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...

Is laughter really the best medicine? Middle and high schoolers discuss the truth behind this adage by reading and discussing a New York Times article about Dr. Patch Adams. They participate in a round-table debate in response to...

Should public humiliation be an acceptable consequence for a crime? Have your middle schoolers engage in a round table discussion about the recent resurgence of the use of public humiliation as a punishment for crimes in the United...

How do you feel about cloning? This issue is highly debated, so educate your class before they participate in a similar debate! Read a New York Times article related to the use of cloned pig organs for human transplants. Groups develop...

Does it actually exist? Consider the sighting of a giant squid, much like the one that appears in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Middle and high schoolers read the article One Legend Found, Many Still to Go, and research other mysterious...

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,...

Synthesizing information from a PBS documentary Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, its companion website, and several other resources (links to which are provided), high schoolers evaluate whether Bunche did all he could to advance the...

Practice responding to controversial information with the New York Times lesson provided here. Middle schoolers watch a video interview with the director of The Lost Tomb of Jesus. After reading a companion article, they identify...

During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are...

In groups, learners review one of four selected Supreme Court cases. The whole class watches a video introducing the four cases, and then small groups dive into Internet research in an attempt to write a two-paragraph summary of the...

Practice parallel structure with a multiple-choice exercise. Twenty questions challenge learners of all ages to correctly fill in blanks with phrases that are parallel in structure to what is already there. Tip: As noted, this worksheet...

Peer review of science laboratory reports? You bet! First, learners work in pairs to review a scientific article. Then they trade lab reports for peer review. The end result is the publication of a classroom scientific journal!

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...

Reading the original Hans Christian Andersen tale of “The Little Mermaid” and viewing the Great Performances: The Little Mermaid from the San Francisco Ballet video offers class members an opportunity to consider how artistic decisions...

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...

Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related...

Students watch a video prior to developing a family emergency preparedness plan and kit. They decide with their families what local media sources they would use to get information during an emergency situation.

Interesting! Have your high schoolers watch this 13-minute clip from the documentay, "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" It examines the fear we have as a culture about death and whether or not the media increases those fears. The focus...

Here is a clever, and simple, instructional activity on how play the guitar while singing the Happy Birthday Song. There is media content embedded in the plan that allows learners to see a video of it being played, and to print out...

Eighth graders recognize and express numbers when written in time saving techniques. They gather data from a variety of sources, including print and electronic media. They develop a presentation using a variety of techniques.

In this character development story map instructional activity, students complete a flow chart about a character in a book. Students fill in the name of the character and write how the character feels and acts before and after a...

Does your school compete in a spelling bee? Do you want your seventh graders to learn challenging new words? Here's a list of 100 words to prepare your kids for the National Spelling Bee. Since the words are from the 2010-2011 school...

Young scholars study the concept of creating art outside the frame. In this art lesson, students finish artwork as they add their own details to cropped photographs.

Young scholars examine several newspapers to compare front pages, headlines, and photographs, experience role of news editor, define and discuss factors that go into news judgements, and arrange twenty-two minute news broadcast by...