Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...

Students examine magazine advertisements to identify how the product is being sold to the consumer. They work together in groups to respond to ads and explain why they are successful.

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...

Students have group discussions that allow the teacher to assess the level of comprehension of the ideas of subjectivity and objectivity. Level of discussion at the end of the class provides some indication of comprehension as well....

Explore the current television rating system, its content descriptors, and the new V-chip technology that more readily allow parents to control their child's television viewing. Help learners develop a survey that will determine the pros...

Learners make choices regarding money management. In this personal finance lesson, students explore budgets, incomes, and expenses as they learn vocabulary regarding personal finance and consider how to create personal budgets.

Looking for a good social media lesson for your class? Then, this lesson is for you! They study various written reviews, then must choose an item to review of their choice. They can choose from: a book, restaurant, CD/musical...

This 76-slide presentation on passive forms, passive verbs, and passive tenses is meant to give students a lot of practice in this important area of literacy. There are dozens of examples for students to consider, and an interactive...

Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...

Here is an app version of a powerful tool that allows you and your students to have one place where you can capture, organize, and share items in multiple media formats.  The different uses for this app are as varied as your ideas...

How did the women in France feel about their country’s involvement in World War II? Class groups are assigned a country involved in WWII, and individuals within the group adopt the point of view of leaders, laborers, businessmen, women,...

What is a Socratic Seminar? Discover this type of discussion and it functions. Split the class into two groups with Group A sitting in an inner circle and Group B in an outer circle. Each person in Group B is assigned to a person in...

What do a zoo, snow, and a moving particle have in common? The six free-response items from the 2010 AP® Calculus BC exam allow teachers and pupils see how items may show up in context. Three of the questions are from only the BC portion...

Go a little deeper. Learners use the released 2006 AP® Calculus BC free-response questions to review for the BC test, which covers content from Calculus AB and Calculus BC. Topics include volumes of revolution, particle motion,...

Teach middle schoolers how to develop healthy relationships with activities and lessons designed to create a kind and inclusive classroom. Pupils create guidelines to develop a safe and civil learning environment. They learn how to...

Students spend some time in the world of marketing and advertising by analyzing and creating slogans and campaigns geared toward adolescents. Students work with a partner to create their design and share with the class

Newspapers and broadcast news. Social media, blogs, and blogospheres. Class members generate a list of news sources they use to get information about events. The big idea here is to introduce the necessary vocabulary and to establish a...

Young scholars develop an understanding of the journalistic concept of the "news angle," by examining the newspaper coverage of an airplane disaster.

Students examine the many changes in the Tarzan character from Edgar Rice Burroughs' first novel to Disney's newest movie version to explain how student movies are often used to mirror and promote cultural attitudes and beliefs.

Students analyze the meaning and process of categorizing items, people and events as 'the best.' students then defend pieces of literature, images, and sounds that they feel most represent 'the best of the 20th century.'

Which animal is best for you—a dog or cat? Why? Engage third graders in an opinion writing assessment that prompts them to read facts about both pets, and then write and decide which pet is best for them.

From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...

How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...

Investigate ethical issues surrounding the Decode project in Iceland. Middle and high schoolers take the positions of the Icelandic government, scientific researchers, and citizens and defend or refute the Decode project in a Reykjavik...