The Grapes of Wrath may be the most famous novel set during the Dust Bowl, but what other stories cover the same time? The unit focuses on the Karen Hesse novel Out of the Dust. Learners keep a timeline of the Dust Bowl, maintain a...

Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.

Young scholars survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.

Students identify likes and dislikes at home and school. Then they identify the relationship between training and the world of work. Students also discover and evaluate patterns and relationships in information, ideas and structures....

Sixth graders participate in a question and answer discussion on respect and then complete the "Planning to Use Respect" activity sheet. They describe the senses of a stuffed animal to their peers and assess how respect looks, sounds and...

"A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come."  The withered and wild witches of Shakespeare’s Scottish play launch an examination of the fantastical elements in Act I, scene iii, paying particular attention to the action, imagery,...

John Knowles' A Separate Peace provides readers with an opportunity to develop their close reading and analytical skills as they look for what Knowles feels are the factors that shape our identity.

What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...

As class members continue their study of approaches to literary criticism, readers examine the symbolism and archetypal patterns in John Knowles' A Separate Peace, and how these parallels are used to develop a theme...

Readers apply Sigmund Freud's theories of the unconscious mind and the psychological approach to literary criticism to analyze and evaluate the relationship between two characters in A Separate Peace.

How are the reactions between American and European consumers different when it comes to genetically modified foods? Use the New York Times article "Consumers in Europe Resist Gene-Altered Foods" to inform your middle schoolers...

Examine the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After reading an article from the New York Times and exploring the author's word choice, young readers find the central idea in the text and work on researching...

High schoolers examine World War I poetry for historical context, poetic devices, and participate in a class discussion. They write an analysis of the poetry's form and its content.

The student will explore free jazz, fusion, and contemporary jazz. They will listen to avant garde, fusion, and pop recordings. In addition, they participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of...

Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.

Young scholars complete compare and contrast activities dealing with fables and trickster tales to determine how each uses animals to portray human characteristics, specifically strengths and weaknesses, as well as pass wisdom from one...

Students examine their own history to expand how they examine the world. They research being a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. They also examine Muslim culture.

Read and examine primary source material in order to analyze, synthesize, and debate information about the Great Depression. Critical analysts research various source materials related to the Great Depression. They work in teams to...

Is your class reading Pride and Prejudice? In order to link scenes to the themes in Austen's novel, pairs take on the confrontation between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth (Chapter XIV). After writing their own version of the...

Develop historical analysis and interpretation with your older students. They will study and analyze three given interpretations of Christopher Columbus' life, which includes significant events, his character, and the impact he made on...

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...

Before your young scholars reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory lesson inspires class members...

Using the Note Names and Values SMART notebook file, review the whole, half, quarter and eighth note with students. Students sing "Apple Tree Song." They add body percussion, and then instruments. Students use the SMART apple tree, they...

After listening to Jon Scieska’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, groups discuss whether they think the wolf is telling the truth, whether he deserves punishment, and if so what punishment he deserves. You might use this lesson early...