Designed for Hard Gold, a novel in Avi's I Witness series, this teaching guide includes a summary of the story and information about the writer as well as chapter-by-chapter vocabulary lists, text-based reading questions,...

If all the mined gold in the world was melted across a football field, it would rise 5.4 feet. That's just one interesting fact pupils learn when using the debate topics website to determine if the United States should return to a gold...

Students complete a history and research lesson about the Gold Rush using selections from Jack London. In this Gold rush research lesson, students research the Klondike/Alaska Gold Rush and use details from the history in their own...

Scholars use nouns from a word bank to complete sentences in a fill-in-the-blank worksheet that tells a tale about the California Gold Rush. 

Students explore reasons for supporting and opposing hydraulic mining. It was the most efficient and used mining method until 1884. A simulated court hearing is held where a decision is made whether to allow the continued use of this...

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...

Three activities are designed for readers of Jack London's The Call of the Wild. First, class members research and create posters that reflect the setting of the novel. Next, groups create posters with images that represent each chapter...

Students describe places using language that is as vivid as possible. They will examine the writer's craft in describing a place by reading and discussing "Resurrecting the Miner's World." They will then revise their descriptive pieces...

Students examine the various events occurring at the time of the Gold Rush. They see archival photographs and hear historians talk about this era. They create a time line in order to facilitate thinking about this region during the...

In this geography skills worksheet, students draw real or imaginary maps that feature escarpment, rift valleys, gorges, diamond mines, plateaus, mountains, lakes, rivers, and gold mines.

Students read an article on trapped miners in Chile. In this social awareness ELL lesson, students read the details about how 33 miners had to be rescued in Chile when they got trapped underground.  Activities that reinforce the...

Students utilize a variety of source materials to explore reasons for supporting or opposing hydraulic mining. A mock court hearing is held where a decision to allow the continued use of hydraulic mining is made.

Use the story "Bearstone" by Will Hobbs to explore issues related to growing up. In this work, a troubled teen finds himself through an adventure in the wilderness. Learners practice summarizing, drawing inferences and conclusions, and...

Dive your class into a reading of Island of the Blue Dolphins with this in-depth study guide. Breaking the novel into three parts, the resource begins each section with a focus activity that identifies a specific theme or question...

What is a simile? What is a metaphor? How are both of these different? First, discuss the difference between the two terms, and then have your emerging writers practice identifying sentences that use either literary device. They are also...

Your class can identify idioms, metaphosr, similes, hyperboles or personification by reading poetry and interpret meaning.

This activity is a good vocabulary review to use with students if you would like to spur discussion. While it is a 10 question multiple choice activity, students may find that they choose more than one answer. A discussion of their...

Being able to recognize patterns, craft generalizations, and draw conclusions based on information in a text passage are essential critical thinking skills. Encourage learners to hone these skills with a worksheet that asks them to read...

In this reading worksheet, students answer 10 multiple-choice questions about the book. For example, "What caused the death of the old sea elephant?"

In this matching terms and phrases worksheet, students use the words in the word bank to fill in the blanks about Nevada. Students write 10 answers.

Halloween isn't fun for everyone — but playing together is! Read about Esme and her space pirate friend with a short reading passage, accompanied by ten short answer questions.

In this slang quiz worksheet, students analyze the music slang examples in the sentences and select the best meaning to complete 10 exercises.

In this grammatical items learning exercise, students write a short sentence for each of the twenty terms listed and underline the particular grammatical item in each sentence.