Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...

Semicolons and colons are tricky, and the Common Core creators knows that. If you are stuck on what to teach to make sure your learners can master Common Core skill L.9-10.2 use this resource to fine-tune your content. The multiple...

If you're completely lost on what grammar you should cover for Common Core skill L.9-10.1, look here! You will find some ideas and examples on what to include, making sure your learners can master the skill. The multiple choice quiz is...

Your assessment is to figure out if I am being figurative or connotative with this statement: This is a great resource. Can’t do it? Then you had better review how to break down Common Core skill RL.11-12.4. In simple language that you...

Need something for group work, homework, or a way to assess your learners on your lessons for Common Core skill RI.9-10.3? Then you have come to the right place because this multiple choice quiz challenges learners to analyze the...

Although it does not properly address how to use the Common Core standard, this resource does provide a decent writing prompt that explores how minor characters influence Hamlet's decisions throughout the play. The prompt can be used for...

Practice and fine-tune your learners' writing skills for Common Core standard W.11-12.2 with a plan that explains how to incorporate the McCarthy Hearings into their reading of The Crucible. It offers solid advice for students on how to...

Your students have mastered using textual evidence in literature, but what about using this skill in informational texts.  Uh oh! That is right—they are not the same thing. Darn the Common Core! See options on how to differentiate...

Although the ideas on how to implement the skill RI.9-10.2 are lacking, the assessment would work well for challenging learners to summarize, and identify the main ideas of presidential speeches that are of similar topics. One could use...

Your learners need to develop skills to argue effectively, and this comes by understanding the traditions that make claims valid, and what detracts from their effectiveness.  Although this resource does not give advice on how to...

Your pupils are beginning their research project and are having a hard time narrowing their topics down. If you’re not sure how to help them, then start here. Provided is a student dialogue that works though the issues of narrowing a...

What would happen if I structured this review by beginning in the middle of it? Or by flashing back to the dinner I had last night that gave me bad heartburn, and then transitioned into how the lingering burn of acid seeped into my...

From baseball and tennis to capture the flag and four-square, here is a great document that will help you design your next unit on a sport-related activity. 

If you’re going to get a tattoo, make sure your artist writes it right because it’s hard to correct their inkings. That’s the big idea in this short lesson on commonly misspelled words like their/there/they’re and it’s/its.  Images...

Mental math skills are really important to develop. Kids practice metal computation by first adding the hundreds then the tens and ones. There are nine addition and nine subtraction problems to solve. This attractive worksheet is...

Designed with many of the Common Core standards in mind, this 10-lesson unit is brimming with ELL strategies, teacher's notes, and the best of core instructional methods for teaching the common elements of folktales, and exploring...

Keep track of your sixth graders' mastery of the Common Core math standards with this practice assessment. Taking a different approach than most standardized tests, this resource includes not only multiple choice questions, but also...

Following extensive modeling about how to apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to learn new words, partner teams create brief word presentations to teach new vocabulary to the class. Preselect words from upcoming social studies,...

Captivate your class by having them find the value of their names, different zoo animals, musical instruments, etc.,with a mental math lesson. Using the coding formula listed, children learn to fluently estimate and calculate...

Seventh graders examine Prime Factorizations, Multiples, and Factors. In this prime number, factorization, and multiples instructional activity, 7th graders identify greatest common factors and least common multiples. Students use...

Build your class's dictionary skills with this fun game. The activity allows learners to better understand dictionary usage, spelling, and vocabulary. By the end of this activity, they should be skilled word finders.

Learners utilize various vocabulary strategies. They use vocabulary logs to record strategies they have been taught, such as the Frayer Model (definition, picture, examples, non-examples), writing their own definitions, and using...

Learners create a word tree poster that illustrates the way a root word can serve as the basis for many related terms. Although designed for a Latin language class, the concepts here could be used with any class study of Latin or Greek...

Practice being concise. Exercise your vocabulary. Improve your editing skills. The contention in this instructional activity is that by imposing a 140 character limit, the Twitter format actually helps improve writing skills. And of...