Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure is the core text in a interdisciplinary unit study of immigration at the turn of the century.

With a nice description of what the standard means, an idea for a class activity, and a quiz with answers, this resource should deepen your (and your pupils') understanding of the targeted Common Core standard. The provided activity is...

Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how...

Students explore the benefits of new technology for the home and its possible drawbacks.

Learners examine the history of the Holocaust through literature. Using different pieces of literature, they critique the items in terms of being historical accurate and its value in telling the stories of the Holocaust. They create a...

Students research the experiences of specific immigrant groups in the United States. Letters are written from imaginary immigrants to relatives in their countries of origin, including historically accurate details.

Pupils investigate the reading of the novel about Anthony Burns. They create a KWL chart to gather and organize information. The information that is provided is used to create a presentation. Students also use journals to keep track of...

Students are provided with a three-column chart about a fictional character named Jip: looks, personality, and situation. After chapter 1 and chapter 2, students make notes on the charts and share that information with one other. They...

Seventh graders examine music examples to investigate a conflict in history about Hitler's invasions during WWII. In this music analysis lesson plan, 7th graders discuss vocabulary and the history for the Holocaust and Hitler's...

Young scholars see examples of other types of written stories. They are introduced to the ballad in literature. Students obtain ideas for their own family story. They discuss how ballads can relate true stories through music. Young...

Who was Walt Whitman, and what link does he have to president Abraham Lincoln?  After Lincoln's assassination, Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" This poem and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" are the focus of...

Young scholars read a "letter" from Dr. Suess' Bartholomew Cubbins and note differences between their lives and Bartholomew's. They utilize prewriting strategies to draft a letter of response to Bartholomew.

Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...

Students inquire about the Holocaust. In this Holocaust lesson, students read books and discuss their thoughts. Students also collect current event articles from newspapers. Students investigate ghettos, Pearl Harbor and Navajo Code...

Students discuss political, social, and personal issues relating to the Civil War from various perspectives using internet sources. Students write various selections from Civil War characters' point of view.

Students complete discussion and reading comprehension activities for the novel Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheax Nelson. In this African American history activity, students discuss the Underground Railroad and complete a reading...

Students connect their lives to a story or nonfiction text. In this reading connections lesson, students make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections as they complete connections stems based on a story.

Designed for teachers who use Theodore Taylor's The Cay, this 11-page packet includes a synopsis of the story, chapter-based quizzes, and an answer key.

Fifth graders explore poems of African Americans. They research a famous African American, write a report, create a timeline of events in African American history, create a map of the New World, and research Molly Walsh. After...

Young scholars conduct Internet research about the studenT author and illustrator Patricia Polacco. They compose letters to Ms. Polacco and, after revising and editing their work, send them in the mail.

Walt Whitman's "Captain, My Captain" and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" provide seventh graders with examples of odes. After reading and discussing these and other examples, young poets craft an ode and respond to the ode of a...

Is, as Walt Whitman contends, America’s “almost maniacal appetite for wealth,” the heart of the American dream? Class members grapple with this question as they read David Brooks’ article “The Commercial Republic,” and quotes that...

Students read the play "Inherit the Wind" about the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. In groups, they choose their favorite scene and create a diorama dipicting the scene as they see it. They watch a recording of the play and compare it to their...