Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

A continuation of the previous lesson, which is part of a larger group of lessons on human rights (see additional materials). Here, in Lesson 7, your class will explore more articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After...

The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...

Although this is part of a series, lesson plan nine has your class take a break from their close study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) text to read the firsthand account “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and...

Come up with a list of requirements for this expository essay on Esperanza's character in Esperanza Rising as a class and use the list to guide class writing. Here, learners will complete the first paragraph, discuss their notes for the...

Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...

Use a fun and creative activity to introduce junior high learners to how writing changes for different audiences and purposes. The activity begins with a reading by the instructor where teens visualize a food fight in the cafeteria. In...

Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....

Reading is fantastic, especially when it's reading about bullfrogs. Kids get cozy with predator/prey relationships as they hone their information-reading skills. They start out as they read a portion of the text aloud, then they...

What kind of text features help children build a strong vocabulary? Class members use text features such as headers to unpack new vocabulary words. They create vocabulary journals in which they will write what they think the definition...

Facilitate creativity in your math class as individuals learn the definition of a geometric reflection and correctly construct a model, as well as its reflected image. They use a perpendicular bisector and circles to elaborate on...

What do your young geniuses really know? Assess the procedural knowledge of your pupils at the same time as their higher-level thinking with an assessment that identifies their depth of knowledge. Topics include solving...

Assess the ability of the class to solve percent problems with an assessment that covers a variety of percent problems from basic to multi-step. Pupils make connections between percent problems and proportional thinking to complete...

Investigate the world of unknown quantities with a creative set of five lessons that provides problem situations for varying grade levels. Each problem presents a scenario of fruit with different weights and a balance scale. Using the...

Explore linear and square dimensions by comparing areas of similar figures. A creative set of five activities designed for elementary through high school classes asks young scholars to compare areas of specific polygons. The first two...

Historically, scientists had to be creative to study subatomic structure. Scholars step into their minds to recreate the procedure Rutherford used to create his atomic model. Learners identify the creative efforts of early scientists...

Life may not be fair but working conditions should be. Scholars research working conditions at Wegmans by studying the company website. They complete a working conditions anchor chart and discuss their findings in a think-pair-share...

Shoo fly. Scholars read DDT Spray Scares Mosquitoes Away, Study Finds and You Think You Have It Tough? to complete a mid-unit assessment. The learners compare and contrast author presentation and conduct a credibility check on each...

Great minds think aloud! Pupils participate in the Fishbowl protocol, discussing their opinions about the Mary River mine proposal. As they share their thoughts, peers provide feedback about their thesis and supporting ideas.  

This is both a great idea and a great way to help your class organize a themed project. They use these worksheets to assist them in writing a creative historical narrative about the life and travels of an explorer. They'll compare and...

Show youngsters how objects can tell a story! Here your class will learn about Cuban salsa dancer Celia Cruz by analyzing pictures of her dress, her shoes, and her marriage certificate. After describing Cruz's items and imagining what...

Do your language arts students love to draw? Use this lesson to reinforce poetic techniques with illustration. After drawing what they think poem would look like with no words, middle and high schoolers work on several different...

Students think of one way to detect photosynthesis in plants besides those ways shown in class. They identify the reaction that occurs during photosynthesis. Students define the difference between an acid and a base. They identify acidic...