Turning 11 comes with a range of emotions. Explore those emotions by reading the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. Readers analyze the main character's reactions to the events of her day. Then, they write an essay describing what...

Most of us have heard of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Martin Luther King, Jr. But what about Claudette Colvin, Virginia Durr, Freedom Summer, or the Birmingham Children's Crusade? A five-lesson unit prompts class...

Should Internet users who send data-heavy content pay higher fees than those who are involved in activities, like sending an email, that have less content? This question is at the heart of the Net Neutrality debate. After watching a PBS...

Wes Magee's poem "The Chimney Boy's Story" about chimney sweeps/climbing boys is used as an introduction to a activity that asks groups to research child labor in Victorian Britain. 

This discussion based lesson focuses on the sensitive topic of suicide attacks or bombings used throughout history during times of militaristic upheaval. Learners read news stories, compose journal entries, and engage in a class...

What is the connection? As scholars read paragraph nine of the chapter "Of Our Spiritual Strivings," they determine how Du Bois connects the ideas he presents in the text. They then participate in class discussions, define words, answer...

What happens when a tenuous grasp on sanity begins to slip? Compare Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and Emily Dickinson's "I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain" with a lesson plan focused on developing a common central idea. High...

Address annotation, word choice, and tone in the same language arts instructional activity. Ninth graders read a section of Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" and track character development based on supporting...

Why is Romeo and Juliet considered a tragedy? Class members conclude their reading of the play, focusing on the final lines of Act 5, scene 3. They also consider how Shakespeare structures the text, orders events, and manipulates time to...

Who is to blame for Bernie Madoff's crime? Class members look for evidence Diana B. Henriques uses in The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust to support her claims that we share the responsibility with Madoff.

Say precisely what you mean. Scholars analyze the importance of Washington's precise language in paragraphs eight and nine of the "Atlanta Compromise" speech. They interpret his figurative language and add it to their Idea Tracking...

Readers closely examine paragraph nine in Du Bois's "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" to understand prejudice's meaning and research Jim Crow laws.

The capitalization rules are strict and inflexible—until you experience the fluid beauty of an Emily Dickinson poem. Ninth graders test their existing knowledge of language arts conventions with the many bent grammar rules in "I Felt a...

How can good study habits set someone up for a successful career? Learners explore the relationship between study skills and job skills in the fourth installment of a five-part college and career readiness lesson plan series. The group...

Close readers and forensic detectives alike deal with collecting strong evidence. Ninth graders become involved in an instructional activity about Sophocles' Oedipus the King, in which they find connections between Oedipus' stated words...

As the first in a two-part, end-of-unit assessment that encourages readers to synthesize the unit's main ideas, class members review their notes for each of the three texts they read and develop three open-ended discussion questions...

Writers complete editing and polishing the final draft of their research paper and submit the document for assessment.

Foster's Rule? Allopatric speciation? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class members use Venn diagrams to compare endemic species on the Channel Islands with mainland related species. They then create a...

Most want to attend college, but do they know where? How will they afford it? How do they apply? Learners discover the costs associated with college and the best way to budget and possibly apply for financial aid. 

Here is lesson 9 in an extensive series on teaching and learning ASL. Discuss code switching, numerical incorporation, and noun based vocabulary. Then, click on the blue links to view ASL in action. Each link takes you to a printable...

Students investigate the controversial planned mosque at Ground Zero. In this current events lesson, students watch 3 public service announcement clips sponsored by the Council on American Islamic Relations and discuss their...

"No!" Accepting a "No" response and handling rejection appropriately can be a challenge. After reviewing the previous activity on asking for what they want, class members role-play appropriate ways of responding when their request has...

Enhance language proficiency with a Special Friends themed English language development unit. Each lesson follows a listen, speak, move, and/or look routine that is guaranteed to get your scholars discussing topics such as animal...