Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man tops the reading list for the AP Literature exam. A five-page guide offers instructors and book clubs discussion questions designed to get readers to think deeply and critically about the inspection of...

Panel 58 from Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" of paintings provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to sharpen their observation and analytical skills. After engaging in a warm-up activity that introduces the concepts of...

Encourage your class to become aware of the violence that is present in children's television programs and how this violence can influence children. Do this by holding the planned class discussion in this lesson plan and providing...

How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to get inside an artist's mind, or be able to question the artists about who they are, why they create, and why they think their work is important?  An illustrative resource asks artists to provide...

Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language...

Socratic seminars are a great way to encourage the development of critical thinking, speaking, and listening skills. And Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a perfect text for such a seminar. Use the questions in the packet to...

Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...

What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination? Between collaborators and bystanders? Guilt and responsibility? Prompt learners to think critically about a very complex and textured topic with an innovative packet...

What skills are necessary to interact with different types of text? Twenty-first century learners live in a digital world and must develop a whole new set of skills to develop media literacy. Class members engage in a series of...

Learn how to correctly analyze and score a written performance task. Example work shows annotated think alouds for grading. Teachers also have access to graphic organizers for helping writers succeed,

It may be hard to see through the fog of war, but primary sources describing what happened at the Battle of Saltville during the Civil War shed some light on what happened there. Using primary sources, including descriptions from...

As the United States has changed, so has the census! While required by the Constitution, the questions the government asks to allot representation and federal funding has developed over time. Using images of previous censuses, young...

To conclude their study of Black Americans in Congress, groups select a statement made by one of the Members, examine the Member's profile on the provided link, and create a display that includes state represented, years of service, an...

Jane Hirshfield's poem "My Skeleton" asks readers to pause and think about the amazing, often taken-for-granted structure that protects and gives form to human bodies. After observing the human skeleton's image, class members read the...

Paper or plastic? Scholars discuss a worksheet containing grocery photos in which consumers were challenged to buy items without plastic wrapping or containers. Learners rank the food items by the need for packaging, such as a banana,...

As part of a study of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, young historians imagine the feelings of those who lived during the attack by creating a word cloud of 10 words they think express the emotions of people at that time....

Teach readers how to distinguish between a topic and a story's theme in a short lesson that uses the children's book, Should I Share My Ice Cream, as an exemplar. After listening to the story, pairs generate a list of topics covered...

Title IX did more than change the face of sports in the United States. This landmark legislation also impacted women in education and politics. High schoolers examine the text of the legislation and the 2016 Senate resolution and watch...

The second interactive in a series of 10 introduces young scholars to character archetypes, archetypal plot patterns, and archetypal motifs, including the use of color. Learners read passages explaining the term and study examples from...

What do a colt and a boy in a tree have in common? More than might be first apparent. The fourth interactive in a series of ten introduces readers to intertextuality, the process of using abstract thinking to consider how one text...

Come up with a list of requirements for this expository essay on Esperanza's character in Esperanza Rising as a class and use the list to guide class writing. Here, learners will complete the first paragraph, discuss their notes for the...

Was Oedipus' destiny determined by fate or by his actions? Using details from the text, ninth graders delve into a critical thinking exercise based on Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Now that Oedipus has learned his true identity, readers...

Scholars complete a close read of To Kill a Mockingbird and determine why characters take a stand. They use text-dependent questions and Note-catchers to help guide their thinking. Readers review the Taking a Stand Anchor chart and...