pupils. Tackle finding evidence with the ideas included here. The ultimate goal is for class members to learn the stepping stones...

Look back at the third chapter of The Cay with your class. Pupils will conduct a close reading, taking a second look at a chunk of text and responding to a series of text-dependent questions. Wrap up with an analytical writing prompt...

Building on the previous activity in this series of lesson seeds, this plan focuses on the use of dialect in Theodore Taylor's novel, The Cay. Class members examine specific lines of text, use their reading journals to respond to the...

Make a study of the First Amendment and its relationship to freedom. Pupils rewrite the amendment and discuss the central idea before focusing on a specific phrase. After discussing, class members write a journal entry about the included...

Revisit the documentaries viewed in the previous lesson plan in this series in order to take a look at the persuasive techniques employed by the documentary creators. Small groups watch the films a second time, taking notes on two...

To prepare for the AP English exams, individuals are asked to create a notebook of literary terms and devices. The terms must be defined, accompanied by representative artwork, and illustrated by an example drawn for a named source. A...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass serves as the anchor text for a lesson on symbolism. Readers use the provided worksheets to examine the symbols in the novel as well as in the world around them.

21st century learners live in a media world. Help them develop the skills they need to be able to analyze the barrage of propaganda they face daily, with a resource that introduces them to the type of persuasive appeals found in...

Discover how to analyze architecture from a geometric standpoint. The fourth installment of an 11-part unit on architecture first provides a presentation on axis, balance, basic form, formal, pattern, proportion, symmetry, and tripartite...

View Byzantine architecture from the comfort of your classroom. A PowerPoint presentation introduces important vocabulary terms and examples of Byzantine architecture in the ninth lesson of the 11-part series. A Jeopardy game reviews...

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...

It's that time of year to consider how Shakespeare selects his images and structures his Sonnet 73 to develop the meaning of the poem. Class members examine the rhyme scheme, the indented lines, the conceit, and the images used in each...

After reading The Great Gatsby, groups return to the text and note passages where Fitzgerald uses symbols and color imagery in his narrative. They then develop a presentation that explains the context, the implications, and possible...

Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...

Propagandists have many tools at their disposal to influence thinking and behavior. Among the most powerful are the visual tools, posters designed to grab the attention and stir the emotions of viewers. Check out this collection of...

Are video games sports? Pupils investigate this question as well as various nonfiction selections to learn more about claims and the support that defines them. All of the selections mimic the rigor on state tests and encourage close...

After screening an episode by BizKids, scholars show what they know about business vocabulary, then take part in grand conversations about role models and ethical dilemmas.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" provides the text for an activity that asks readers to select specific passages from the story, identify the aspect of American Romanticism the passage exemplifies, and then provide an...

To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences...

Vocabulary instruction works best when taught within a larger context. A vocabulary activity builds connections by using synonyms to help learn the meaning of new words. This helps connect the words to prior knowledge and give them context.