High schoolers watch westerns and analyze them. They identify the plot, characters and the sounds in the film. They research icons of the American west and prepare a presentation. They share their presentation with the class.

Young scholars study the life experiences of people who lived in colonial Boston prior to the American Revolution. They define key terms including Loyalist and Patriot. They write a journal entry as Nathaniel Hurd, a silversmith.

High schoolers write about the impact of the Underground Railroad. They examine primary documents as they conduct independent research to explore the role of the Underground Railroad during the fight for abolition. They...

Pupils read an essay by George Orwell's life in Burma and place it in its cultural and historical context. They identify the main points of the essay and Orwell's use of symbolism in the essay. They explain how each persuasive tool...

Here is a wonderful lesson designed for students with special needs. This well-thought-out lesson uses Big Books, familiar stories, and has a lot of review learning built into it. The book, The Keeping Quilt is used in the main part of...

Fifth graders explore the current jazz scene and how it reflects American culture. They listen to jazz recordings of current artists and speculate on which direction jazz is likely heading.

Pupils research countries participating in the Olympic Games. They create a database which includes graphs for comparing population density, the number of athletes, per capita income, etc. for each country. This project is completed...

What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...

Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...

Can your pupils find the comparative or superlative adjectives in each of these sentences? To complete the exercise, individuals circle the adjectives and then note down the things being compared.

Students read a short story about a young Iraqi boy, which opens up classroom discussion about the difficulties some immigrant students face, especially in the days after September 11.

Students create their own holidays, describing them in booklet form. They develop the holiday's name, symbol, colors, food, and historical significance.

This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...

Students email students their own age in another country to share information about their cultures and countries.

Eleventh graders study wildlife management and identify the appropriate government agencies that are in charge. They examine different wildlife management techniques. They write a letter showing interest in the activities of one of the...

Students explore and discuss Woodrow Wilson's concepts for peace and the League of Nations. They understand efforts made to foster American support for the League and discuss the opposition shown in the Senate.

Students use the Internet to research monuments. They design models of appropriate memorials which would honor the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. They complete oral presentations that...

Students discuss Sir Ernest Shackleton and his participation in the Discovery expedition in 1901 to the South Pole. Students write a persuasive letter of application to an ad Shackleton placed in a London newspaper looking for recruits...

What are the three types of irony? High schoolers engage in a lesson about the use of irony while reading O.Henry's short story "Gift of the Magi." They'll discuss rising action, climax, and resolution in the text before highlighting the...

For this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a short text about shopping malls. Students answer one multiple choice question.

Young scholars discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times.  In this Louisa May Alcott lesson plan, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist...

Why should high schoolers bother to read All Quiet on the Western Front? Give them this short synopsis to introduce them to the story. There's also a short section encouraging readers to ponder why they're being asked to read...

After viewing selections from a website and discussing the role of the teacher in educating the disabled, students work in pairs. They analyze the work of an educator and relate the work to a given quote, then decide if that quote fits...

Getting tired of seeing dangling or misplaced modifiers in your students' writing? Use this grammar activity to reinforce the importance of careful reading and editing. Young writers find the sentence that has no misplaced or dangling...