Ever wonder what drones are doing high above us in the sky? This article gives your class an insight to what those robots in the sky are doing. After reading an article on drone technology, pupils are prompted to respond to a...

Taking a day off of school can feel like a lot more work than going because of the time and effort that goes into making sub plans. Make your life easier with a daily plan for a guest teacher designed to meet the needs of sixth...

Scholars examine a list of questions and sort them into corresponding groups based on similarities. A gallery walk allows peers to see how their peers sorted questions and leave notes. Costa's Level of Questions is the topic of a...

Word choice can drastically alter the tone of a piece of writing. Ninth graders read Karen Russell's short story "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" and use textual evidence to help them analyze how word choice affects their...

Here is a lesson plan in which pupils connect themes and rules to live by from the story Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis to those found in the poem If by Rudyard Kipling. First, scholars discuss their reading and review Bud's...

If you only read a poem once, you'll miss many levels of analysis and comprehension. High schoolers finish reading "The Passionate Shepard to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe and discuss how the poem's organization contributes to its...

Before honoring courageous veterans, get to know more about who they are and why November 11th is a special day. Scholars obtain such information through a read aloud of Eve Bunting's The Wall, grand conversation, and...

Are you one of the 100 million Americans whose ancestors passed through the doors of Ellis Island? Learn about the historic entry point for immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with an informative reading passage. After...

Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...

Scholars take part in two exercises to boost their knowledge of personification. After reading a detailed description and excerpts from famous poems, writers list action verbs and objects then combine words to create a humorous...

What is the secret to success? Scholars use close reading of a variety of articles to determine characteristics of people that overcame hardships to become successful. While reading, pupils annotate their copies, make claims, and...

Scholars ponder the beliefs of Confucianism. After reading several sayings made by Confucius, participants complete a chart filling in what each saying means using their own words. Using the same quotes split in half, pairs match...

Nikki Wallschlaeger's Violin is the featured poem in a lesson that uses music and multiple readings to delve deep into its analysis. After a writing warm-up, learners watch and listen to a video that showcases Regina Carter...

Build young scholars' confidence in analyzing art and poetry with a lesson that first asks pupils to list details they notice in Edouard Vuillard's painting "Garden at Vaucresson" and then to describe how the painting makes them feel....

Young historians conduct a close reading of the text of an interview with Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of former slaves who taught herself to read, grew up to establish schools for other Black women, and went on to become an advisor...

Is Antigone relevant to today's readers? After reading Sophocles' tragedy, scholars must decide if the themes are universal and timeless. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to have them closely consider the...

After reading up to chapter 12 of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars read chapter 13 and take part in a grand conversation about the author's writing techniques. Pupils discuss how his writing conveyed literary themes...

Having prepared for an analysis essay about one of the characters from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, tenth graders demonstrate their understanding in a mid-unit assessment. They focus on either Jing-Mei or Waverly in an informative...

How does word choice influence the meaning and tone of a text? To answer this question, class members listen to a masterful reading of a passage from David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and then work with a partner to conduct a close...

Class members continue reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It" and annotate how the author refines his idea that the Madoff scandal grabbed the attention of a public fascinated with crime stories.

After viewing an informational video that introduces Bernard Madoff and the concept of a Ponzi scheme, class members begin reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It," Liaquat Ahamed's New York Times book review that explains Madoff's crime, and...

Show what you know! Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment using text evidence from Frederick Douglass. The teacher then presents expectations for independent reading assignment. Leaving the class, pupils turn in an exit ticket...

Lead your class through a writing exercise that explores personification. After listening to the teacher read a poem that personifies the sky, they go step by step through the writing their own personification poems.

Look into the future with a lesson plan on biodiversity and natural habitats. Learners read articles about different perspectives when it comes to planning future development, and decide which angle is the highest priority in a...