Students access websites for background information and learn how to interpret political cartoons. They incorporate higher-order thinking skills to determine if the information presented in the cartoons is accurate, what the colonists...

Scholars read articles and have a class discussion on California's efforts to fight obesity. They will read and discuss the effects of sugar on the body and the soda tax that is being proposed in California.

Students have the opportunity to use higher-level thinking skills and to apply their talents to previously learned material. It provides an opportunity for visual, auditory, and tactile/kinetic learners to utilize their particular...

Who, what, when, where, why, and how are good questions to ask when evaluating a source. First, scholars find two sources of information relating to a chosen topic. Next, pupils complete a worksheet to gauge the source's credibility....

What can maps tell us about the past? Find out with a Spanish lesson that incorporates geography. After examining maps individually, comparing two old maps of Spanish Florida and writing notes in the provided Venn diagram, pupils pair up...

Many people know that fiber optics are used in delivering the Internet, but are surprised to learn they are also used in astronomy. Scholars explore light, reflection, and fiber optics through hands-on activities. They discuss...

William Bell's Forbidden City is used as the basis of a study of China, Chinese culture and government, and especially of the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Class members select a topic for Internet research and then prepare a...

The higher the number of letters in the final word for the National Spelling Bee, the higher the number of people killed by venomous spiders. Obviously, those two facts correlate, but no causation exists. Scholars view data based on...

Examine different types of questions while studying Peter and the Starcatchers. After learning about the different types of questions, pupils read passages from the text, answer the questions, and label each question with its...

The world's largest measured earthquake happened in 1960 in Chile, reaching a terrifying 9.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale. The second instructional activity in the 20-part series introduces earthquakes and fault lines. Scholars...

Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to address the many levels of comprehension. With explanations and examples of each level, you can create questions that focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Explore fact and opinion through higher level thinking and literacy. Kids listen to the beginning of A Picture Book of Helen Keller by David A. Adler and identify facts in the text. They follow along as the teacher models how to form an...

Everyone has a different opinion about the characters they read about in books. Have your class explore forming an opinion and finding evidence to support it as they read and discuss what they think about a particular character. They...

Students are introduced to the genre of detective fiction. Based on their reading level, they are given a different series of books to read. For each story, they are to make predictions and practice decoding messages. To end the...

What makes a poem difficult? Explore that topic and more with your class as you work through the instructional activity detailed here. Using materials from Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest, individuals or small groups...

Improve reading comprehension with a set of ESL worksheets. Kids read through various passages, note which facts are true or false, mark their opinion on two statements, and write a short reply based on a writing prompt.

Students predict outcomes of a text. In this comprehension strategy lesson, students read a poem and compare it to the play A Raisin in the Sun. Students discuss their similarities and the power of dreams.

Students demonstrate critical thinking skill when creating and producing a salable product. They exhibit appropriate presentation and listening skills. They communicate effectively through written language.

Students identify and interpret Taoism. Students gain knowledge of various eastern philosophies. Students transfer knowledge gained using the higher order thinking skills for analysis. Students identify the key figure in Taoism....

Readers use Bloom's Taxonomy to create multi-level questions about Pearl Buck's The Good Earth. 

Foster critical thinking skills by using the DR-TA Strategy with Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Class members read portions of the essay, stop and discuss what is happening, make predictions based on evidence from the text, and...

Question what you read with a lesson based on Bloom's Taxonomy. As kids read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, they formulate questions with cues from a graphic organizer, and answer them to work on critical...

Have you ever conducted a Web search and received too many hits? Teach your class about Boolean search terms and provide them time to practice conducting efficient online searches. This lesson plan contains several fun activities which...

Pupils utilize search engines to locate information on one of the first five Presidents of the United States. Students utilize various technological skills that incorporate higher level thinking, analysis, and summarization. Pupils...