A pet can offer comfort, friendship, and loyalty in the most stressful of situations. Here is a lesson plan that explores the important role animals played during the Civil War. Class members read informative texts, complete a...

Go beyond the textbook to gain a better appreciation for the English language. A series of ESL lessons help expand the concepts found in Theme 2: Give It All You've Got. The second lesson in a three-part unit incorporates strategies such...

Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...

N.B.. cit., n.b., viz., sc., inf. e,g,—these abbreviations frequently appear in academic papers and on works cited lists, but what do they mean? Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on Latin terms and...

With all the stuff available online, good essays are just a click away. But talk about tracking! Writers beware! New tech can now identify plagiarism, and the consequences of presenting someone else's work as your own are severe. Here's...

Close up your unit of study with an examination of one of the guiding or essential questions as it relates to what your class has studied and other research. Class members first write down the question. Then they note down information...

Many regard John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the great American novel. The lesson plan combines a variety of strategies, including partner work, independent practice, creative writing, grammar instruction, and small group...

The fourth instructional activity in the series of 16 asks researchers to analyze an exchange of letters between John and Abigail Adams for what they each valued in letter writing.

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Readers not only identify aphorisms in Emerson's "Self Reliance," but also find evidence of transcendental elements contained in the essay. They also demonstrate consistency...

Unfortunately, not all students learn to read at the same pace, but with the help of this resource, you can ensure that they all receive the support they need to reach this important goal. Comprised of short...

Rome wasn't built in a day, but researchers can be with proper scaffolding. This writing unit has scholars write a research paper through scaffolding of various parts of the process. Learners begin with identifying a topic and crafting a...

Seventh graders get the option of choosing their own text from a selection to read and gather more information as part of their research. Learners discuss the difference in reading for research and reading for pleasure. They also begin...

While there are a few aspects of this learning exercise missing, it can absolutely be useful and suit your African religions study. A learning exercise is split into 3 parts: "before you read," "while you read," and "after you read."...

Students research countries participating in the Olympic Games. They create a database which includes graphs for comparing population density, the number of athletes, per capita income, etc. for each country. This project is completed...

Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...

W.W. Jacobs' story "The Monkey's Paw" provides plenty of foreshadowing which readers use to make predictions in this tightly composed, sound instructional plan. Your class reads the story, recording predictions and checking for veracity...

Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words...

Scholars complete their study of the collective fear in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" by conducting a mock trial to determine how many witches are in the class. Groups then analyze sections of the play for the literary devices used and...

Have you ever felt like you are pulled into two directions? Some authors depict this feeling in their characters. Scholars choose a play or novel in which a character is pulled or influenced by two different directions and write essays...

Three free-response prompts provide scholars an opportunity to practice for the AP® English Literature Composition exam. Using released prompts from the 2010 free-response section, writers craft an essay about the experiences of a...

As first-year students continue to investigate how sugar changed the world, the focus shifts to a consideration of why people with limited job options take on dangerous or subjugating work. Class members read an opinion piece by Nicholas...

While preparing for the end-of-unit assessment, scholars look at Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" speech and identify the terms he used in the argument. They also identify the relationship between the claims presented in the speech and...

Can three works of literature work together to establish and develop a common central idea? Put your thoughts into writing with a final assessment focused on a unit-long analysis of Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepard to His...

Students write a context paper.  In this teaching the novel in context lesson, students view a primary sources to recreate the cultural and historical context of the novel.  Students make the connection between the literary...