In a time of fake news, media manipulation, and Internet trolls, a resource equips learners with the tools they need to recognize and combat resources that are designed to appeal to our cognitive biases. Introduce learners to five...

"What is the theme of this story?" The very question can spark fear in the minds of readers and incinerate confidence. Here you will discover an exercise that shows how writers use the tools of setting, plot, conflict, and...

By digitally organizing research, your class leaves a legacy for future students on the life and times of Mark Twain. Before reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, scholars conduct group research projects on one of six (listed)...

After reading or watching the musical Les Miserables, challenge your high schoolers with these analysis questions. The sheet provided suggests having class members record the answers to these questions, but they would also be good...

Students write a line by line analysis of a song which they feel expresses a powerful message that can change society for the better. They then present their analysis to the class in an oral report.

High schoolers interpret a piece of poetry with images and music in a movie project.

Young scholars read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and listen to the musical tape. Then they make their own coconut trees, adding their own letters. They express and record their favorite parts. All are displayed on a bulletin board.

Explore the concept of rhyme scheme within a Shakespearean sonnet. After writing out their favorite (appropriate!) rap song and explaining why they like it, middle schoolers define a rhyme scheme. Afterward, they examine a Shakespearean...

Learners examine important role of woodblock printing in Chinese history, identify message important to them, and create woodblock prints to gain first-hand understanding of how it was used as tool for communication.

Students practice their reading comprehension while listening to a classic folktale from India.  In this cultural storytelling lesson, students read the book The Cleverest Thief and complete word identification worksheets based on...

Take a journey to India with a read aloud of The Drum: A Folktale from India by Rob Cleveland. Make connections to the story's theme by building and practicing drums, role playing story characters, and practicing skills in phonics, math,...

Students, in groups, design and develop Web sites dedicated to special skills traditionally taught by humans rather than by technology. They write Web site reviews that describe and assess their group's envisioned Internet site.

Exposing learners to the power of words in poetry is a stimulating way to learn languages. Songs, haikus, rhyming words, and narrative works are all employed in a resource for teaching English as a Second Language.

Students are introduced to the elements in poetry. After listening to music, they discuss how it made them feel and what the lyrics mean to them. Individually, they are given specific elements to write their poem and share it with the...

Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton's Rooster's Night Out, a retelling of a classic Cuba folktale, launches a cross-curricular study of Cuban cultural traditions. Class members draw the characters from the book, participate in math and...

Second graders explore how musical instruments h ave varying geometric shape, and how those geometric shapes correspond to three-dimenaional shapes that students have studied.

Students become aware of the importance of distinguishing between inner and outer beauty. They explore how the media's opinion of beauty is biased and should be evaluated rather than just accepted. Each student also assesses how the...

Fourth graders explore and discuss how to create a class web site with a background, graphics, clip art and photos. They assess the safety issues putting a web page on the Internet, develop sound interviewing techniques and coordinate...

How very clever. No need to monkey around with this resource. Rob Cleveland's version of the West African tale, "The Clever Monkey Rides Again," is used as the basis for multiple of cross-curricular activities including exercises...

Students complete a variety of activities related to the folktale from India, "The Drum." They listen to the story and answer comprehension questions, construct a coffee can drum, and complete a phonics and matching worksheet.

That tricky Anansi! Join him and Turtle in the story Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk, based on the African folktale. Kids answer comprehension questions and sing songs about spiders before creating spider...

Students listen to the book, The Ogre Bully, and discuss the problems the farmer and his family had during the story.  In this garden themed lesson, students examine different fruit and vegetables and plant them in soil to...

Learners explore a West African folktale. In this folktale lesson plan, students read the book The Clever Monkey Rides Again and discuss the trickster characters from the tale. Learners participate in a discussion about the folktale and...

First graders read The Cleverest Thief and participate in various activities across the curriculum areas. In this story lesson, 1st graders arrange an anagram of the word monastery.  Students complete worksheets to alphabetize and...