What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

Bring history to life for your young scholars with a Fourth of July lesson series. After a class reading of the Declaration of Independence, students translate this pivotal document into layman's terms before working in small...

Use picture cues as a tool in order to create meaning along with text. With a wordless comic, young illustrators discuss the main idea and character traits, and independently write a summary for a page of a wordless comic. This strategy...

Taking on the roles of a fiery Boston patriot, a Philadelphia merchant's wife, and a prominent abolitionist, your young historians will consider the reactions of these early Americans to the creation of the Declaration of...

Students identify and interpret the Declaration of Independence and the rights and privileges demanded in the document. They also identify how those rights and privileges have affected our history. Students then research about the...

In the tenth instructional activity of this unit, young scholars learn to categorize information as they continue researching their colonial trade. During guided practice, the teacher models how to read informational text slowly while...

Although the article that launches this instructional activity is about the history of the Periodic Table, the objective is reading comprehension. Using the eight-page informational text, learners answer five comprehension questions and...

Class members adopt the persona of real figures in American history, Patriots and Loyalists, research these individuals to determine their stance, and then debate the question of whether or not to declare independence from...

Young scholars identify conditions in Europe that relate to the independence movements in South America and list reasons why President Monroe gave for recognizing the independence movement in South America.

Students read and discuss the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Sentiments. They discuss how the rights of the colonists and women were being violated. Students write about their own personal rights and how their rights...

Learners create a career exploration experience for elementary students. In this career exploration instructional activity, learners select a career field d to read about to elementary children. Students then present the Career...

Youngsters visit the classroom library to complete various reading activities, pushing their motivation to read! They will discuss different library books and read two specific books that use "Building Block" reading skills. They also...

The Declaration of Independence was published in 1776. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, was drafted and read by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848....

Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth...

Young scholars read excerpts from several Freedom Documents, evaluate amount of freedom guaranteed by each document, and rank documents on scale to determine which grant greatest and least amount of personal freedom.

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass serves as the anchor text for a lesson on symbolism. Readers use the provided worksheets to examine the symbols in the novel as well as in the world around them.

Students complete activities for an independent novel project. In this novel project worksheet, students follow the 13 steps to analyze and complete a comprehensive project about a novel they've read.

Students watch a "Reading Rainbow" video including the short book reviews that are always shown during each video. They read a book fo their choice and do an oral book report similar to those from Reading Rainbow.

Ninth graders examine the events of the independence movement of India. They listen to a lecture and complete a concept map of the independence movements of the 20th century, watch an excerpt from the movie "Gandhi," and answer...

Help your youngsters frame their thoughts and begin to organize notes for their next book reports. This template includes space for a book citation, author background, synopsis, and critique

Voices from the past. Young scholars listen to a podcast interview with a historical re-enactor as they continue their research in the eleventh instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. Applying their close reading skills,...

Students examine what they know about American Indians past and present, then research key issues facing American Indian tribes today. To synthesize their learning, students write letters taking the perspective of an American Indian.

Young scholars brainstorm lists of songs that were written in response to American wars; consider the patterns in the lists they create.