A controversial construction project in South America, the Belo Monte dam, is endangering local cultures, ecosystems, and communities. High schoolers create a concept map based on an online article they read before engaging in...

The New York Times article “Lessons in Internet Plagiarism,” launches a look at how the Internet has increased the prevalence of plagiarism. The richly detailed lesson includes warm-up and wrap-up activities, discussion questions,...

A continuation of the previous lesson, which is part of a larger group of lessons on human rights (see additional materials). Here, in Lesson 7, your class will explore more articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After...

Creative projects are a great way to engage your class and can be a fun way to assess mastery! Learners create brochures and postcards that might have been created by and for travelers to ancient Mayan cities. They read and discuss the...

Here is a fine lesson on reading and understanding expository text designed for 4th graders. With a partner, learners read a passage of text about a machine called a wheelright. This machine was commonly used in the colonial...

We are living in a technical world. Scholars learn how to examine digital resources for their research on DDT. They explore a list of websites using a Digital Resources on DDT sheet. Learners examine their research notebook to...

An interesting and unusual topic for a news article, this resource from the New York Times website asks learners to take a moment and consider all the things they notice during a typical day. Based of the editorial piece "Things I...

It's important that writers leave their readers with a strong and satisfying conclusion. Help your young writers develop the skills to compose a concluding sentence with the steps outlined here. After class members have had a chance to...

Shoo fly. Scholars read DDT Spray Scares Mosquitoes Away, Study Finds and You Think You Have It Tough? to complete a mid-unit assessment. The learners compare and contrast author presentation and conduct a credibility check on each...

Students discover what an archeologist is and make inferences about societies and cultures based on artifacts.  In this archeology lesson, students complete an array of captivating activities, guessing about what an artifact is...

Revision is an important part of the writing process. Focus on revising topic sentences and details with the plan described here. This is part of a unit, so pupils have already filled out a graphic organizer about traveling...

For the final step of the performance task for this unit, class members will create an illustration to go with the paragraph on their bookmark. After looking at models, guide pupils toward recognizing the criteria for an effective...

Using everything they have learned about writing paragraphs over the past few lessons of the unit, class members compose an informative paragraph independently. This is an authentic assessment of their ability, since learners have...

This detailed lesson plan from New York Times' The Learning Network centers around Carroll Academy and its girl's basketball team. Learners compare their school to Carroll Academy, read anywhere from 1 to 5 engaging articles about the...

Students, in a program entitled "Strategies for Success," examine ways to change public perception of their school. In this project-based lesson, they explore local social and environmental issues, develop a conflict resolution...

For this reading comprehension worksheet, students read several passages about the film industry and then answer eight corresponding questions. Additionally, students write a short description of a documentary they would make about...

First graders through a variety of strategies assess how to write in journals openly and effectively. Those strategies include integration of technology, story telling, group and team work, performance-based assessment/rubrics, visual...

Allow the residents of this grammar-packed city to teach your pupils the parts of speech with songs, videos, quizzes, and more. Kids can get to know each part of speech and sing along with the catchy tunes!

Augment your unit on Carl Hiaasen's Hoot with a series of activities about the environment, civil disobedience, making an impact in the world, and growing up. A list of literary concepts and themes helps you to write your lessons to...

Designed as an overview for instructors using The Last Lecture for the first time, this packet provides an overview of Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow's book.

After youngsters have learned about different human emotions, challenge them to unscramble this list of feelings in this worksheet based on the images provided.

Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...

The twelfth instructional activity of this unit builds on the skills developed in the previous instructional activity, as fourth graders continue their quest to become experts on colonial trade by listening to interviews with historical...

Voices from the past. Young scholars listen to a podcast interview with a historical re-enactor as they continue their research in the eleventh instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. Applying their close reading skills,...