Small efforts can have global impacts. Learners use data to analyze public health impacts on climate change. They read articles that present relative data about climate change and use the data to make conclusions about the impact on...

America: a nation that continues to change. Budding historians analyze primary sources to understand the key ideas of the American Revolution and how the country has changed over time. Scholars read text from the Declaration of...

Native American Nations ... sovereign entities or removable tribes? A thought-provoking lesson explores the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States, including forced assimilation and removal from their ancestral...

Examine the re-segregation of public schools in a thought-provoking resource. Young scholars read articles and primary sources, complete worksheets, and watch a video to explore the idea that desegregation made schools more segregated....

The big idea in the last lesson in the Health Smart series is that individuals must practice emotional first aid, that just as we take care of physical injuries, we must take care of emotional injuries. Scholars watch a short video and...

There's power in a flower. After taking a happiness survey and watching a PowerPoint about the habits of happy people, pupils decorate a paper flower with six positive affirmation statements that they feel they can benefit from reading...

The lesson examines President Kennedy's response to the Bay of Pigs Crisis and  Cold War tensions. Academics learn how the information President Kennedy had affected his response to the question of whether to invade Cuba. Scholars...

Class members brainstorm a list of people in the news (immigrants, millennials, etc.). Teams then select one to research. Using the provided worksheet and guided by a list of questions, the teams examine the stereotypes in news reports...

John Hughes' The Breakfast Club takes center stage in a lesson about annotating nonfiction texts to keep track of evidence that may be used later in discussions and writings. Scholars consider the stereotypes and conflicts presented in...

One only has to watch MSMBC and FOX News to realize that media can present the same story in very different ways. Middle schoolers have an opportunity to test their ability to determine the validity and trustworthiness of information by...

Does any word rhyme with orange? Young poets try their hand at crafting a Shakespearean sonnet by first creating list of rhyming words. They then examine the use of unstressed and stressed syllables in iambic pentameter and the rhyme...

Two stories by Roald Dahl, "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Landlady" provide readers an opportunity to compare stories by the same author. After a close reading of the stories, teams select a character from one of the tales, craft...

Let us be frank! Writers learn that crafting a thesis statement is not that difficult if one peals back the layers. After watching several videos about the elements of a thesis, class members read the article "Lettuce Club helps students...

Here's a must-have resource for Latino/Hispanic heritage month, September 15 through October 15. The 18-page packet includes suggestions to guide your planning, quizzes to test knowledge of heritage facts and immigration myths, and...

A close examination of John Gast's painting "American Progress" launches a study of the concept of Manifest Destiny used to justify United States' policy of westward expansion. Young historians read statements from persons with different...

After studying statistics and reading articles about diversity in the 2018 through 2020 U.S. elections, young social scientists discuss what they believe is the impact of having more diverse elected officials. Individuals then select one...

Childbirth has never been easy and is not without risk, even in the 21st century. Young historians gain insight into the travails of 18th-century childbirth as they read letters between Abigail Adams and her husband about their loss of a...

Investigate complex problem situations by applying inequalities. Building from concepts explored in the previous lesson plan, learners read word problems and develop inequalities to represent the situation. They then solve the...

How do the Three Witches' interactions with Macbeth advance the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth? Learners complete a Quick Write to answer the question. They also participate in a whole-class dramatic reading of Act 4.1.

What goes around, comes around. Using the resource, pupils read Act 4.3 of Macbeth, in which Macduff and Malcolm plan to attack Macbeth. Scholars then hold a discussion and complete writing activities to analyze Shakespeare's structural...

How do complex characters develop throughout a text? Pupils read Act 5.1 from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which depicts Lady Macbeth's descent into madness. Using discussion and writing exercises, scholars analyze how Shakespeare develops...

How did Elizabeth Cady Stanton use rhetoric to convince others of her views? Scholars begin reading "An Address by Elizabeth Cady Stanton," which argues that women should have voting rights. Pupils complete a Quick Write to analyze how...

How do authors employ specific word choices to describe complex relationships? Scholars read and analyze the first stanza from Audre Lorde's contemporary poem "From the House of Yemanjá." Pupils determine the meanings of figurative and...

Scholars read paragraphs 13 and 14 of "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" and analyze Du Bois's chapter conclusion. Writers revisit their quick write assignments from the previous lesson plan and revise or expand them as needed.