Wanted: New Authors!

Increase academic vocabulary and practice test-taking skills by reading words in context. Elementary schoolers discuss how to approach domain-specific vocabulary as it relates to new subjects. They work with the words classify,...

Bring humor into your own writing! Writers consider how professional authors create humor in their writing. They read and analyze comic strips and poetry to determine the devices used by writers to create humor. Some of the examples...

Home is where the heart is. Saroo, a main character in Lion: A Long Way Home, desperately wants to be home. However, he is lost in a train station and has no way to contact family or get back to his home. Scholars learn new vocabulary,...

A good author can craft a plot full of twists and unexpected turns. Your class will read a twist-filled short story, analyze the writing technique and word choice employed by the author, and then attempt to write a mystery of their own....

Does hard work and determination really pay off? It seems that way for Billy, a character in Where The Red Fern Grows. After working for two years, he finally has enough money to buy the pups he's always wanted. Scholars read about the...

Readers of Pearl Buck's The Good Earth craft and answer "Right There," "Think and Search," "On Your Own," and "Author and You" questions.

Four thought-provoking questions encourage readers to develop and support their opinions about strategies to end a friendship after exploring excerpts from a New York Times article. The reading is brief so this could be a lead-in to...

Budding poets choose a topic for a sensory-filled poem. Authors describe that topic using detailed language based on the five senses. Then, switch the senses to create a fanciful poem intended to add a touch of fun to the objective. 

Study the impact and possible outcomes of the Exxon-Mobil merger in your language arts, social studies, or economics class. Secondary learners evaluate a series of graphs, write a paragraph interpreting the data, and engage in class...

“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’...