In this lesson, students write a paragraph using descriptive language to create a vivid image of their idea of a more modern, updated version of Santa Claus—the millennium Santa!

Includes six text-dependent questions, one constructed response writing prompt, and explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS for Thomas Jefferson's 1801 Inaugural Address.

Four-minute video on how to read and write more critically with an emphasis on analysis, big ideas, and deeper meanings.

This article examines what happens when a sugar planter tries to save his sugar crops by importing a few mongooses. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Using the supernatural powers of The Monkey's Paw, the Whites make a wish for money, receive the money after their son is involved in a fatal accident, wish for his return, and finally wish for his disappearance. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

When a sudden and inexplicable force causes everything to stop working on Maple Street, the people there begin to wonder who or what is responsible. Fear begins to invade each person’s mind. This behavior reveals that the real monsters on Maple Street are the people themselves and the fears and prejudices they harbor. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Students will use stream tables to create a landslide and explain why erosion changes the land on mountaintops.

In Mrs. Flowers, an excerpt from the autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the author, Maya Angelou, describes a significant experience with a respected person in her community, Mrs. Flowers, who changes her life. Through their interactions, Maya Angelou learns the power of language (spoken and written) and relationships to transform lives. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This lesson encourages students' natural curiosity about spiders and builds on their prior knowledge. After a shared reading of Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin, students work cooperatively using a strategy called Fact–"Faction"–Fiction to identify what they know, gather information, and create their own multimedia diaries using PowerPoint. Although the topic example used here is spiders, this lesson is easily adaptable to any content area topic.

A short video on determining the correct meaning of words in the dictionary.

In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this unit students practice writing to an essential question, using context clues and root words to determine word meaning, close reading with the aid of a glossary, taking notes with graphic organizers, re-reading to answer text dependent questions; and summarizing.

This resource includes six text-dependent questions, one constructed-response writing prompt, and explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS and a mini-assessment.

A USA Today Education informational article on new American citizenship exam questions with included reources/ worksheets for students.

In this lesson, students understand the effect of volume, stress, pacing, and pronunciation on the deliverance of a mock newscast.

Newsmap.jp is an online news aggregator-portal that uses a colorful graphical "treemap" to visually reflect the constantly changing nature of the Google News news aggregator. Newsmap's objective is to demonstrate visually the relationships between data and the unseen patterns in news media.

A short instructional video that helps students decipher ambiguous newpaper headlines and dual meanings in language.