Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs:...

After reading and analyzing two narrative memoirs, middle schoolers engage in a variety of activities, including writing an essay, developing a story map, and creating character charts. They then compare and contrast story maps, and...

What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," students write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...

How do you know what traits a character displays in a story? Learners select a character and find list three traits for this character, explaining why they chose each trait. They then put this information together into a paragraph or essay.

 Students describe the sensory experience of a character's journey in an essay.  In this precise details writing lesson, students explain the effects on the senses of weather, time of day, landscape, and other...

Using a set of primary source documents, such as descriptions of climate phenomena and images of weather events, pupils consider how climate shapes history. A second essay prompt and multiple-choice questions with documents engage...

Students read the story I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow. They discuss the details from the story. Students draw an illustration of what they expect their Thanksgiving dinner table will look like. They list details that describe their...

Write about economic and banking issues of concern to the public. Investigate lending discrimination and the impact of the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act. Use a guide to do research and write an essay.

What evidence supports the big bang theory? Individuals analyze scholarly resources about the the theory and develop arguments backed by evidence. They brainstorm, share ideas, watch a video, and read articles to complete a graphic...

What does is take to be a role model? Through grand conversation, and the use of books and a graphic organizer, scholars find out and apply the requirements to identify a role model within their family. They then journey through the...

As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The instructional...

Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing activity, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical figure,...

How can an unfamiliar place help you learn something about yourself? Use a narrative writing prompt as you culminate your unit on Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic. Kids consider the ways that, like the main character from the...

Sixth graders choose from a list of researchable inquiry questions. They engage in all phases of inquiry/research process.

Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what),...

Who is telling the story? Readers take a look at the text Eight Days to determine if the story is told in first or third person. They then discuss in groups and complete a shared writing activity to describe how the narrator's point of...

Wrap-up a unit on global climate change with a instructional activity that examines the causes and effects of climate change. Learners fill out a chart that represents what they think causes climate change—natural and human-based—and...

It's time for your class to literally show what they know! Pupils illustrate what they learned about the causes and effects of climate change by filling out a graphic organizer to complete the 5-part series of lessons. They discuss them...

What do you imagine when you think of the sea? Put on some ocean sounds, close your eyes, and listen to a guided meditation based on the imagery from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. After class members listen to...

How do you think the parrot in "The Ghost" chapter of Matilda feels in the chimney? Put a class member in the hot seat and have the class ask questions relating to how they might have felt if they were the parrot in the chimney....

It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history lesson prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...

The Grapes of Wrath may be the most famous novel set during the Dust Bowl, but what other stories cover the same time? The unit focuses on the Karen Hesse novel Out of the Dust. Learners keep a timeline of the Dust Bowl, maintain a...

Start at step one with this straightforward graphic organizer! Learners write down five steps in a process to complete the worksheet. Arrows point from one box to the next to show the relationship between steps.

Need a model for character education? Benjamin Franklin presents himself as in a constant state of striving to become the man he hoped to be, making his autobiography is far more accessible to learners than those of people who consider...