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...

Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...

The dry Oklahoma landscape in America's Dust Bowl sent many farmers in search of the promised land. A teacher's guide to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath discusses the characters' desire for a better home along with other themes...

Students investigate and explore the poems of Robert Frost. They read and discuss poems by Frost, define narrative and personal, write narratives in a journal, and present a dramatic reading of a poem to the class.

Here’s a fresh approach to establishing classroom rules at the beginning of the school year. Class groups brainstorm what they know about rules for baseball, basketball, and football. They then consider how the games would differ without...

During the 1800s the United States was expanding westward; land was there for the taking.  Kids explore how some early photographers used their photography to influenced the US Congress to save areas like Mirror Lake. They...

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

Share their opinions on the use of DNA databases in criminal investigations. After reading an article, they evaluate the pros and cons of the databases and work in groups to answer discussion questions. They write a letter to a state...

After reading Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House on Mango Street, class members design a canned food drive, create advertisements for the drive, and use digital cameras to document the entire process. In addition, pupils journal their...

Tenth graders analyze the use of literary elements in W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw." Literary analysis is accomplished by a review of the plot and order of events in the story. Learners work in pairs to match the events from the story...

From the New York Times Learning Network series, this worksheet poses 10 questions on an article entitled, "Leaving His Footprint on the City" about a man planning to walk every street in all five New York boroughs. The prompts...

What kind of text features help children build a strong vocabulary? Class members use text features such as headers to unpack new vocabulary words. They create vocabulary journals in which they will write what they think the definition...

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.

Pupils determine the meaning of tier-two vocabulary words. They explore vocabulary while reading Amigo. As they read, they record their words in a word journal or on a discovery chart. The words bold, content, pleasant, seek, wise, and...

Youngsters analyze tier two vocabulary words. Learners explore their comprehension of tier two vocabulary words found while reading Mama, Do You Love Me? and record their vocabulary using a word journal or discovery chart.

Create a personal website for Phoebe. Play a song dealing with non-conformity. Have class members write an advice letter to Holden. Here's a teacher resource meant to accompany The Catcher in the Rye that is chock-full of strategies. It...

Who is Aimee Mann? Read the New York Times article "P.S. I Loved You," included here, and have your readers answer a series of reading comprehension questions. Afterward, encourage your class to brainstorm ways in which they...

Investigate ethical issues surrounding the Decode project in Iceland. Middle and high schoolers take the positions of the Icelandic government, scientific researchers, and citizens and defend or refute the Decode project in a Reykjavik...

Fourth graders observe various photographs by Dorothea Lange and write reflections in a journal. In this photography lesson plan, 4th graders interpret photographs and do a variety of writing responses to the photographs they observe.

Students choose a topic from a list to write a journal entry about. In this journal writing lesson, students use one of the ideas included in the comprehensive list of ideas when they cannot think of a topic to write about. They write...

Students discover the concepts of Abstract Expressionism. They identify Abstract Expressionist paintings and creat an Abstract expressionist work of art.

In this journal writing activity, learners pretend they are on vacation exploring a Coral Reef. They describe what they would see on the journal pages, using as many as they need. They make a cover, draw a picture that goes with their...

Students create peace journals. In this character education lesson, students record their thoughts about peace and their innermost thoughts and feelings. Students use various journal starters, including describing someone who is a...

Sixth graders review a variety of journals including Anne Frank's. They create a school journal including individual entries, a dedication, pagination and illustrations.