Comprehending the role of key players and events of WWII is a task all learners must undertake. Here, they respond to three critical thinking questions regarding the roles Roosevelt and Stalin played during the war as well as Germany's...

When did the United Nations begin? Have they been successful at keeping peace? And, what is the Declaration of Human Rights? Each of these questions needs a complete and well-thought-out answer, it's up to your class to do the job. Great...

Developing nations tend to deal with economic issues differently than developed nations. Learners explore modern economic issues such as the Latin American economy, cash-crop economy, and industrial economy by responding to three...

Sometimes it's good to challenge our kids with thought-provoking topics. They'll have to think hard and use what they know to answer these essay questions. They'll discuss how and why developed nations put a strain on the world's...

Here is an excellent set of five short lessons and activities intended to help learners not only gain an understand of current issues in Africa, but build critical thinking, synthesis, analysis, expository writing, research, and...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...

How smart is your home? Middle and high schoolers write a journal entry describing the types of technology found in their homes. After reading an article, they are introduced to "smart" home technology. In groups, they identify and...

Monitor your third graders' progress with the Common Core ELA standards with this practice assessment. Provided with collection of three narrative reading passages, children must answer a series of evidence-based multiple...

Scholars read excerpts from the story, Heidi, in a three-part assessment that focuses on comparing and contrasting characters. Each part contains three tasks that challenge learners to discuss, answer comprehension...

What's one way to make a good essay great? Revise! Scholars revise their drafts from a previous lesson plan to help write their final polished analytical essays about the universal refugee experience. They also practice properly citing...

Class members dig into the expectations for the end-of-unit assessment for A Mighty Long Way by studying the rubric. The Rubric Criteria strips help pairs of readers look more closely at specific rubric points. They share ideas with the...

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 opening exercise in this instructional unit introduces class members to the writing process they will follow to craft an informative, expository research paper that addresses their research question. To begin, writers are asked to...

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...

As part of a mid-unit assessment, class members exchange their draft of a multi-paragraph essay with a classmate, review their partner's writing using the provided text analysis rubric, and evaluate the strength of evidence, the...

All revolutions in science and technology have both pros and cons. Kids examine the advent of the green revolution, nuclear growth, use, and the countries that are considered nuclear powers. They'll construct three responses to each of...

Get out that critical thinking cap and prepare to answer five thought-provoking questions. Each question on this learning exercise pertains to the rise of the Monarchy during the French Revolution, the cause and effects of the...

The world is full of possibilities for your ELLs. Help them explore their career options with a lesson that incorporates Internet research and expository writing. Not only will they learn more about their careers of choice, but both...

Why didn't Rapunzel's hair stop growing?  Why did it take the fairy godmother so long to intervene in Cinderella's affairs? Young writers consider unanswered questions like these and compose news articles investigating the true...

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" Primary graders write about an animal that interests them, describing what it looks like, where it lives, and what it eats.

To complete a study of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, readers select a well-known quotation or symbol from the novel to use in an essay that analyzes how the quotation or symbol relates to the novel's themes.

Learners read the book, The Great Migration by National Geographic, then complete this set of related worksheets. They review vocabulary, complete five short answer questions, discuss push and pull factors for the migration, then write a...

Upper graders explore the concepts of landscape art, man, nature and their inter-relationship. This is a critical thinking and analysis activity intended to prepare the class for an up coming trip to a local art museum. They analyze,...

Young scholars use examples of narrative and expository text to analyze and compare the two styles. Students read articles on life in Lesotho and Madagascar and use graphic organizers and discussion to compare them. Young scholars write...