Designed to help readers recognize the point of view of the author of a primary source documents and analyze how that point of view influences the reliability of a text, young historians examine two personal letters, one...

Literary theories are lenses through which a text may be analyzed. The question in this lesson plan is how a particular literary lens can influence the reader's view of the text.

You're only 10 minutes late? Do you know how much the universe has expanded in those 10 minutes? Scholars graph supernovae based on their redshift and see if the results verify Hubble's Law. If it does confirm it, the universe is...

Begin your next class with a BANG! Pupils discuss the formation of our universe and its expansion before proceeding with an activity designed to demonstrate what most likely occurred billions of years ago. They conclude with a discussion...

Young poets are asked to craft a poem in the voice of a first person narrator, a dramatic monologue of sorts, that reveals not only a dramatic situation but something of the narrator's character as well.

"Fundamentals," the first lesson in a series of eight, introduces the basic concepts and strategies covered in a series of resources designed to teach high schoolers critical thinking skills. The worksheets and activities in this first...

All sources are pretty much the same, right? If this is how your class views the sources they use for writing or research projects, present them with a media literacy lesson on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several articles,...

Scholars begin building background knowledge about Plessy v. Ferguson by watching a video about the landmark Supreme Court decision. They engage in discussions to analyze the case's importance and deepen their understanding of issues...

How can understanding the genre of historical fiction help your language arts class with literary analysis? Use this lesson plan to help young readers learn about historical fiction. After reading a selection from the "Dear America" or...

To understand the impact coal mining has on the environment, pupils will extract chocolate chips from a cookie. Imagine the cookie is the environment and the chips are the coal. Instruct them to mine as many chips as they can, then have...

Genocide. Scapegoat. Propaganda. Words are powerful. Words carry the weight of history. To prepare for a visit to The Museum of Tolerance, class members consider the weight of meaning in words related to intolerance.

Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a lesson plan highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and trees during...

The focus is on written communication as class members respond to questions about the text Unbroken in their Written Conversation note catchers. They trade note catchers with a partner every two minutes and then share ideas from their...

Action is the heart of change. Encourage class members to not only identify critical social justice issues in their school or community but to take action as well. As individuals or as groups, they research a situation, develop a...

To conclude their study of immigration and human rights, class members create a civic engagement project centered on an issue of immigration and designed to influence US immigration policy. They examine examples of attempts to...

A timely resource illustrates the effects of the passing years on sedimentary rock formation! Young geologists discover just how long it takes to create shale, slate, and other sedimentary rocks. The interactive also shows...

There's no better way to learn something than to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. A handout on oral history, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, explains how to conduct interviews and use the information...

What's the key to maintaining a good reputation? Keep your friends close—and your secrets even closer! Social scholars score a deeper understanding of sharing during a lesson from a privacy and reputation module. Participants consider...

Life is like trying to juggle three tennis balls! That's the big idea in a instructional activity that asks freshmen to consider that sometimes juggling the areas of their lives (social/emotion, academic, and career) runs smoothly and...

Tired of 20-somethings portraying high school students? Tired of athletes and principals always being the villains? Class members examine the student and teacher stereotypes presented TV shows and films that are et in schools. 

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...

Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from...

What factors go into a decision to enter a war? Use a collection of primary source documents and images to prompt a discussion about the American Revolution and the reasons for entering a war against Britain.

If tap water is more acidic than ocean water, why are we so concerned about ocean acidification? The third installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on carbon dioxide levels in...