Everyone can be a poet with this simple activity! After reading of Lucy Westerna's death, assign your class this bio poem on Professor Van Helsing. There's a specific format to follow, but it'll be interesting to see how your kids add...

Reinforce the actions, emotions, and characteristics that determine what a character is like by having your middle schoolers create a biopoem using the model presented here. You could engage them first by having them write a poem about...

To begin a study of how to use primary source documents, class members read a brief biography of Mary Maverick, one of the first white women settlers in Texas, and answer comprehension questions based on the reading. The first is a...

A lesson on magical realism has young historians research how Garcia Marquez weaves historical events and his own experiences into One Hundred Years of Solitude. Using historical records and information found in a biography of Garcia...

The impressive story of Benjamin Franklin, including his rise from a printer’s apprentice to a statesman, color upper-level scholars’ understanding of the possibilities of life in colonial Philadelphia. But not everyone had the...

Use a series of extension activities to enhance your class reading of Chris Van Allsburg's holiday classic, The Polar Express. From a biography of the author to filmed book reviews and research about the railroad, kids can take...

According to some estimates, there are more guns than people in the United States. Learners decide if America should enact more gun control laws. They analyze information about gun deaths in the United States by year, read about the...

Is obesity a disease or just a preventable risk factor for other diseases? Scholars attempt to form their own opinions by reading a background of the issue and watching videos that explore the main pro and con arguments using an included...

Suffragette, investigative journalist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells is the focus of a lesson that has young historians study the work of this amazing woman. Scholars watch a video biography of Wells, read the text of her speech...

You, too, can prevent hate crimes! Middle and high schoolers read short biographies of Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, the two men for whom the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) is named. After learning...

"I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works." This colored view is the focus of a close reading activity that asks readers of The Great Gatsby to examine the way...

Pupils have the unique opportunity to learn about the institution of slavery by reading first-hand experiences as described by George Moses Horton, the first slave to publish anti-slavery poetry.

Uncover the answer to a specific clue in a portrait of George Washington with a spyglass in an Internet-based interactive. Learners read a clue to an item hidden in a portrait of the First President of the United States in the last years...

Accompany a reading of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a thorough literature packet. Although the materials are meant to prepare readers for a timed essay, the background information and the activities are...

Remember the Alamo! Scholars investigate the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. Using models, maps, quotes, biographies, and the Oath of Allegiance, the Alamo comes to life as the stories of those who fought and died in...

The first legal gay marriage in the United States occurred in Massachusetts in 2004. Since then, countless others have tied the knot. Scholars decide whether gay marriage should be legal by reading a history of the issue, analyzing the...

Should Social Security be privatized, or is the government program fine just the way it is? Scholars read pro and con arguments and watch videos to learn more about the debate topic. Pupils also have an opportunity to interact with other...

The ancient Greeks used performance enhancing drugs, such as opium juice, when they participated in the original Olympic Games. Pupils research a website with debate topics to decide if athletes' use of such drugs in modern sports is...

Almost 600,000 Americans are arrested each year for marijuana possession. Pupils decide if marijuana should be legalized for recreational use after reading state-by-state laws and the top pro and con arguments. The resource also includes...

In this biography/autobiography lesson, students read a few biographies and discuss the term and it's characteristics. Students then brainstorm what makes a good biography/autobiography and create an 'All about me' poster. Suggested...

Students create a time line. In this biography lesson, students define biography and autobiography and then read short examples of each. Students create a time line using a read aloud.

Students discover the literary genre of biographies.  In this creative writing lesson, students write about their own life experiences and personal stories.  Students create a poster about their lives, a biographical...

Students read a variety of biographies to gain insight on the experiences of an African-American's life. Individually, they try to determine the time period it was written and compare the event with ones that occured in their own lives....

Students read and answer questions about the life of Mark Twain. In this biography lesson, students read about the life and work of Mark Twain. Students complete a worksheet about the reading.