Students are asked to write down their favorite artists pieces of work, or styles on this journal, perhaps to serve as a preassessment before starting to look at various styles.

In this writing activity, students brainstorm a list of businesses that they would like to own. Students write about the business, name it, tell about who would work there. Students give details about their business.

Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...

When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...

Connect science, art, and language arts with a nature-themed bookmaking project. Kids craft book covers, cut paper for pages, and learn how to bind their creations.

Not all sources are created equal, so how do you evaluate them? Writers learn how to evaluate print sources based on elements such as audience, tone, and argument in the sixth handout of 24 in the Writing the Paper series from the...

An introductory lesson shows learners how pervasive and influential advertising is in our culture; particularly, how teenagers are actively targeted by advertisers. As teenagers, your students already have all the information they need...

Want to know more about China's energy resources? Scholars will explore renewable resources implemented in China's energy plan. The will discover various types of renewable energy sources and discover how China is taping into these types...

“What do you think life is like at the South Pole?” After responding to this journal prompt, class members read and discuss the New York Times article, “At South Pole, New Home for a New Era.” Using resources available from the Times’...

Boost observational skills with an inquiry-based lesson that takes scholars on a virtual field trip. With help from webcams, learners observe animals in a zoo or aquarium. Observations go into a journal and a discussion is held to review...

This instructional activity asks young readers to predict what will happen to Harry Potter. While the question has been answered by the last book and film in the series, the concept and links provided by The New York Times’ Learning...

To Kill a Mockingbird, Hunger Games, Brave New World. Welcome to Banned Books Week. As part of a study of censorship and book banning, class members investigate censorship, the purposes of censorship, and First Amendment rights,...

The best way to be a good writer is to read good writing. Learners read and discuss an excerpt from a book that will help them comprehend the relationship between setting and character. They will use what they've gleaned from discussion...

Combine informational text and creative writing with one fun activity! Middle and high schoolers write found poems based on newspaper headlines that they find. The resource includes a thorough lesson plan and many links to articles that...

Give your class a lesson in logical reasoning. This activity, which focuses on ad hominem arguments, goes step by step through an example. After examining the argument, learners assess a second conversation for ad hominem arguments...

How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...

Chapter 3 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses how central ideas are developed in a narrative. Readers use the provided annotated bookmark to record evidence of ideas such as racial identity, integration/separation, and systemic...

Using questions they developed, class groups discuss Chapter 2 of Malcolm X's autobiography, focusing on the individuals and events Malcolm X feels contributed to his character development.

Zoot suits, the Lindy hop, and conks. Readers carefully examine the rhetoric of chapter 4 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, analyze the effectiveness of using slang to develop a narrative, and consider how they might incorporate Haley's...

Here is a nice way to introduce your young learners to poetry and writing their own poems. Children create their own poems about their favorite quiet-time places. After listening to some poems read aloud by the teacher, each child gets...

Young writers create memory books. They think of important events in their lives from the past year. Then they draw pictures that depict these events, and dictate captions to an adult who writes them down in their books for them. These...

Young scholars role play as Marco Polo to detail his travels. They include the terrains, foods, religions, people and cultures that were encountered. They write a journal entry as if they were Marco Polo detailing one aspect of his travels.

Writers participate in a unique form of environmental writing and deepen their connections to nature through journaling. They generate new ideas and thoughts that they can use for continued nature journaling and explore a variety of...

Eighth graders utilize a variety of reading and writing skills in completing social studies activities on "The Big Lie." students express their understanding of right and wrong actions based on the characters through a personal response...