Halloween isn't fun for everyone — but playing together is! Read about Esme and her space pirate friend with a short reading passage, accompanied by ten short answer questions.

Considering using Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a whole class reading or for book circles? Check out this overview that provides a plot summary, a list of enduring questions raise by and themes addressed by the...

How does propaganda influence our vote? Through grand conversation, scholars gain information about what is and how to identify the different ways propaganda is used in a presidential election. Using their new-found knowledge, citizens...

Review concepts at the end of the day with a quick game of speedball! The activity starts with learners seated on top of their desks who must then, after responding correctly to a review question, pass the ball around the classroom as...

Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...

Can you imagine a pumpkin patch without pumpkins? Learners read how Tammy's family solves their problem in a cooperative way, followed by a set of 10 reading comprehension questions.

Break an article down with a SOAPSTone chart. Class members determine the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. The chart includes a question for each of these elements, provides some clarifying text for each, and...

Bring up the topic of world hunger in your class with two emotional videos. The short films are about a program for educating and feeding children around the world. Class members talk about poverty and pay close attention to the...

The beauty of this colorful presentation about Cornell notes is that it begins with a very powerful statistic: "Those who take organized notes and do something with them remember 90-100% of the material indefinitely!" Zounds! Now there's...

Here's a worksheet designed to help learners develop their skill reading primary source documents. The questions, based on an excerpt from Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address, encourages close reading and analysis.

How do you create a classroom environment where hot button topics may be discussed in a respectful manner? As part of a series of lessons that focus on immigration issues, class members examine the rules for civil discussion before...

Would you stand up for your beliefs, no matter the cost? Scholars investigate their own families to uncover examples of how and when someone stood up for their ideals. Using video clips, interviews, and eulogies, they come to understand...

It is so important for English language learners to be able to write for a variety of purposes. Specifically written for an ELD class, this activity provides explicit instruction for teaching learners how to write a poem. First, they...

What natural resources are available in your area? Your learners can consider this question after reading a brief passage about natural and renewable resources. After reading, class members respond to five questions related to the reading.

If you found five hundred dollars in the park, would you keep it or turn it in? Exercise both reading comprehension skills and philosophic beliefs in a language arts reading activity about three boys who stumble upon a small fortune...

Sometimes, the best solution to a problem can be found by walking in someone else's shoes. Here, scholars use character cards to take on the roles of people around the world. They determine how their character's...

if you've ever had to guess how many items were in a jar, then this problem is for you! With a big jar full of red and white marbles, does picking a sample of 16 allow your learners to get a good estimate on the percentages of each...

Earth or environmental science pupils are assigned to be carbon sources or sinks. They ask yes-or-no questions to try to figure out which one they are. Then they discuss ways people can have positive effects on the changing climate by...

Environmentalists turn into engineers! Your class explores the perspectives of an engineer and water keeper, including the necessary steps that are taken in order to build a water treatment facility.

Invite your learners to research three different websites that pertain to a topic focused on in your syllabus. Students fill out a chart by answering questions about each site. Then, they compare how useful the sites are to one...

Will the real computer please stand up? The premise of this activity is for the class to ask questions to a human and to a computer and to determine which is which. The class asks a given set of questions, and the person playing the role...

Here's a fresh twist on a comprehension quiz. Readers of The Great Gatsby use their answers to questions about the story to complete a crossword puzzle.

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.

Was Puritan society governed as more of a theocracy or democracy? After comparing and contrasting a series of primary source documents, middle and high schoolers form small groups and debate the question.