How did San Francisco supply enough water for its residents over the last two centuries? Learn about droughts and water conservation in California, as well as specific historical events that led to the water system today. Kids read...

Showing how folk poetry keeps alive national heritage is the stated goal of this proposal for a unit on the poetry of the Balkans.

Bud followed a series of rules from Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. The question is, how did he use those rules to thrive or survive? After a grand discussion, class members explore the novel to locate and cite textual...

If your language arts learners have a hard time determining the universal theme of a written work, use a straightforward worksheet to help them find it. After reviewing a list of common themes, kids note the title, character, plot, point...

Bring the drama of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea to class with a fun role-playing activity. Given a list of survival items, readers decide which items would be the most necessary for an adventure like...

The Bradys, the Flintstones, and the Simpsons are some of pop culture's most memorable families. So how do the Applewhites stack up? Using a novel study for Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, scholars answer text-based...

Trace a survivor's story using a timeline, map skills, poetry and/or prose and photography, and make a visual representation of a survivor's journey through his or her life as a culminating activity for the class and the survivor....

What was it like to enlist as a soldier in the Civil War? By using enlistment papers, young scholars consider this question. After they've looked at the primary source and discussed it, they create a short story of a fictional soldier to...

After reading Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one of the most famous slave narratives of all time, learners imagine what it would have been like to experience the small dimensions of her hiding space. They then...

Students use the Internet to read about an explorer's survival in the Antarctic. They try to find a better route for him to have taken.

Introduce eyewitness accounts of World War II with this presentation. It provides a very brief summary of the life of Anne Frank, along with several descriptive excerpts from her diary. While the resource appears to have been made by a...

Accompany a novel study of Hatchet by Gary Paulson with a unit consisting of 16 lessons focused on physical and emotional survival. Reading the story along with a variety of informational texts, scholars compare and contrast reading...

Blood may not always be thicker than water. Julie, in Julie of the Wolves, soon depends on a wolf pack to be her family. Scholars read about Julie's adventures as they complete sentences with vocabulary words, answer comprehension...

Ninth graders compare events in the story "Lord of the Flies" to real life events in our world. They create a manual and text describing the elements of survival. They create a poster of a conch shell that includes the scientific name, a...

It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and...

Extend learning through summer with these activity ideas! Individuals can choose one or all nine of the activities, which range from a summer reading goal to an examination of local insects (with accompanying story prompt). See the...

Use a helpful concept analysis guide when planning your unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. The resource covers plot elements, literary themes, and possible issues to address in order to make the work accessible...

Many people know cats mark their territories by rubbing the back of their necks to leave a scent, but not many people know beavers also leave a scent to mark their territories. During the first activity of two, scholars use their noses...

Students become familiar with the Inupiaq culture. In this Inupiaq lesson, students listen to read alouds about the life style of the Inupiaq in Alaska, Students understand the twelve core values of the Inupiaq people. Students choose a...

Folklore is composed of stories that convey cultural heritage and traditions. Many types of tales are listed as well as what they portray in various contexts and situations. Give your learners a brief description or definition of...

Students read The Complete Maus to explore how Maus is actually three books in one. In groups, they evaluate the book as a tale of surviving the Holocaust and a tale of impacting future generations. They examine the conditions at...

Students read true stories of teenagers who defied Hitler and avoided participation in the Hitler Youth. They discuss the stories paying attention to the dangers and incredible peer pressure that these children faced. They consider how...

What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...