Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...

Young writers design and publish a newsletter with articles that demonstrate knowledge of mathematical concepts. They explain mathematical procedures and basic operations in a news article format. Next, they compile several articles to...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass provides the text for a study of how writers bring characters to life. Using the provided character mapping worksheets, readers respond to questions and then write a short character sketch.

"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;. . ." Why is this guarantee of free speech and a free press the First Amendment to the US Constitution? Why are these rights so essential to a...

Feeling high is not the only side effect of abusing prescription opioids. Middle and high schoolers learn more about specific painkillers, including Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Clonazepam, as well as their common brand names and extensive...

The American Revolution is the theme of a five-week unit that focuses on reading, grammar, morphology, and writing. Scholars read and respond to texts, practice spelling and word work, and write paragraphs. Assessments gauge comprehension.

Do your class members ever focus too much on graphics or animations when designing a PowerPoint presentation? Have you ever come across a presentation filled with great information, but found it difficult to read because of color choices...

First graders participate in listening to the book, The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. They practice comprehension by making text-to-self- connections while reading. They collaborate with a small group in order to participate in a...

Readers of Orson Scott Card's award-winning science fiction novel, Ender's Game use the provided KWL worksheet to list what they already know about war, what they think they will learn in reading the book, the new information they...

Have you always wanted to take your science class on an amazing field trip they will never forget? Now you can! Observe the wildlife in an African savanna through trail cameras with a five-part data analysis activity. Learners analyze...

Chapter nine of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath provides the text for an exercise that asks readers to think deeply about the items the Joads left behind and what these items might represent.

Readers of Paradise Lost draw parallels between Milton's tale and Gene Zion's Harry the Dirty Dog, an illustrated children's book.

This comprehension learning exercise provides readers with an article about basic matter and then asks them to use this information to respond to a series of comprehension questions.

Begin your unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea with an anticipation guide. As kids read 12 statements that relate to the novel's themes, they decide whether each is true or false in their own opinion.

Here is a fine lesson on teaching ways to use context clues. Upper graders split up into groups and use sticky notes to cover up five words in a passage of text. The passages are rotated to the other groups, and learners must use their...

"What are Henry's options?" "What do you think Henry will do?" To better understand the central conflict for the main character in Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members engage in a compare-and-contrast activity that...

To prepare for a reading of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, kids must prioritize a list of items to take with them on a journey to Texas.

By engaging in an arts-based activity, 2nd graders explore peace in the classroom. They listen to the story The Rainbow Fish, then create their own fish to hang in the classroom. They write three things that make them happy on...

Dinnertime on the African savanna is a highly choreographed event! Introduce young ecologists to the concept of niche partitioning through a hands-on activity. Pupils research animal behaviors and use data to develop an understanding of...

Prior to reading Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members are presented with a problematic situation and to rate their responses as well as predict the responses of a character from the novel.

Readers of Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to write a personal letter to Henry, the main character in Robert Cormier's young adult novel, offering Henry advice about whether he should do as Mr. Hairston wants.

Imagine drawing with zeros and ones. The third lesson in a unit of 15 introduces the class to creating black and white images. Pairs get together to create an encoding scheme in order to make these images. They move on to a...

Middle school years can be tough. An educator's guide for the works of Lynda Mullaly Hunt introduces readers to two texts that discuss the struggles pre-teens face during middle school. Chapter-by-chapter questions and activities for two...

Learners take a closer look at one journalist's work on UN Peacebuilding efforts in four African nations: Sierra Leone, Burundi, Central African Republic, and Guinea Bissau. They collaborate to define peacebuilding and discuss...