John Brown is considered by many to be a martyr for abolition and civil rights. The resource covers an important event in West Virginian history, the raid by John Brown, as a standalone that discusses Brown's last words and his reaction...

Should age matter when it comes to voting? Scholars read an article discussing the pros and cons of lowering the voting age to 16. They then consider both the advantages and disadvantages of having younger voters. After thinking about...

It is an out-of-body experience. Scholars take a look at the sidebars outside the body of the text in The Exterminator. They discuss the purpose of this type of text feature and work to determine the gist. Learners write unfamiliar...

Fifth graders participate in a scavenger hunt on the internet trying to develop a general overview of content and how to locate specific information. They also explore how to receive, store and send electronic information.

Third graders listen to a lecture on how to take notes and discuss the skills of paraphrasing and correctly citing resources. They prepare note cards according to the format presented in class.

Pupils develop their writing skills. In this writing strategies lesson, students examine persuasive writing techniques on order to write persuasive mailers.

Learners practice their writing skills. In this cause and effect writing lesson, students use the provided framework to write a cause and effect story in the style of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.

Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...

Prior to this lesson, 5th graders will have collected notes from several sources. Students extend their note taking to include at least one example each of summarizing and paraphrasing. They record bibliographic information for each...

Young scholars discover the use of steamboats in North Carolina. After reading background information, they take notes on their reading and participate in a class discussion. They complete a KWL chart and share what they have gathered in...

Fourth graders identify the five regions and the states within them. They research a state from each of five regions, then they choose one of those states to do an extensive research report on following teacher guidelines. They work in...

Students discover how to transfer information from highlighted articles to note cards. Providing students with an organized system to collect and record data provide them with a lifelong skill.

Upper graders investigate how the Seventh Day Adventists are objectors to the practice of war. The instructional activity covers the Civil War and examines the church's position about the practice of war. The research extends to modern...

So many people fought for Civil Rights in the United States. Read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and discuss what the act guarantees. Then pass out a slew of magazines and encourage them to observe how often minorities appear in...

How did the women in France feel about their country’s involvement in World War II? Class groups are assigned a country involved in WWII, and individuals within the group adopt the point of view of leaders, laborers, businessmen, women,...

Is your opinion significant? Help your class discover the influence their opinions hold and encourage them to make a positive change in their community. To start, they get in teams and brainstorm why their school should have more healthy...

After reading a very brief excerpt from Frederick Douglass' autobiography, learners cite textual evidence to support a main idea of the primary source about Douglass' humiliating experience with slavery. This is a brief exercise that...

Are your AP classes struggling with Document Based Questions? Nip their problems in the bud with this clear and comprehensive presentation, which compares a "dazzling DBQ" to a hamburger, outlining all of the layers therein....

Read this selection about "food deserts," places where high poverty rates limit access to healthy foods with your class. Six multiple choice questions on comprehension, inferences, vocabulary, and citing the text follow the selection and...

Stop, thief! Do your pupils understand the consequences of plagiarism? Lesson three of six in a series of college and career readiness activities demonstrates the dangers of taking credit for someone else's work. Learners engage in...

Junior geologists work through three mini-lessons that familiarize them with the formation and location of fossil fuels. Part one involves reading about petroleum and where it comes from via a thorough set of handouts. A lab activity...

Students conduct interviews and write about the interview. The information from these interviews is used to create a webpage on Netscape Composer. Students cite Internet sources for any images downloaded from the web. Students also use...

Young scholars engage in a lesson which facilitates their use of web sites to find data, graph it, and interpret it, thus scaffolding graphing skills to prepare students for their 8th grade I-search exit project.

Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...