Readers learn how to summarize scientific text and evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in writing summaries. They select science-related articles you've pulled and collected from the New York Times and, with a partner,...

U.S. immigration is the focus of a unit on social justice. Over the course of a school year, young historians read a variety of texts to learn about four waves of immigration that have occurred over time in the U.S. An emphasis on...

As to be expected from the American Chemical Society Olympiad Examinations Task Force, this 60-question test tops the charts in terms of excellence. It consists entirely of multiple choice questions designed to assess a year's worth of...

Kids fight obesity by comparing the USDA food intake suggestions to what they personally consume throughout the day. They watch a video, read texts, and explore related vocabulary which they use as they compose an oral presentation. 

Students discover enunciation and alliteration by reading tongue twisters in class.  In this language arts lesson plan, students listen and repeat some of the classic childhood tongue twisters along with their teacher....

Here is a website that offers the poem, A Little Brother Follows Me by Anonymous, in digital form, as well as printable copies. Printable copies come with six different font versions to choose from.

Students participate in games to practice language skills.

Students demonstrate the jigsaw strategy by individually reading different selections of a text, and then coming together to share what they have learned.

Challenge your pupils' writing skills with this two-page worksheet. There are a total of twenty sentences which must be read in order to determine whether or not they contain errors in parallel structure. Note: This worksheet accompanies...

Third graders describe some of the factors that brought early settlers to Ann Arbor. They read Narrative-A Trip from Utica, New York, to Ingham County, Michigan in 1838. As an added challenge, 3rd graders can use maps to track Silas...

Why do books end up on the banned book list? How do these banned books contribute to the literary canon? Start by showing the photo slide show, and discussing notably banned books. Then focus on some of the most popular objections:...

Explore legendary cartoonist Herb Block's bold challenge of McCarthy-era politics through this analysis activity. Two cartoons are included, along with talking points to prompt analysis and background information to help pupils "read...

Research was very different in the past. Pupils once had difficulty finding sufficient information, but now they have the opposite problem. Show your class how to pick the best resources out of the millions of sites an online search will...

Compelling discussions are the result of open-ended, challenging questions. An introduction to Paideia discussions includes explicit directions about how to prepare readers and how to model the kinds of questions they should develop...

What do plate tectonics and ocean currents have to do with global climate? This fourth installment in a six-part series focuses on how plate tectonics and ocean currents affect global climate, both now and in the past, outlines an...

Ahoy there! A fun computer science lesson challenges pupils to write a program that creates an ocean wave. They then develop stories to accompany their projects. All of this takes place within the Scratch coding program.

Students explore about big books. They create a big book version of a favorite story or an ABC book about a favorite topic. Students describe the size of a book. Students are explained that big books are books that have large pictures...

To prepare for a reading of Christopher E. Crowe's Mississippi Trial, 1955, class members create a KWHL chart and begin by generating questions they have about the civil rights movement, slavery, and the death of Emmett...

Is falling in love easy or hard? Challenge your class to consider seven statements about love and relationships before reading Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Then, as you work your way through the play, revisit the sheet to record...

Given a deck of cards with different words printed, pairs draw cards and work together to locate definitions for each multiple-meaning word. Learners complete a worksheet that challenges them to write the word, two of its definitions,...

Challenge your sixth graders with this instructional activity about the freezing and boiling points of water. In these activities learners graph temperature data, read and analyze information, and identify the freezing and boiling points...

The first pioneers faced many obstacles on their journey west. Middle schoolers read different historical fiction texts (ideas are provided), make connections, and complete a detailed packet (included). Reading guides, journal ideas, and...

Challenge your class with these essay questions based on Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetry. This resource includes 3-8 short answer and essay questions for each of 9 different poems by Shelley. Pick and choose the poems you would like to...

This lengthy assignment for English language learners includes a one-page reading on the Argentinian president, Cristina Kirchner, and numerous activities/exercises that address listening and reading comprehension, speaking, vocabulary...