As your young historians learn about the Umayyad and early Abbasid Caliphate through reading secondary sources, have them use this simple printable to organize their notes on the topic and provide points of focus for their reading.

Show your class what poem the famous line "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" comes from. Class members read Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem and respond to one question with a short paragraph. The question asks learners to use...

Bring your learners together to write a class narrative about the first day of school. Start off by teaching them about sequence with a quick oral activity. Then, work together to fill out a story map. Finally, compose the class...

The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...

This is a general goal-setting activity that asks learners to set a specific goal, consider what roadblocks they might encounter, and then outline steps toward overcoming those roadblocks and ultimately achieving their goals. This can be...

The best way to really learn something is to teach it! Using this worksheet as their guide, your class members will each create a 20-minute fitness lesson to teach to their peers. Lesson plan template calls for identification of the...

Will learners pass this quiz by the skin of their teeth? Or will they know for sure that the teeth do not have skin? Ten questions require takers to list the functions of the mouth and teeth, name types of teeth and describe their roles,...

Anatomy and health classes can be assessed on their knowledge of the skin. Using 10 questions in various formats, middle schoolers respond to the function, layers, care, and conditions of this vital organ. The provider of this quiz also...

Get those gastric juices going with a delicious quiz on the digestive system! Middle school learners fill in the blanks about the process of digestion, the function of different organs and fluids, and problems that can occur with the...

Break down Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls into manageable chunks by focusing on plot points and literary elements in specific chapters. This resource is all about the first chapter, and asks pupils to use complete sentences to...

Focus on characterization in Wilson Rawls' well-known novel. First, learners answer a series of questions about the chosen chapters, paying attention to plot, use of language, and character interactions. Then, using the provided Venn...

The seeds of tragedy are planted early in John Steinbeck's story of migrant workers George Milton and Lenny Small. Nurture the imagination of readers by asking them to craft predictions about what will grow out of events in chapters one...

Use this Saxon math coordinate plane instructional activity to have your learners utilize a graphing calculator, equate the vertices of a rectangle, and then graph their conclusions as well as answer a variety of fill in the blank...

What's theme, and can texts of every length have one? Explore the themes of fives short reading passages with your middle school class. Encourage them to highlight specific places in the text where they recognized the theme. 

The first of three pages in this handout provides a brief history of our understanding of the cell. It also differentiates between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The second is a collection of true and false, multiple choice, and short...

It was a bittersweet event when the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the last time on July 21, 2011. Space science learners read an article about this event in The New York Times and then write answers to who, what, where, when,...

Here is an activity that you can use to help upper elementary or middle schoolers to meet Common Core literacy standards for science and technology. Youngsters read the article on extreme weather patterns, "Weather Runs Hot and Cold, So...

This assignment has young scientists read four different news articles about the 2011 Nobel Prize winners. Six questions are posed for children to write the answers. It is a relevant activity for getting middle schoolers to meet the...

Readers of To Kill a Mockingbird summarize events, identify characters, and analyze actions in the first 11 chapters of Harper Lee’s novel. The carefully crafted questions could be used to guide reading or as the basis of group or...

Does your class annotate to deepen their understanding of a text? Before they jump into Night by Elie Wiesel, have them practice annotating with a short excerpt. Provided here is a guide to annotation and a two-page excerpt on the...

What are the three types of irony? After reviewing dramatic, situational, and verbal irony with your readers, present them with this two-page document. They read six excerpts to determine which type of irony is used in each. After...

After reading Richard Connell's best known work, "The Most Dangerous Game," have your class complete the 12 study questions included here. Readers answer plot related questions, compare and contrast characters, and analyze story...

Basic, yet effective! Use this persuasive essay graphic organizer in one of two ways: either use it during pre-writing stages, or distribute it during peer-editing. There are blanks provided to record the thesis statement, four...

The value in this Macbeth study guide is that it asks readers to not only chart events, but to also consider the significance of those events. The worksheets could be used as preparation for a full class discussion or the basis or a...