Building Background

Build literacy through social studies and reading strategies. This lesson focuses on using pre-reading, vocabulary building, and comprehension questions to boost literacy while educating learners on international trade, NAFTA, and...

Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource provides...

What makes an effective fort, and why might a city feel that they need such a structure? Your young historians will explore the purpose and design for Fort McHenry, and build their own models of a fort based on the information they have...

A fortified discussion uses precise academic language and factual information to support a position on a controversial topic. After reading an annotated text that presents background information on the 9/11 attacks and on the Darfur...

Even the most thrilling sports career can end in an asterisk if the player uses performance-enhancing drugs. Focused on the topic of doping in sports, a seventh grade unit breaks down the arguments for and against steroids in five...

Learners explain the Patriot attitude toward the British monarchy, which helps them embrace the Founders' reluctance to have a strong executive under the Articles of Confederation as well as their desire to build in checks of executive...

What's it like to be the new kid in town? A short activity, 15th in a series of 17 character-building lessons, focuses on the challenges new pupils face. After viewing a clip from the film The Sandlot, discussion groups talk about ways...

Students build their own compass following a given procedure. In this technology lesson, students explain how a compass is used in navigation. They trace the history of its development.

Immerse your class in Dickens's London and classic story of A Christmas Carol. Here, a SMARTboard presentation and WebQuest build background of the setting for the novel (or the play A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley.) Learning about...

Students use descriptive strategies such as physical descriptions, background, and comparison of characters when writing narratives. They develop the topic with supporting details and precise diction to paint a visual image in the...