There are some historical events that may warrant greater reflection and more in-depth analysis, and the decision to intern Japanese-Americans in the United States during World War II, as well as to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and...

Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...

Using a constructivist approach and a graphic organizer, small groups work together to begin a paper, comparing and contrasting the novella Night and the movie Life is Beautiful. Assuming that your learners have studied both of these...

Introduce high school freshmen to the characteristics of informative writing with a 5-day instructional activity that distinguishes informative writing from other modes. Scholars learn how to search for and cite reliable resources, then...

The beauty in this resource is the lengthy list of highly charged, controversial-issue research topics. Categories include issues of race, politics, law, environment, education, athletics, gender, and technology. After selecting a topic,...

Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly...

Students create a standard outline, using a word processing tool, while they are learning about the basic writing device of the 5 paragraph essay.

Take young scientists on an exploration of the cosmos with this cross-curricular writing exercise. Tasked with producing an expository composition describing a planet of their choosing, students perform research and...

Analyze magazines as a class, looking carefully for the target audience, advertisements, and topics presented. Small groups then work as a publication team and receive a magazine that they have to "sell." Each individual has a different...

Explore the world of amazing mammals with your kids with special needs. Each child identifies one mammal from a previous lesson and writes a short paragraph on that mammal. This lesson states that it is intended for all levels, but not...

Summary writing is tough for native English speakers, let alone English language learners! In this plan, high school English learners examine how to annotate online articles and write a one-page summary. They can post this summary on...

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,...

Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique students' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book, get...

Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical...

American women have been working toward equal rights since the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence. Focused on the words and actions of Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, and Venus Williams, a language arts lesson takes eighth...

Break down some of the most foundational components of writing a research paper, such as incorporating and formatting citations, creating a thesis statement, and using quotes effectively, into manageable tasks for your young writers.

The Internet is known as the information superhighway, but sometimes it's hard to know when to hit the brakes on unreliable sources. Using a well-rounded lesson plan, pupils read and summarize articles about the gender pay gap and...

What evidence supports the big bang theory? Individuals analyze scholarly resources about the the theory and develop arguments backed by evidence. They brainstorm, share ideas, watch a video, and read articles to complete a graphic...

Take a look at tobacco advertising techniques through the decades. Young scholars analyze the differences in strategies, and write an essay on the advertising history of one brand of tobacco, how tobacco advertising has changed over...

Students practice writing emergency reports. For this emergency reports lesson, students participate in a visit from a police officer or emergency technician. Students then write a historical report based on the fictional account the...

Social media has changed the news publishing process, so how does it affect school news publications? Lesson nine in a 16-part series titled The Social Media Toolbox explores the traditional publishing roles through the lens of social...

Forming a strong organizational outline is important when reading a complex text, writing an informative essay, or analyzing a complicated problem. Use a straightforward organization outline to teach learners about concept mapping.

Pupils practice researching sources and logging citation information with this graphic organizer. After posing a general topic, groups of students are asked to devise general questions about that topic, and to research sources...

What can you contribute? Scholars read text to determine how ants contribute to the rainforest. First, they categorize and sort facts gathered from reading. Next, readers focus on specific terms in each paragraphs of the text Ants by...