Students read excerpts of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. Using the documents, they identify the ideas of how the government should be run. In groups, they develop a skit that encourages people to be...

Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....

Study the present perfect or past simple verb forms with this resource. There are two exercises provided; in the first, budding grammarians complete a set of eight sentences with the correct verb form. In the second, they rewrite a list...

  Students read and discuss the poem, The Purple Cow.  In this poetry lesson plan, students discuss the rhyming words in the poem and why this piece of literature is silly or unusual.     

After reading El Bronx Remembered by Nicholasa Mohr, learners complete a KWL graphic organizer based on vocabulary from the novella. A SMARTboard presentation is a good resource for reviewing the vocabulary, as well as the triple-entry...

Where the Red Fern Grows provides the text for a study of the literary elements of plot, character, and setting. Discussion questions and vocabulary lists are referenced but not included.

Readers of Voltaire’s satire create a word square for vocabulary drawn from Candide. The first box contains the word, the second a picture or illustration of the word. The definition is written in the third box, and learners write a...

Reinforce the actions, emotions, and characteristics that determine what a character is like by having your middle schoolers create a biopoem using the model presented here. You could engage them first by having them write a poem about...

Although dated in appearance, this PowerPoint presents current content in how learners can identity a theme, main idea, subject, and topic. The information is formatted for easy note taking, but offers no explanation of the themes...

Young scholars identify conditions in Europe that relate to the independence movements in South America and list reasons why President Monroe gave for recognizing the independence movement in South America.

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...

Learners explore a variety of weather websites, and complete a Weather WebQuest worksheet. They read and analyze weather data, prepare a weather forecast and daily weather report, and predict the weather for the next two days.

Young grammarians review the proper usage of colons and semicolons in writing. Given a list of sentences, they determine which are direct characterizations and which are indirect characterizations. They also decide where the punctuation...

Commas set off words. Review this concept with your beginning grammarians, and then give them this practice opportunity to drive the point home. There are several examples as well as a short passage with a list of accompanying...

Learners produce a research project on an animal. Using the Internet, they find pictures and information about animals. They are also given a list of items that should be covered in their report, including the appearance of the animals,...

Use these worksheets to kick off a great lesson on The Crusades. Eighth graders will analyze a map and four short passages to answer six reading comprehension questions.

Analyzing an image depicting a scene from the past can be as effective as reading (for some learners). Here, they analyze two drawings showing an Aztec ceremony and an aerial view of Tenochtitlan. They answer 4 questions about each picture.

Did you know that tomtoes and cucumbers are actually fruits? Biology or botany beginners read about the function of flowers and fruit and find that some food items commonly called vegetables are, by definition, also fruits! Give learners...

Young poets focus on one character from a story they are reading, collect details, and use a biopoem template to analyze this character. The activity can be used with any text.

Here is a case study for high school or college-level learners about space exploration equipment that has failed. The class reads about the Mars Climate Orbiter that was destroyed in 1999 and discusses the costs and benefits of space...

Expose your class to various poetic forms. Listed in and described in this slide show are: ballad, lyric poem, ode, dramatic monologue, sonnet, and villanelle. Some descriptions are more detailed than others. 

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...

To prepare for a study of intellectual property rights, (or an assessment) introduce your learners to the legal concepts and key vocabulary associated with the debate. After defining intellectual property, copyright, fair use, and...

Help young historians explore the US Constitution with this graphic organizer worksheet. Including a section for identifying the meaning of the preamble as well as the first three articles of the Constitution, this resource supports...