Interactive
Mr. Nussbaum

American Revolution

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Test scholar's reading comprehension skills with a practice that challenges pupils to read an informational text about the Amerian Revolution then answer 10 questions. 
Article
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

Ascd: Building Literacy in Social Studies: Ch 1: Reading Social Studies Texts

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Article provides excellent tips and strategies for building comprehension and critical thinking skills in Social Studies. It describes some of the challenges students have with reading and understanding their textbooks.
Unit Plan
Thinkport Education

Thinkport: Read Like This a Strategy for Close Reading of Literature

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Learn and practice close reading strategies to help increase your understanding of how to approach challenging and complex texts.
Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Integrating Information: A Titanic Challenge

For Students 5th Standards
Read about the sinking of the Titanic and learn to identify key ideas in multiple texts, review similarities and differences between those key ideas, and identify the difference between important and interesting key ideas. This...
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Challenges Facing the Nation

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The new United States had no blueprint to follow in establishing a new democratic government. Read about the challenges facing the new nation, and how it dealt with ways to make the government work.
Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: Reading Guide to Yerzierska

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Two short stories from Polish immigrant, Anzia Yerzierska, about the challenges of Americanization that immigrants faced in the early-twentieth century. Includes questions for discussion.
Professional Doc
AdLit

Ad lit.org: Multiple Texts: Multiple Opportunities for Teaching and Learning

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Engaging all students in a themed study or unit is a challenge that teachers can resolve by using materials that match students' independent or instructional reading levels (Robb 1994, 2000). When students face textbooks that are above...
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Years of Crisis

For Students 9th - 10th
It's not surprising the United States would have challenges in its first years. Read about the problems with foreign countries, its own citizens who resisted taxes, and dealings with Native Americans.
Graphic
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Young Inventors

For Students Pre-K - 1st
In this stills collage adapted from the National Science Teachers Association/Craftsman Young Inventors Awards, see several inventions by students in grades 4-7 and read about some of the challenges they faced during the design process.
Website
Other

Finding Dulcina: Strom Thurmond Ends Longest Filibuster in Senate History

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Senator Strom Thurmond's epic filibuster in an attempt to forestall the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. There is a brief biography of Thurmond and his political life, as well as information about the use of the...
Article
Curated OER

Kids Health: Teens Health: Dealing With Bullying

For Students 9th - 10th
Site provides an article on bullying explaining what it is, why some teens are bullies, and how to handle the situation if one is being bullied. Easy to read and filled with good information.
Article
Scholastic

Scholastic: Teaching Tools: Easy Ways to Have Fun Teaching Time Skills

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
This site discusses easy ways to have fun teaching time skills. These activities, games, and books will help your students master reading and measuring time.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Multitasking: Brain Drain or Boost in Efficiency?

For Students 9th - 10th
Think it's a good idea to plug into iTunes, surf the Web, or watch TV while doing homework or trying to read? Many people do it and claim that jumping from one activity to another keeps their attention level up and even gives their brain...
Lesson Plan
University of Texas

Inside Mathematics: Pocket Money [Pdf]

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
This task challenges a student to demonstrate fluency in adding and subtracting whole numbers.
Website
BBC

Bbc: Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi

For Students 9th - 10th
The idea of protesting by using non-violent means was a philosophy Gandhi modeled in India. Read about his background and how his religious beliefs inspired his peaceful ways. Included are conversations with Millie Polak who lived with...
Lesson Plan
Utah Education Network

Uen: Character Mapping

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders will read a high interest novel and analyze how a character responds to a challenge. Students will reflect on the theme conveyed in the novel, too.
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: Dictator for a Day

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
A lesson plan challenging students to identify the pros and cons of dictatorship and applying those to understand what life was like in Ancient Rome. Find adaptations for younger students, discussion questions, assessment, enrichment, as...
Article
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Fake or Real? How to Self Check the News and Get the Facts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Read a story on Facebook. Read the headline and think it's too good to be true, but it looks like it's from a news site. Experts offer tips to help sniff out fact from fake. One of today's greatest challenges in a media bombarded culture.
Handout
BBC

Bbc: Science and Nature: Three Million Years Ago

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a trip back to three million years ago and learn about the different animals and their land that relate to the evolution of man. This article offers a look at the challenges and changes faced by our ancestors and suggests several...
Professional Doc
AdLit

Ad lit.org: Some Obstacles to Vocabulary Development

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A strong vocabulary, both written and spoken, requires more than a dictionary. In fact, it requires an educational commitment to overcoming four obstacles: the size of the task (the number of words students need to learn is exceedingly...
Graphic
Other

Metrocosm: Visualizing the Great Migration

For Students 9th - 10th
The Great Migration had a profound impact on many aspects of American life. Watch this map to see how the growth of African Americans living in the north grew from 1910-1970. Read the reasons for the migration and the challenges they...
Primary
Other

Policy Innovations: Leadership as Practical Ethics

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Dealing with difficult issues in the classroom can be challenging. Read about ethical reasoning and choices and how to address them in the classroom and the community setting.
Handout
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Populist Party

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about how "the Populists challenged white supremacy by forming coalitions between black and white farmers who shared a common cause." Part of a larger website called "Jim Crow Stories", this brief article paints the Populist Party...
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Martin Luther, a German monk in the sixteenth century who spoke out about the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. He also used the printing press, which had been recently invented, to spread his ideas more widely and thus...