Has society progressed to the dream Martin Luther King Jr. expressed in his famous address during the civil rights movement? Learners work with a partner to analyze one excerpt from King's "I Have A Dream" speech and find a current...

C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength provides the model for using dreams in narrative writing. After a discussion of the purpose of dreams in Lewis’s tale, class members craft a story in which their dreams play an essential role.

Exploring the idea of working to achieve the American Dream, the class reads an excerpt from How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez. Following, the class analyzes the excerpt and discusses the theme of the reading using...

You might not be able to put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes but you can generate interest in A Midsummer’s Night Dream in that length of time. As an introduction to Shakespeare’s comedy, pairs of students assume the roles of...

Students investigate air pressure by researching parachutes.  For this physics lesson plan, students participate in three separate experiments utilizing air pressure and paper products to test theories on parachutes.  Students...

Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...

Eleventh graders analyze a chart comparing U.S. census data from 1850, 1880, 1900, and 1920. They read a handout summarizing immigration legislation from 1882-1996 and create a graph charting how open / closed U.S. immigration is over time.

Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...

Students analyze how poetry can reveal themes of 'The American Dream.' For this poetry themes lesson, students discuss the elements of poetry and define imagery. Students read 'Lost Sister' by Cathy Song and complete a related worksheet....

Fourth graders read "The Far Away Drawer" by Harriet Diller and discuss the story as a class. After discussion, 4th graders create a t-shirt GLYPH about their hopes and dreams,share their information with the class and create spreadsheets.

In this ESL dream questionnaire worksheet, learners practice conversation by working with another students to find out something about his/her dreams. Learners ask and answer 10 questions.

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...

Students analyze the motivations behind characters. In this character analysis lesson, students reflect on conflicts from previous stories and watch a clip from 'East is East.' Students answer questions for the movie and watch the movie...

Rather than waiting for the world to change, encourage your class members to become agents of change with a project that asks groups to select an issue found in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America....

Students reflect on the meaning of dreams and how scientists study dreams. They read and discuss the article "Winding Through Big Dreams Are the Threads of Our Lives." They write personal summaries and analysis of memorable, vivid dreams.

Students find their dream car by looking in car brochures and magazines. In this language arts lesson, students discuss what their dream car is. Finally, students get into small groups and rank their group's dream cars from highest to...

Students rewrite part of a novel in play format and act it out.  In this character lesson, students recognize the attributes of the main characters and their relationships.  Students relate their word choice to the genre. ...

Develop critical thinkers and awareness of the media's techniques. Impressionable minds analyze advertisements they see all around them in this potentially 3-week long unit of five complete lesson plans. Extended discussions, outside...

Students explore characterization. In this characterization lesson, students give analytical responses to questions and determine a character's beliefs. Students use the school mission statement to develop two beliefs that the statement...

High schoolers collect car cost comparison data from the "Car Wizard" web site to use as problem solving and for calculations related to math.

Students explore color connotations. In this color imagery lesson, students view a PowerPoint to generate a discussion of color imagery. Students rename colors as they appear on the PowerPoint. Students explore the emotions that...

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...