George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in...

Thanks to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, teen readers now know it's possible to survive in the wilderness. A study guide for the novel discusses common topics and vocabulary words found within the text. Additionally, readers get the chance...

Victor Laredo's painting "On the Beach" and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Thanksgiving" allow young scholars to use their noticing skills. Class members identify elements of the painting the artist uses to create the feeling of...

A whole-group discussion kicks off a hands-on activity that challenges young engineers to build a sailboat using reusable materials. Participants gather recycled items to assemble their one-of-a-kind sailboat and test its ability to...

What does stew have to do with bartering? Learners will find out how by reading the story Saturday Sancocho, discussing the text, participating in a bartering activity in class (once with goods only and once with money), and...

Democracy cannot exist where not everyone has equal rights. Discuss the state of democracy and women's suffrage during World War I with class discussions, debates, and primary source analysis, in order for class members to connect...

How do we determine how much information to include and what can be left out? By playing a game of 20 questions, the class generates the best strategies for finding a number. They then move on to guessing the next letter in a short...

Readers learn to ask questions about text with an activity based on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As they read, class members craft questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy and then find the answers themselves.

What is the purpose of the Electoral College? Is it antiquated, or does it have a place in today's political climate? High schoolers view a series of video clips as they analyze the parts of the United States Constitution that address...

President Lincoln believed in the Thirteenth Amendment so strongly that he signed 14 copies of it, but died before he could see it passed on December 18, 1965. Explore the text that forever abolished slavery in America with a document...

Ancient texts, like Homer's Odyssey, mentions navigating ships by observing constellations. Pupils learn about the link between history and astronomy as they relate to navigation in the Bronze Age. Scholars complete two hands-on...

It's one thing to have an idea, but someone has to put it into action! Young pupils read a rendition of Aesop's fable of the mice in the council before answering four questions about details from the text.

Create a neuron frenzy as your pupils play the part of the neurons. An engaging lesson creates a human chain of neurons that pass cotton balls posing as neurotransmitters. Scholars learn about pre- and post-synapses as they complete...

Sometimes line segments just refuse to meet. Young mathematicians connect houses on an interactive map using line segments. They must then determine whether these line segment pairs are intersecting or parallel.

A one-sided limit is no less important than a two-sided limit. Young mathematicians use an interactive to match limit notation to graphs. The exercise requires interpreting how one-sided limits connect to features of graphs.

Residual plots let you find the perfect line of best fit. As users adjust the points on a scatter plot and a possible line of best fit, the interactive automatically changes the residual plot. This change allows them to see connections...

Who is more trustworthy when it comes to marijuana: a high school student, or The National Institute on Drug Abuse? Sources matter when reading informational text. Help teenagers discern which facts are true with an activity that focuses...

Almost complete annihilation of the plants and animals on the Earth has occurred at least five times in the past. Young scientists explore each of these events. They learn about the evidence and conclusions for each event and connect...

According to Anne with an E, "You can always nearly enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will." An eBook version of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery introduces readers to the classic text. The novel includes...

Help language learners understand words and cultural concepts. The second installment in a series of three language development lessons designed to accompany Theme 4: Person to Person helps bridge the gap for language learners by...

Chatting, texting, commenting—there are so many options for online communication! How do teens know what's appropriate? Social scholars collaborate to define the elements of a healthy online relationship during an activity-packed digital...

Gaining voting rights was difficult over the course of decades, but the debate over who should actually be allowed to cast a ballot remains. Scholars explore the history of the struggle, including the fifteenth and nineteenth amendments,...

Global warming has long been in the making. A thorough review of decades of research helps pupils discover the weather patterns of global warming. Learners then connect the weather changes to data in the Keeling Curve that reveals trends...

Find clues to the past with photos! Young historians use a photo from one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s peaceful protests to practice photo analysis. Academics look at the image to gain clues about what is happening and why. To finish,...