Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with...

Set the stage for Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, by asking readers to indicate whether they agree or disagree with several statements that are connected to issues...

Does Amir have an obligation to find Sohrab and take him to the orphanage? That is the question class members debate as part of their reading of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. 

Students read and respond to the text, Mama Went to Jail for the Vote. For this literary response lesson, students are introduced to vocabulary terms and read the book. Students discuss various text-to-self connections they made to the...

Students examine the grid in terms of a method of organization in our society as well as graphic design. In this "Making and Breaking the Grid" lesson, students design solutions to common problems and draw conclusions about patterns and...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Just because you can, should you? Reflections on the ethics and limits of medical research are prompted by a reading of excerpts of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, viewing of clips from the 1931 film, and examining sections of the online...

We take a steady shower stream and clean drinking water for granted, but in many countries around the world, the lack of water or a clean water supply is responsible for higher sickness and death rates. Taking a closer look at the water...

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a comic strip combines both images and words for the ultimate narrative effect. After reading The Three Little Pigs and deciphering the plot elements, elementary readers work through four...

Disguises and role playing are the focus of a resource that uses Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part I, to demonstrate how we all play many parts in our lives; how we all are “merely players.” The many...

Developed specifically for AVID students, this packet of materials that includes an explanation of the Socratic seminar, the preparation materials, and tips and protocols, is a must-have resource for any class. 

A staggering amount of work went into compiling this vocabulary resource for Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. The overview provides a rationale for the strategy and information about tier 1, 2, and 3 words. The...

Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the...

As your class progresses through Chapter four of Ethan Frome, provide them with these thought-provoking questions built using Bloom's Taxonomy. 

Should identifying a tragic hero be based on a universal definition or a definition based on the morals and values of a specific culture? As part of a study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Sylvia Plath's "Colossus" and then...

Kids fight obesity by comparing the USDA food intake suggestions to what they personally consume throughout the day. They watch a video, read texts, and explore related vocabulary which they use as they compose an oral presentation. 

As part of their reading of The Hobbit, readers create a biopoem for one of Tolkien's characters.

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...

Students read and view information sent from seven high school students who travel to China. The daily reports that they send back to the weblog section of the site should be of high interest to students in Minnesota.

The historical background for Fever 1793 is the focus of a pre-reading strategy that has class groups rotate through a series of stations stocked with photographs, articles, and other texts that describe the Yellow Fever outbreak of...

Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their...

Are your scholars reading Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee? If so, use this textual analysis packet and lesson guide to drive deeper thinking about the characters, create personal connections, and apply historical...