Teenagers love to take risks to test their personal boundaries, but many risks are too dangerous to try. The set of exercises in this packet teach your class about the ways they can stay safe and protect themselves while still having fun.

Impress upon your young learners the importance of formulating counter arguments based on facts and not opinions. This resource is meant to strengthen arguments designed in a previous instructional activity, but could also be used as a...

What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.

Is love the strongest force in the world? Delve into the themes of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas with an anticipation guide that introduces the main points of discussion. Kids mark their agreement or disagreement with...

Students review letter writing skills and the use of descriptive language, and practice writing persuasive letters, with help from teacher and peers. Letters are then written to nominate friend for Friend of the Year.

Students discover that when writing a how-to paper, they are telling readers how to do something such as cook a particular recipe. They then choose one of the provided topics and write their own how-to paper.

Third graders pose questions about the subject of a short story based on the title and cover illustration; then read the story and determine if their questions actually pertained to the story line, and, if so, how the story answered the...

Students research the Comox Band's system of government and report on what kind of government they think would work for them. In this government lesson plan, students decide between a hereditary system or an election system of...

Readers identify main ideas and supporting details using informational texts. In this literacy lesson plan, they make predictions and read the text to find the main ideas. They use a table diagram to define the main idea and supporting...

Students write a persuasive letter. In this persuasive writing lesson, students view a video of the first flight and read The Wright Sister by Richard Maurer.  Students discuss societal roles of women.

Learners write a persuassive paragraph to the President stating their opinion on a topic. To do this, they start the message with a topic sentence such as "War is _____." The blank should contain a word or phrase expressing the student's...

Students practice summarizing a story that they have read. They write a persuasive essay encouraging others to read the story they have finished. They are to create a movie trailer or advertisement to promote the book.

Third graders explore how to write the five-paragraph essay.

Students write expanded paragraphs about children's rights. In this writing and children's rights lesson, students listen to Caroline Castle's, For Every Child, noting the points about children's rights on each page. They discuss each of...

Students research information on the causes of the Civil War. They rank their top three reasons and individuals responsible for the war and then use that information to write a position paper.

Tenth graders study the steps and methods taken by Gandhi.  In this World History instructional activity, 10th graders create illustrations to represent these steps.  Students write a persuasive essay on these measures taken by...

Sixth graders study point of view by rewriting an existing narrative paragraph (using a different point-of-view). They expand this knowledge by writing an expository paragraph, then rewriting it to reflect a different point-of-view.

Students compare the journey of Lewis and Clark with the space flight of Apollo 11. Students sequence events using a timeline. Students write a persuasive essay trying to persuade the people of the US to support space exploration.

Learners consider the global climate issue. For this Northwest Passage lesson, students examine who has sovereignty of the passage and discuss the importance of the Law of the Seas and its impact on the global climate issue. Learners...

Eleventh graders examine the Cold War.  For this American History lesson, 11th graders develop answers to comprehension questions about the song "We Didn't Start the Fire".  Students write a persuasive essay at the end of the...

Students analyze racial issues related to the Human Genome Project. They participate in a mock symposium and write a reflection/position paper based on specific ethical principals.

Ninth graders examine the use of corporal punishment in Canada. In groups, they make their own advertisement trying to persuade others to support or disagree with the practice. They also write a persuasive essay and draw an image...

High schoolers write a persuasive essay explaining how religion and/or spirituality serves as both a guide and a source of conflict for both an individual and their culture. They develop a definition for the terms spiritual and...

Students compare historical interpretations. In this research skills lesson, students use Internet and print resources to research the controversy regarding Christopher Columbus's work as an explorer. Students use their...