Stop, thief! Do your pupils understand the consequences of plagiarism? Lesson three of six in a series of college and career readiness activities demonstrates the dangers of taking credit for someone else's work. Learners engage in...

“Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” These two views of war, embodied in George Patton’s statement and Lorraine Schneider‘s famous 1966...

Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They...

How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis lesson, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...

Kids fight obesity by comparing the USDA food intake suggestions to what they personally consume throughout the day. They watch a video, read texts, and explore related vocabulary which they use as they compose an oral presentation. 

Two primary sources, a speech, and an article provide tweens and teens with different perspectives of the American Thanksgiving holiday. After analyzing Wamsutta James' suppressed speech and Jacqueline Keeler's article, class members use...

Thanksgiving—is it a national celebration or the National Day of Mourning? That depends on the point of view. Young historians analyze a speech written by Wamsutta James that presents a Native American view of Thanksgiving. The lesson...

Scholars closely analyze the use of rhetorical strategies in several model texts. They work in groups to annotate the text identifying rhetorical elements, and to complete a Rhetorical Analysis chart and guided reading worksheet....

President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...

After reading a brief excerpt from a letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband and future president of the United States, John Adams, your young historians will practice their reading comprehension skills and identify what Abigail...

One of the best ways to make history relevant and engaging is to analyze current events before they become history! Check out these project guidelines for a current event research paper, outlining the major required sections of...

How did Ku Klux Klan develop and flourish in the US? How did the government respond to acts of terrorism conducted by the KKK following the Civil War? How does the government respond to acts of terrorism today? This resource...

Young scholars complete a unit of lessons on the women who contributed to the early Women's Rights Movement in the U.S. They conduct Internet research, examine images online, develop a list of women, complete a worksheet, and create a...

Introduce learners to allegorical art with four bronze sculptures by Francesco Bertos. After modeling how to recognize bias and allegory in Bertos' Africa, class groups examine the other three sculptures in the series before creating...

What does your class know about logical fallacies? They can find out quite a bit and practice identifying logical fallacies if you follow the steps and use the resources provided here! After reviewing ethos, pathos, and logos, ask small...

What does the author believe about his topic? Why did he write in the first place? Challenge your class to figure out the answers to these questions as they read through informational texts. The resource provides a breakdown of the...

This slideshow lesson focuses on writing a reverse outline as a post writing strategy for assessing your paper for weak or missing aspects. It explains how to create the outline using a rubric if available and provides a skeletal example...

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] This lesson is about being able to identify the author's purpose in a specific text. Specifically, it's about looking at several authors' works on the same topic and...

A module where students analyze how the author uses text structure to emphasize key points or explanations in order to achieve the purpose for writing or point of view.

As students become more aware of text complexity, an understanding of the formal properties of literature becomes more important. This is an excellent examination of the kinds of choices writers make that change the way readers receive...

Rcognize how literary devices such as character foils can create complex characters in a short story.

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn to identify the primary points of view used in fiction and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each.

This is a teacher demonstrating and discussing teaching students poetic elements: learning the literary terms, their definitions, and how to apply the information when analyzing poetry.