Help your class develop the ability to determine a main idea with a packet of materials that you can introduce and use over a period of time. The packet includes some information for the teacher and rationale for the exercises. There are...

Continue your study of the short story with the next lesson in this fourteen-lesson series. After wrapping up a study of "Hills Like White Elephants" through a quiz and discussion of the setting, learners are introduced to the final...

When your class members have completed the novel Esperanza Rising, they will be ready to write an expository essay on how Esperanza responds to events and what this says about her character. Set your pupils up for success by...

Celebrate Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday with this compare and contrast graphic organizer in which three stories are examined for their setting, characters, problems, events, and solution. 

Sixth graders explore physical and chemical changes. In this physical science activity, 6th graders study vocabulary, discuss the changes they see in the world and look up information on chemical and physical changes. Students create...

A unique writing activity, this plan begins with learners talking about multiculturalism in small groups. Each learner will choose a picture from a newspaper, describe it to their small group, and think about how it relates to...

Scholars are introduced to the significant events that led to the development of today's modern forms of air travel. They create a timeline to identify the vital events that are related to man's flight. In addition, they research various...

Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...

Not all compare and contrast assignments have writers compare and contrast in the same way. Some only ask for comparisons, others only ask for contrasts, and many require more focus than a simple list of similarities and differences....

Why is Christopher Columbus one of the most studied figures in history? Upper graders will investigate why Christopher Columbus traveled to the New World and what happened to the native people he encountered. They read and discuss...

Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth lesson in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger, young...

What are fractions? Find out using a reference page and video that goes in depth on how to make fractions equivalent, write fractions in simplest form, convert improper fractions into mixed numbers, and vice versa. Following...

Shakespeare's Macbeth has something for everyone. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment. They craft multi-paragraph essays to analyze how the author's structural choices create tension and suspense in the play's first two acts.

Readers are asked to use the provided graphic organizer to list the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage about the inventions of Benjamin Franklin.

Young meteorologists examine the formation of a hurricane in a resource focused on severe weather conditions. Once they learn that a hurricane is also a tropical cyclone, and detail the different levels associated...

Ancient texts, like Homer's Odyssey, mentions navigating ships by observing constellations. Pupils learn about the link between history and astronomy as they relate to navigation in the Bronze Age. Scholars complete two hands-on...

Where is Australia? How is an Australian Christmas from other Christmases around the world? Learners participate in a mini-research project where they discover what an Australian Christmas is like.

Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the...

A website looks at how we know so much about Mars—telescopes, robots, and spacecraft—and the search for martian life. Following the informational text are three questions that quiz pupils about possible life on Mars. 

“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

Analyze that! Scholars continue reading and analyzing a primary source about the immediate aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake. Then, individuals use graphic organizers to identify the author's point of view.

Every state uses a set of rights to establish laws and regulations. Explore the Wyandotte Constitution as it was written in 1859 and compare it with how rights in Kansas have changed, especially those that pertain to gender and race. A...