Prepare your class for the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) or any other upcoming writing test (such as the SAT) with this presentation. Complete with instructions on the composition and rubric of the test, as well as sample...

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...

Use this lesson to reinforce the effect of passive and active voice in writing. First, middle schoolers write several sentences, and then use the attached worksheet to identify whether the sentences are written in active or passive voice.

Third graders review the importance of good study habits as a skill necessary for success in school. They focus on their goals and discuss how this would help to improve grades. They determine how much an F weighs their grade down.

Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...

To prepare for a reading of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, kids must prioritize a list of items to take with them on a journey to Texas.

The effect of cultural beliefs on the progress and industrialization of a society is an interesting idea to consider, and this is certainly true in this lesson on feudal Japan. Your young historians will read informational texts on...

To Kill a Mockingbird, Hunger Games, Brave New World. Welcome to Banned Books Week. As part of a study of censorship and book banning, class members investigate censorship, the purposes of censorship, and First Amendment rights,...

Ninth graders examine how the U. S. was aided by the Allies in World War II before the U. S. declared war. They analyze the evolution of U. S. foreign policy from the beginning of WW II through U. S. Declaration of War

"The Gettysburg Address" is the basis of a series of activities that not only model for learners how to conduct a close reading of a text, but also how a close reading can help them comprehend a difficult text. The detailed, step-by-step...

How skilled are your class members at summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from a text? Find out with this assessment that asks readers to identify the thesis statement, the summary, the paraphrases, and the quoted material in an...

Plants prefer classical music to rock and roll. That's one of the claims in an informational passage that makes up part of a set of standardized assessment questions. The set is part of a larger collection of English language arts tests...

Learners compare the records of gold medal Olympic winners for the last 100 years and decide if we are faster, stronger than in the past.

What are the benefits to providing your learners with multiple-choice questions on quizzes and tests? If you'll be teaching Latin literature this year, read this quick argument to decide which types of questions you'll create.

Students write a news feature about the changes of the SAT and how students can best cope with them. Students respond to several questions addressing the new SAT. Students research about the changes in the test, and students interview...

When are titles underlined, italicized, or placed in quotation marks? Take your class to the computer lab to give them some independent practice. Here they read through the information, examples, and explanations provided. They then...

Learners practice combining sentences using the conjunction handout provided. They search magazines and newspapers to identify combined sentences that use conjunctions. Finally, these are rewritten again as two separate sentences.

Ninth graders perform exercises after being modeled by the teacher. As a class, they listen to their teacher discuss the health of the nation today. They complete a mile run and in groups they compare their time with their classmates....

Are your young writers having difficulty distinguishing between expository and persuasive writing? Discuss the difference between the two, and how some prompts can be responded to in either fashion. Included here is a simple lesson plan...

High schoolers experience the proper table manners in Korea. They eat a Korean meal with proper table manners. Students then describe, list and demonstrate the proper Korean table manners. They compare and contrast the American table...

Sixth graders participate in a lesson of comparing the religions of the world. They conduct research using the essential questions provided in the lesson. There is a rubric for the writing assignment for assessment.

Sixth graders explore philosophy by researching the Dalai Lama. In this Tibetan history lesson, 6th graders discuss the influence of Buddhism on the Dalai Lama and the unique view on life a Buddhist must have. Students read a Tibetan...

Students teach Biology concepts to elementary students, in particular deaf students, by traveling once a month to the elementary classroom with activities / lessons that have been selected and prepared by the older students.

Students read one book together about the immigrant experience. Teacher asks students to identify some of the themes around immigration contained in the book (example: prejudice).