In this lesson, students will use short video clips and other web resources to study the group of animals known as billfish and learn how ocean currents influence the eating habits of various fish. Students will also have the opportunity to shoot their own video to create a nature documentary to present in the classroom.

In this lesson, students will analyze primary resources to explain how the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the issue of fugitive slaves escalated tensions between the North and the South, and led to the secession of several states and finally to war. Respond to an ECR writing prompt to demonstrate understanding of how the North and the South had different cultures and how these differences eventually drove them apart.

Students will use the internet to learn about the Native peoples that stretched across the North American continent in 1615, and learn about Native American populations today.

This writing assessment can be used within an informational, research-based unit. Students will spend time, in class, reading myths based on natural disasters and researching a natural disaster. Students will create their own, original myth based on their independent research.

This lesson, Nonviolent Resistance, focuses on Dr. Martin Luther King's, “The Sword that Heals,” and asks student to listen to interviews with veterans of the freedom struggle as they discuss the role of nonviolent direct action.

While Paul Revere's ride is the most famous event of its kind in American history, other Americans made similar rides during the Revolutionary period. After learning about some less well known but no less colorful rides that occurred in other locations, students gather evidence to support an argument about why at least one of these "other riders" does or does not deserve to be better known.

Students analyze three broad ocean habitats, the characteristics and conditions of each, and research the animals of each zone and their adaptations.

In this lesson, students research aspects of the Victorian Era as an introduction to a unit on "Jane Eyre"

The main character, Mr. Johnson, embarks upon quite the opposite of an ordinary day. This day he spends as a do-gooder, wandering the streets of the city, purposefully taking time to insert himself into the lives of the people he passes. His perfect day is juxtaposed the moment he returns home to his grumpy, negative wife. The irony is: most ordinary days are not filled with all great deeds, but rather a mixture of positive and negative experiences. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Students work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail.

This writing assessment can be used within an informational, research-based unit. Students will spend time, in class, reading myths based on natural disasters and researching a natural disaster. Students will create their own, original myth based on their independent research.

In this lesson, students explore environmental issues that are relevant to their own lives, self-select topics, and gather information to write persuasive essays. Students participate in peer conferences to aid in the revision process and evaluate their essays through self-assessment. Although this lesson focuses on the environment as a broad topic, many other topics can be easily substituted for reinforcement of persuasive writing.

Batter up! Studies show that using topics from popular culture in the classroom motivates students to read and write. This lesson, which can also be adapted for other topics, encourages students to look critically at trivia questions before writing their own. Students begin by listening to a read-aloud of Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man by David A. Adler and visiting websites containing baseball facts. Using the information they discover, students write questions to include in a Jeopardy game PowerPoint template. Playing the game with classmates enables students to share the facts they have discovered and creates a cooperative atmosphere in the classroom.

In this lesson, students compare how both George and Martha Washington felt about General Washington becoming the first President of the United States. Students should complete the George Washington's Letter to Henry Knox about the Presidency and Martha Washington's Letter about the Presidency worksheets prior to beginning this activity.

In this WebQuest, students will learn about the microorganisms that live in Atlantic White Cedar Swamp habitats. Then they will combine creative writing skills and biology knowledge to bring these microbes to life. Through the art of storytelling, they will bring awareness to Atlantic White Cedar Swamps and increase our understanding of the microbial world.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade English Language Arts.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade ELA. 

In this lesson, students will research one aspect of either hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) or lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV). Students will use what they learn during their research to produce a public service announcement in the form of a brochure, poster, radio announcement or television commercial. This lesson is for use after students have covered the basics of viruses, viral infection, and immunology. Students should know what a virus is, the basic methods of transmission, and how the human immune system reacts to infection by a virus.

In this lesson, students will examine the various social classes and learn about the critical role that slaves, freemen, and plebeians played in the day-to-day operations of the Roman Empire. Students will learn about the various social classes and the life experiences of people from these classes. As a final activity, students will complete a creative writing assignment that addresses how the Roman class system and the use of slavery may have ultimately contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire. Video link: http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/index.html - Go to For Educators and follow links to free video clips. The Slaves and Freemen link is broken. Use this: http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/slaves_freemen.html