Students practice sorting books. In this sorting instructional activity, students play the Flood Game on the PBS web site. With knowledge of the sorting system used by libraries, students sort small numbers of books using categories...

Students explore interviewing skills. In this journalism lesson, students examine "good" and "bad" interview questions and discuss both. Students then practice interviewing partners in the classroom.

Students examine journalism ethics. In this journalism lesson, students complete a think, pair, share activity about the journalistic code of ethics. Students then discuss an ethics scenario.

Students take a closer look at the research cycle. In this journalism lesson, students discover and practice Internet searching skills. Students use the search techniques discussed to locate information on selected topics. 

Fifth graders write about a holiday. In this language arts instructional activity, 5th graders write about a holiday they choose. Students write comments and questions for their Chinese colleagues using a blog site.

Students present tableaus showing scenes from The Memory Coat,  a book about immigration. In this tableau lesson, students examine the cover of the book and make predictions about what is happening and who the people are. They...

If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class...

Review the components of a well-written paragraph with your class. Be sure your writers include a topic sentence supported with main ideas and followed by a conclusion. Unity, coherence, and transition words are emphasized. Experiment...

What's the best resource to use when looking up words? Use Visual Thesaurus to see a word's meaning. The class accesses the interactive website and then compares and contrasts the difference between using a traditional dictionary and the...

"How can a magazine reflect a particular time and culture?" Using this prompt, your class explores the Victorian Era as it relates to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. They can also play the "Victorian Women's Rights" game for the year 1840...

Demonstrate strategies for tackling unfamiliar vocabulary words in preparation for the SAT. Using Visual Thesaurus computer software, middle and high schoolers interpret contextual clues, solve sample sentence completion questions, and...

Who was Vincent van Gogh? Most of the questions can be answered in two or three sentences; however, there is at least one essay prompt and one personal response question that require longer answers. Questions call for a good mix of...

Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary...

Thoroughly cover the nuances of apostrophes, quotation marks, dashes, hyphens, colons, and semi-colons. Intended for higher-level English classes, the examples given pertain to tricky rules and formal language. There are no animations or...

Teach young researchers how best to choose sources. This PowerPoint presentation underscores the need for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage.

A scavenger hunt introduces class groups to the different sections of newspapers and the different types of articles found in each section.

Class pairs select a prompt from a provided list and tell (and record) their story to their partner. They then examine linguist William Labov's model for natural narratives, and apply his model to their tale. Next, class members watch...

Point of View’s short film, “34x25x36” launches a study of how images presented by mannequins and advertisements influence body image. Class members read and discuss the fact sheet "Media's Effect on Girls: Body Image and Gender...

The Ringstrasse is one of the most famous places to visit in Vienna. It is a circular street frequented in the 1890's by many historic figures. After a study of Brahms, your class can complete this fun and creative activity. They color,...

Should the student population wear uniforms to school? Pupils express whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with a controversial statement, moving to a designated corner of the room to indicate their stance....

Arranged in facing concentric circles, half the class discusses an issue. The other half of the class takes notes which are then used to fuel a class discussion and to prepare editorial opinions on the topic at hand. So much emphasis is...

The ABC book format is used to organize information found in a Holocaust research project. Class members use the library and/or online resources to collect information and organize their findings under key terms, places, or names. Before...

Learners practice sentence combining at increasingly difficult levels throughout a week. They begin with nouns and verbs and build to contrasts, parallels, etc. 

What is the root of the conflict between ranchers and environmentalists? Middle schoolers write their impressions of what an environmentalist is and does. They read the New York Times article "In New Wild West, It's Cowboys vs....