A university decides not to allow a qualified scholar to enter its institution based on skin and gender—but this case is about a white female? The 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger lays the foundation for open discussion and...

Who decides someone is not a real person? Scholars investigate the Dred Scott v. Sandford court case which deals directly with slavery and citizenship. After viewing a short video clip, classmates work in pairs to assess and discuss the...

Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a lesson on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class discussion, primary source...

How is fixing a flat tire like reading and writing? By thinking about each activity properly - identifying the problem and purpose, gathering information, and making inferences - you can exercise your thinking skills equally. This...

Here are 11 questions intended to guide learners as they read a New York Times article about the violence and conflict between Israel and Palestine. They can review the questions and then read the article to help answer them. A link to a...

Readers are asked to identify the central idea and two supporting details that develop this main idea in an article about the apprentice system popular in colonial America. 

Combine two current events (2008) in one political cartoon. This handout examines the Large Hadron Collider, a scientific invention that caused a sudden fear of black holes, and the financial meltdown on Wall Street. Background...

Listening is a very important part of developing foreign language skills. Guide your beginning Spanish class through this basic activity. As you read each word, have your listeners attempt to write in the missing syllables. The target...

Practice distinguishing biography from autobiography through point of view. Tell a brief story of your morning. Have a class member retell the story to you (using second person). And have another retell the story to the class (using...

Encourage more pun-derstanding of word play in your literary scholars as they explore Brian P. Cleary's book Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay. Although this isn't suggested, consider beginning this study by simply showing...

Before reading Anne Frank's diary, discuss stereotypes with your class. This guide is a great prereading activity; pupils complete a list of incomplete sentences in order to showcase common stereotypes. Then, they complete the seven...

Here is a unique activity in which learners simulate operations of a fractional reserve banking system, ultimately gaining a better understanding of how banks work and process money creation through lending. It includes a Story of Banks...

Encourage creative, independent, and reflective thinking and writing throughout the school year by having your class members keep Interactive Student Notebooks (ISN). Here you'll find a presentation designed to...

Get parents or guardians into the swing of things with a jazzy homework assignment. A detailed six-page guide provides before, during, and after reading suggestions for Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, Andrea Davis...

Scholars closely analyze the use of rhetorical strategies in several model texts. They work in groups to annotate the text identifying rhetorical elements, and to complete a Rhetorical Analysis chart and guided reading worksheet....

A variety of questions are presented on the amazing amphibian. Life science intellectuals complete a life cycle diagram, describe characteristics and behaviors, and fill in a metamorphosis flowchart. Content level is geared toward middle...

Pages and pages of engaging activities, worksheets, and writing projects on teaching folktales and fables await you! You don't want to miss this incredible resource that not only includes a wide range of topics and graphic...

Students read "If you give a pig a pancake" then write the letter P with pancake batter on a griddle tablet for a yummy treat to eat!

Students read a news article about a space mission being launched to the planet Pluto. They study the necessary vocabulary and complete an anticipation guide of questions which they revisit after they read the article.

Make analyzing the sequence of events in an informational text easy. Ask readers to craft a one-sentence summary of each paragraph in a document and create a text map. To demonstrate their understanding of the process, participants read...

Enhance your student's reading with this presentation on the end of WWII. This series of slides contains information,  focus questions to guide student reading, and a video entitled, The Impact of World War II. Note: To view the...

Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...

Students create an art project based on "Follow the Drinking Gourd," a song used to guide slaves to freedom during the Civil War. They read a picture book to learn the story of how Harriet Tubman and Peg Leg Joe led slaves to freedom.

Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...