Use this cross-curricular history lesson plan to work on your learners' informational writing skills. After listening to songs and stories related to Sultana, they engage in a several activities to boost their understanding of slavery...

Eighth graders study persuasive writing. They analzye an editorial for introductory,body, and concluding sentences. They develop arguments for and against various topics in small groups.

In an online engaging and animated game, pupils role play as lawyers charged with protecting rights found in amendments to the United States Constitution. As they choose appropriate amendments to match the right that has...

Different currencies, multiple armies, unreliable protection from thieves: class members experience these challenges playing a game that demonstrates life under the Articles of Confederation. After playing the game—which takes them on a...

Study opposing viewpoints with this lesson, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or against the reasons to...

Get your class to use the scientific process to solve a scientific problem. They utilize the Natural Inquirer magazine to identify a research question which they write an introduction to and collect data to answer. They use graphs,...

Students research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...

Taking on the roles of a fiery Boston patriot, a Philadelphia merchant's wife, and a prominent abolitionist, your young historians will consider the reactions of these early Americans to the creation of the Declaration of...

Seventh graders explore persuasive writing using the city life and the country life as focus topics. In this persuasion lesson, 7th graders read "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" in an attempt to determine the pros and cons of both...

Students recreate and simulate the secession of the South during the Civil War by having their class secede from the school. They write an essay comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences of everyday life before and after...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...

Scholars write letters as if they were someone who heard the story of John Brown's raid. The resource, a standalone, covers information from primary sources that is important to West Virginian history: the Harpers Ferry Letters.

Has United States military intervention in the conflicts of other countries always been warranted? After reviewing a brief background on contemporary US conflicts and reading articles describing the civil war in Syria, your learners...

In an engaging simulation, class members imagine immigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth century and arriving at Ellis Island. They then write creative journal entries about their experience and chart their journeys.

A role-playing scenario has middle-schoolers imagining that they are refugees forced to flee their community and integrate into a new one. Then, some play the roles of members of the new community and the class brainstorms ideas about...

Was justice served for Bobby Franks? An informative article about the 1924 trial of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold includes an overview of the murder of Bobby Franks, the defense’s legal strategy, and excerpts of closing arguments from...

Seventh graders use print and electronic resources to gather and analyze information on the political system in the United States. Using the Constitution, they identify and discuss instances of racism included in amendments and laws. ...

Demonstrate how to engage in a polite and professional conversation with this banking and interfacing lesson. Focusing on explanatory and informaitonal texts, middle schoolers write sentences using banking and finance terminologies....

Young historians research the devastating attacks of 9/11 and use that information to script their own documentaries. The follow-up activity includes recording the documentary and conducting classmate interviews, 

Fourth graders practice descriptive writing by describing a fictitious monster they created.  In this language arts lesson, 4th graders illustrate an image of a monster character they imagine and practice using their vocabulary to...

Students explore the reasons Mangrove forests are in jeopardy.  In this lesson, students read an article that discusses specific facts on Mangrove forests, then complete numerous activities that reinforce the information, such as...

Students visit Ellis Island Immigration Museum (as a field trip or a virtual visit) and pretend to be Italian immigrants to the United States. They write a journal entry detailing their first week in the United States. They interview an...

So many politicians, so many endorsements! Learn to differentiate between facts as well as the process of endorsements with an informative resource. Class members watch current endorsement videos, research candidates from three different...

Help your class explore the question "Is it ever right to disobey a law?" With a strong base of knowledge about the Civil War, anti-slavery movement, and Underground Railroad, your class explores civil disobedience in Marshall, Michigan...