Young historians examine Lyndon Johnson's vision for a rich, powerful, and upward society as detailed in this excerpt from his famous "Great Society" speech presented at the University of Michigan in 1964.

People don't all get the same amount of sun at the same time of the year. Collaborative groups explore how the motion of Earth contributes to the idea in an inquiry-based STEM instructional activity. Learners first investigate how the...

High schoolers are introduced to product design. In this social studies and technology lesson plan, students examine the historical role of mass production in the development of American business and industry and then apply their...

In the hustle and bustle of life in the classroom, it's easy for teachers to lose track of the standards they have taught, and those that still need to be addressed. This Common Core checklist provides educators with an easy-to-use...

Genetic modification is a hot topic in the science and political world. A complete unit gives learners an opportunity to research genetic modification, play an interactive genetic engineering simulation, and interact with the information...

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...

Music can help us to access memories and events in a meaningful way, and Francis Scott Key used specific words to convey what he had seen and felt when writing what would become America's national anthem. Help your class connect to...

"It is my lady, O, It is my Love!" Provide class members an opportunity to develop their skills reading difficult text with an exercise that focuses on the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet (Act II, scene ii). Using the provided...

Youngsters are introduced to the idea of communicating through e-mail, and gain important foundational knowledge for how to interact safely online.

The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...

Pupils use their knowledge of the vertex form of a quadratic equation to graph parabolas using a graphing calculator, given a specific move to make. this instructional activity may be used as a review or as extra practice, in groups or...

Seventh graders build a watershed from various materials. In this life science lesson plan, the students will be able to change the design of their watershed to see the changes in the way the water will drain. Each group will be able to...

Students describe the relationship between animals and humans. In this biology lesson, students research about the history of horses in America. They present a mock news broadcast about their research.

Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.

Students listen to and discuss various fables, and identify the moral and central themes. They write their own personal fables and create illustrations to go with them.

Learners discuss the importance of word choice in writing. In groups, they rank a list of words from one extreme to the other. After viewing an example, students apply their knowledge of word choice by writing a descriptive paragraph of...

Eleventh graders explore the Cuban Missile Crisis. In this Cuban Missile Crisis lesson, 11th graders take notes from a PowerPoint presentation regarding the topic and then watch the film "Thirteen Days". Students participate in...

Foster your high schoolers' creativity - and generosity - with this writing lesson. After reading the article "Homemade Holiday Gifts" by Frances Janisch (from the GALE Student Resource Center - Gold), pupils meet in groups to brainstorm...

How does one use a graphic organizer to plan writing? Introduce your writers to different types of graphic organizers by dividing the class into groups and assigning each group a particular organizer. Then, as they research chocolate...

Although the article that launches this instructional activity is about the history of the Periodic Table, the objective is reading comprehension. Using the eight-page informational text, learners answer five comprehension questions and...

A three-minute exercise warms-up scholars' writing abilities in order to follow a writing process that ends in an essay. The essay's topic is a barrier and the values used to break it. Four steps include choosing a topic,...

A performance task challenges scholars to read an informational text then respond with an explanatory essay. The exam begins with an independent reading of Seeing Eye to Eye by Leslie Hall. A second reading follows with the...

How do cultural and historical background impact thought? To explore this essential question, class members view of portion of the film, The Passage to India, read an excerpt from The Magician’s Nephew, and Nissim Ezekiel’s...

What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...