Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...

The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the...

Elementary schoolers take part in a very good lesson which has them watch video, conduct experiments, complete hands-on activities, and work in cooperative groups. The educationally-rich activities are clearly-explained, and the group...

Can any good come from acts of evil? The 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and the eventual outcomes of the tragedy, are the focus of a activity that asks groups to examine primary source...

Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for...

How do all the lessons and activities you have planned for your class align to Common Core State Standards? This can feel like a very daunting question. Help ease the process by referencing a template that not only lists and...

Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...

Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.

Learners explore the use of voice and title in William Faulkner's, "As I Lay Dying". They identify and discuss the use of image, symbols and narrative voice in the story.

Students read a variety of Cinderella tales from different cultures. They discuss the differences in character, plot, and conflict resolution in the stories from different countries.

Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...

Address the literary elements in a piece of writing using these materials. The packet includes plenty of resources, and focuses mainly on theme, character, and point of view, with some materials for setting, symbolism, and author's...

There are so many authors of short stories, and your class can have the chance to study quite a few. This seventh lesson plan in a series of fourteen continues the decision-making process for the final assessment: a short story author...

Who was Walt Whitman, and what link does he have to president Abraham Lincoln?  After Lincoln's assassination, Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" This poem and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" are the focus of...

Identifying themes in literature is the focus of the language arts lesson plan presented here. Learners read short pieces of fiction and practice the skill of identifying the themes present in each one. The bulk of the lesson consists of...

Why did they say that? What did they mean? How did they feel? Using the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, challenge your young readers to answer the comprehension questions about chapters 41 and 42 of Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Each...

How does a computer recognize voice commands? Scholars learn about digital assistants and natural language processing (NLP) algorithms in the ninth lesson plan of the series. They begin building a simple digital assistant and work on...

Twelfth graders use computers and the Internet to research a specified area, word processors to prepare an essay, a digital camera, a video camera gather visuals, and a scanner to add visuals to a PowerPoint presentation as they discover...

Class members create a PowerPoint presentation showing artifacts they would include in a time capsule. The artifacts and explanations reflect personal hobbies, grooming choices, school life, etc. A great way for class members to...

To broaden their understanding of both the short term and long terms effects of the Civil War, class groups examine primary source materials and then assume the role of a family member and draft a letter to a soldier describing life at...

Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...

Incorporating the arts into regular classroom practices isn't an easy task. Learners will research background information regarding Russian culture, history, and conflict then see how those things have applied to the rigors of Russian...

Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...