Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson includes several options to complete...

Learn by doing! Young artists try their hand at creating their own self-portraits in the style of Vincent van Gogh. This worksheet contains a brief explanation of the essential qualities of van Gogh's art: complementary colors and...

Explore the implications of the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II. Learners read Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood, participate in classroom discussions about the novel and keep journals in which they respond to...

You can't publish a story until after it has been revised and edited! Budding authors investigate the writing process while drafting an original story. They select a topic, complete a rough draft, edit it, revise it, and finally publish...

Stress the importance of authenticating online resources and understanding the sources of websites' information with this activity. Using a Web-based activity, the instructional activity prompts young learners to think critically about...

If your class can sequence events in a story, are pretty good at retell, and can identify the main point, they are probably ready for reading comprehension through summarizing. This lesson provides a teacher's script that facilitates...

Give this literacy worksheet to your beginning readers to help them draw out key details and retell in their own words. They read a short fantasy story about a bear in space which includes dialogue, onomatopoeia, and a simple story line....

Your scholars will be hooked after reading the cryptic narrative poem "The Listeners." They explain why it is so mysterious, then use the poem to learn about pronouns. Learners read an excerpt from the poem that has been altered to...

The story of Abe Lincoln serves as the backdrop to this vocabulary-in-context activity as you read David Adler's A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln. Scholars learn these politically themed words before listening to you read the story...

What does suspension mean? Learn this and other bridge-related vocabulary as scholars listen to Ryan Ann Hunter's nonfiction book, Cross a Bridge. This strategy can be applied to any book. Before reading, acquaint pupils...

As budding readers learn about the ocean, they'll get practice with the alphabet and new vocabulary words (cling, nab, prey, slumber, and thrive) in context. Read Deborah Rose's book Into the A, B, Sea, which includes a...

Explore the dancing prodigy and Depression-era African-American icon Bill Robinson as scholars learn new vocabulary words in context. As you read Leo Dillon's Rap a Tap Tap they listen for six new words: clatter, greet,...

Class groups examine a series of poems that use Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac as a motif in Holocaust poetry. Included are questions, notes to the teacher, and bibliographical information on each poem. The activities could be...

Who is Zora Neale Hurston? Read the autobiography the best known female writer from the Harlem Renaissance. After reading the novel Dust Tracks on a Road, have your class complete this packet. There are 12 multiple-choice questions...

Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation. Class members use Bloom's taxonomy to craft six levels of discussion questions for Chris Crowe's novel, Mississippi Trial, 1955. Model questions from Chapter 3, a...

Readers of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will learn much “more than what (is) said to them” as they use the biopoem format and craft a poem about one of the major characters in Steinbeck’s tragic story of Geroge Milton and Lennie...

Character analysis is a skill we use when we read literary works or want to write a good story. Learners will use drama to practice character analysis while focusing on the details that make characters act the way they do. They'll each...

Your budding scholars spent the day in the library looking for a topic for their research essay, and now they are all in tears because there is too much information available on their topics. Wipe those tears away with the ideas and...

Create an abundance of understanding, as your high school learners learn to analyze multiple love poems. Part one of this resource has learners define what love is, examine art that reflects the love between Robert and Elizabeth...

Instructing learners on how to craft a good paragraph, a skill required of all writers, is the focus of a 23-page packet that includes directions, graphic organizers, exercises, and worksheets for guided practice. 

As part of a media literacy unit, class members establish criteria for good video reporting, and practice giving both positive (warm) and constructive (cool) criticism.

Read about all the jobs astronauts do and all the responsibilities they have while on a spacewalk. After reading the what, the why, and the how about spacewalks, readers respond to six comprehension questions.

Get your pupils outside and teach them about peace at the same time! Scholars create a list describing peace, hike outside, add to that list, and later create poems. The exercises support differentiation for your individual classes as...

What does it take to build a stage production from the ground up? Scholars read a weekly blog detailing the behind-the-scenes action of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. They also listen to interviews with the cast, meet the...