In this lesson, students participate in a discussion of the most pressing issues facing teenage students at their school. In groups, students present their issues to the class and reach consensus regarding the single most pressing issue the school faces.

In this lesson, students use primary source documents and a movie to prompt thinking about why many Tennesseans supported the Butler Act, which forbade the teaching of evolution. Students will formulate hypotheses, fill in a graphic organizer, and support their ideas with evidence from historical documents.

In this lesson, students participate in a Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) as they investigate the question: Did Americans Support the Butler Act? In pairs, students read primary documents and assemble evidence to answer this question either affirmatively or negatively. Students then present their arguments to each other and try to reach consensus regarding the question, or to at least clarify their differences.

This lesson is designed to apply Common Core State Standards and facilitate a comparison of informational texts and primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys trials of the 1931 and 1933, and the fictional trial in Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird (1960).

A Seed Discussion is a two-part strategy used to teach students how to engage in discussions about assigned readings. In the first part, students read selected text and identify "seeds" or key concepts of a passage which may need additional explanation. In the second part, students work in small groups to present their "seeds" to one another. Each "seed" should be thoroughly discussed before moving on to the next.

This resource provides a lesson designed to provide students with a guide for reading and interpreting the text, Harrison Bergeron. Students will spend time analyzing the author's use of irony. The lesson provides a set of guided reading questions as well as a culminating writing activity.

Students will consider the nature of stories and learn to write more concisely by reading and writing flash fiction.

In this lesson, students engage in an inquiry focused upon different historical interpretations of Social Security and the New Deal. They examine the different ways that historians Carl Degler, Barton Bernstein, and Anthony Badger have addressed the question: Did the Social Security Act and the New Deal fundamentally change the role of American government in the economy? Students learn elements of historiography—in particular that interpretations of history may differ, in part, due to the evidence used by historians and their particular perspectives. Finally, students answer the inquiry question themselves and support their arguments with evidence from both primary and secondary documents.

Students use a Socratic seminar to analyze and argue about a recent news topic on which they"™re sure to have strong opinions: the SAT.

In this lesson, students construct their own carousel to go along with the one in Something Wicked This Way Comes. Students work in groups of four or five to create their carousel, including features designed to represent the fears and desires of the students creating it.

In this lesson, students compare Ray Bradbury's novel Something Wicked This Way Comes to the movie adaptation from the 1980s. Students complete a chart comparing the two versions of the story before moving on to a sheet of questions and an assessment of the teacher's choice.

In this lesson on the Spanish American War from Historical Thinking Matters, students will use contrasting newspaper accounts of the explosion of the Maine to gain insight into how an author’s word and information choices influence the message and tone of the text. Students will view a 3-minute movie to establish context, use a graphic organizer to compare the articles, and write an essay where they take a position about which account is most believable.

In this lesson, students work through the Spanish-American War investigation on the Historical Thinking Matters website. They read the nine documents, answer guiding questions on the interactive on-line notebook, and prepare to complete the final essay assignment using their notes. Each day includes a brief teacher-led activity or presentation designed to facilitate students’ work. Students complete an essay and participate in a discussion reviewing the four historical reading strategies used to frame the site’s notebook questions.

A teachers guide for Spare Parts by Joshua Davis, including questions for comprehension, discussion prompts, and ideas for exercises and assignments to deepen understanding.

In this lesson plan, students analyze a poem in groups on a very rigid schedule. Students read and annotate the poem, then prepare a three-minute presentation to the class about it.

Students examine the state of the print newspaper industry, then debate its future.

In this lesson, students examine the state of the print newspaper industry, then debate its future.

Some of the most the most essential works of literature in the world are examples of epic poetry, such as The Odyssey and Paradise Lost. This lesson introduces students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition.

In this lesson, students engage in a quick poetry analysis to practice key skills for reading poetry. Students first learn the details of the strategy before applying it to a poem.

In this lesson, students receive strategies that will help them understand whichever Shakespeare play they're about to begin reading.