Your home-school, Sunday school, or private Christian school students can build critical thinking and textual analysis skills by taking a look at Ten Commandments. They use this learning exercise to analyze and break down textual meaning...

Have you ever cheated on a test? What about copied someone else's homework? After reading Colleen Wenke's essay "Too Much Pressure," class members use the provided reading comprehension questions to focus their analysis of important...

Is interacting with people from different backgrounds part of a well-rounded education? A big question awaits young readers as they explore two New York Times articles that discuss modern-day segregation, population statistics, and...

To derive an understanding of Egyptian culture and society, pupils read several excerpts from Egyptian texts. They will answer 10 comprehension questions and identify 5 different Egyptians based on the 1st person statement.

This resource would be great for a Bible study group, private school, or those delving into the laws established by Moses for the Jewish people. Young theologians read the Ten Commandments as outlined in the Hebrew Bible. They then...

Who cares about manners anyway? According to the New York Times, Mrs. Mason does. Learners read and consider an article which addresses the decline of manners and the impact it has on society. They answer seven critical thinking...

What? A long-lost poem from Robert Frost? Introduce your class to a poem recently found and published from Robert Frost's personal collection. The lesson includes background information on the author, the poem itself, and a list of...

Investigate Rome through the eyes of Titus Livius Patavinus ("Livy"), a Roman historian whose book, History of Rome, is the focus of this text-analysis learning exercise. A short excerpt gives scholars material to answer 3 comprehension...

Start off analysis of a text with a worksheet that asks pupils to complete several tasks. Class members note down a couple of characters or people and their distinguishing traits, describe the most important event, summarize the text...

Answering document-based questions is a great way to build reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Learners read an excerpt from Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton, then answer two related questions. 

Use the provided passages on the Neolithic Revolution to answer 2 critical-thinking questions. Passage one is informational and describes benefits that came from the Neolithic Revolution. Passage two is a first person narrative from a...

Show your class what poem the famous line "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" comes from. Class members read Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem and respond to one question with a short paragraph. The question asks learners to use...

After reading a very brief excerpt from Frederick Douglass' autobiography, learners cite textual evidence to support a main idea of the primary source about Douglass' humiliating experience with slavery. This is a brief exercise that...

A speaker's attitude toward his or her subject matter determines the tone of a piece of literature. Interpret the tone of four different poems, as well as their meanings, with supporting textual details.

Set up a solid foundation for learners going into Common Core testing by taking some time to complete this practice test. Class members answer questions about both literary and informational texts, with an emphasis on textual evidence....

Perfect for a unit on characterization and simple enough to use with any text. Your class will practice the Common Core standard of citing textual evidence to support their analysis by first making an assertion about a character from a...

As your historians examine the French Revolution, have them read "Declaration of the Rights of Man" in its entirety; it's not very long, and it gives them a great authenticity to understanding the efforts of the French people. After...

Have pupils explore the Code of Hammurabi, one of the oldest sets of laws. They get into groups to read, analyze, and answers 5 critical-thinking questions about 2 of the provided laws. Then they report what they have learned. Great...

Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions...

Track the progress of your fourth graders' reading and writing skills with this practice Common Core assessment. Based on a collection of six reading passages that include narrative stories, poetry, and a series of...

The time has come to find out what your fourth grade readers have learned after another year of hard work. This Common Core-designed practice assessment provides two reading passages, one narrative and one expository, that children must...

With the end of the year quickly approaching it's time to find out exactly how much your sixth graders have learned. Specifically designed for the Common Core ELA standards, this practice test gives students five reading passages,...

The end of the year has arrived, which means it's time to find out exactly what your fifth graders have learned over the past few months. With the help of this Common Core-designed assessment that includes two narrative passages and...

Check in on the development of your fifth graders' reading and writing skills with this Common Core-designed assessment. Given a series of six reading passages ranging from narrative stories to informational texts, young...