Students examine the themes of loneliness and frustrated love in the work of Carson McCullers. In this theme analysis activity, students complete a comparison of patterns in the novels of McCullers as a part of a theme analysis.

Students evaluate Anzia Yezierska's story, "Children of Loneliness," in relation to Jewish immigrants coming to America. They discuss the connections in the story to their own coming to America and their roles as parents. After...

Students research and enhance the Jewish immigrant experience to that of contemporary immigrants to sustain a connection to their personal family stories. A story is shared with the class and then a discussion follows on the possible...

Kids get real about moving out and living on their own. They review landlord/tenant laws, discuss housing options and then check the classified ads. Individually or in pairs, they research housing options and discuss topics such as...

Seventh graders use literary terms while discussing literature with their peers. They explore literature on a deeper level. Students formulate their opinions regarding response to literature, as this lesson helps students practice...

Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...

Students work through a Haiku Organizer to determine the characteristics they use to write eight haiku poems on a theme that they choose. They design presentation folders of their completed work.

Students explore William D. Huff's experience during Civil War as portrayed in his drawings, express empathy and demonstrate historical knowledge through creating their own artwork, and craft drawings and captions from perspectives of...

Notes of pride and persecution, exclusion and isolation resonate in flamenco. Introduce this musical art form to your social studies or Spanish language classes with a resource that follows a young flamenco guitarist as he...

Two lessons, "What Does Cyber Bullying Look Like?" and "Factors Influencing My Reporting the Bullying of Others," serve as examples of the 12 included in a Bully Free curriculum. Each plan includes discussion questions, an activity,...

Young scholars explore and evaluate poetry. In small groups, they read and summarize poems, complete a handout, create and perform a dramatization of a poem, and write a journal entry in response to their performance.

Analyze the writing of Edgar Allen Poe by reading and then writing in a similar style. Budding authors learn about the life of Poe and read one or more of his famous works online. Partner groups create an original piece of writing using...

Learners identify the characteristics of a good friend and assess themselves as a friend. They practice opening statements to initiate conversation and discuss ways to maintain friendships.

Students take an in depth look at different aspects of the Civil War. Using primary source documents, they discover that people who lived during the war are not so different from them. They read about the experience of a Confederate...

Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...

Pupils examine photographs from the Civil War. Using a primary source document, they discover the conditions of a private during the Battle of Chickamauga. In groups, they use the sources to determine the authnecity of the documents.

Students explore differences in cultures while researching Indian boarding schools in the United States. They explore issues related to the forced acculturation of American Indians into the American culture and examine different...

Learners read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojacieckowski. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the Christmas holiday. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies,...

Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....

  In this Diary of a Part-Time Indian comprehension check worksheet, students respond to 23 short answer questions covering pages 199-230 of Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie in order to help them better understand the...

"Mistakes are necessary; therefore, we shouldn't shelter children from the world." Class members agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or disagree with a series of statements related to concepts explored in The Catcher in the Rye....

Middle schoolers create a bookmark about symbolism. In this literature-based lesson plan, students study the meaning of the word symbolism. Middle schoolers read and analyze the symbolism found in "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. Then...

Young scholars analyze a piece of writing by creating diary entries based on a character.  In this reading comprehension lesson plan, students read an assigned book with their classmates and create a sketch of what they believe the...

Students investigate human behavior by defining bullies.  In this psychology lesson, students read the book Just One Flick of a Finger, and discuss why bullies act out in front of other children.  Students investigate actions...