The motto for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry warns that one should never tickle a sleeping dragon, but learners will definitely be tickled by the activities in a packet of materials designed to accompany a reading of the...

Just what did Ben Franklin read? By juxtaposing Ben Franklin’s reading material as a young man with an analysis of his developed ideas, learners gain the opportunity to see how the influences of his youthful reading played out. Roman,...

CliffsNotes provides a list of study questions to help your high schoolers grapple with The Worldly Philosophers. Some of them are simple and straight forward, while others offer an opportunity to dig in deeper! Consider printing this...

Help your class examine humanity's unpredictable nature through "Life Steps Almost Straight." Learners read various works from philosophers such as Viktor Frankl, The Buddha, and Nietzsche to gather textual evidence and explain their...

Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...

Ethos, pathos, and logos. After reading a passage about Aristotle's, three basic tools of persuasion, individuals answer a series of multiple choice comprehension questions and craft responses to three short-answer essay prompts.

Introduce young philosophers to the wisdom of China's most famous thinkers with a short bio. The reading comprehension passage includes an answer key.

Students reflect on the lives of older people they know, then research and debate the key issues surrounding scientific experimentation in anti-aging. They write a short story that reflects their own philosophical beliefs on aging and...

Shocking! After viewing a short clip from the 1931 movie, Frankenstein and reviewing electricity references in Mary Shelley's novel, class members examine Luigi Galvani's and Alessandro Volta's observations on electricity and muscle...

Students identify the contributions of immigrants to America. They analyze the value of these contributions as well. They discuss how these contributions affect other's personal perspectives of immigrants.

Relate literary works and authors to the major themes of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the 20th century. Working in groups, high schoolers will evaluate period philosophy, religion, and politics that influenced...

Eleventh graders analyze how American literature shows a lot of different genres. In groups, 11th graders create a short report about the passage they have chosen.

Can we perceive reality or are we chained by preconceptions that limit our vision? Plato’s allegory “The Cave” serves to introduce nascent philosophers to Plato’s dialogues and hopefully to engender a love of ideas and discourse. A...

Students explore parts of speech by collaborating in groups. In this verbs instructional activity, students examine several boring sentences with their class and define verbs which can spice the sentence up. Students collaborate in pairs...

Seventh graders examine the contributions and influences of dynasties on Chinese history. They role-play as citizens during selected dynasties and write daily autobiographical entries. Students complete projects on the geography,...

Key concepts, major writers, and historical events related to Transcendentalism are explored in a student-produced PowerPoint about this movement. The presentation could be used as an introduction to a unit or as a model that class...

C.S. Lewis outlines in his final book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, the struggle of what happens during prayer, and the purpose of the action. The resource provides two sets of questioning. The first furnishes deep...

Students explore what it means to have wealth in Mali and in the United States. In this economics lesson, students read "Music in the Fields." Student groups answer discussion questions.  Students reflect on the purpose music serves...

Learners use the Internet and video to discover how find evidence in poetry in order to discover the theme(s) of the poems. They are able to define poetic devices like simile, metaphor and repetition. Students identify themes in...

Students investigate the dramatic elements of The Crucible. In this drama lesson plan, students explore the elements and themes of the Arthur Miller play as they read the play and watch performances of some of the acts. Students...

To do this engaging and pleasurable activity, your learners should have already read a graphic novel, and produced a piece of writing that can be reproduced into the format of a graphic novel. This exercise provides a script that...

Students explore the underlying principles behind the Minimalist art movement. They create their own Minimalist works of art that explore specific philosophical questions.

Students investigate the murder case of Emmett Till and identify the missing pieces from the case. Through research, they then work to fill in the gaps to create a basis for examining how justice might be served anew in this...

High schoolers examine the concept of heroism in this lesson plan, through personal reflection, group activities and a thoughtful analysis of the documentary, HEROES OF GROUND ZERO. They explore their own understanding of what it means...