Students read thematically related texts, scaffolded from simple to complex, to help them gather necessary concept vocabulary and background knowledge in a content area. They then write acrostic poems to organize and present their learning in a creative way.

Students observe how language features vary when shifting from an informal to a formal style or vice versa. By engaging in style shifting in both speech and writing, students become aware of how we all change language styles depending on the contexts in which we are speaking or writing.

Students research careers of their own choosing. Then using Piktochart, students create their own infographics to illustrate their research.

Students write step-by-step instructions on topics of their own choosing. Then using Piktochart, students create their own infographics to illustrate their instructions.

After researching topics that the students have chosen, students write argumentative essays. Then, using Piktochart, students create their own infographics to illustrate their research.

Students read and discuss a selection of poems from Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming to explore varying views on the process of desegregation in America.

This multi-lesson learning project encourages students to read engaging texts at their grade level and also works to promote habitual, independent reading in all students.

After researching various human-made disasters such as the BP oil spill, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Great Chicago Fire, students share their research in oral presentations. Then students pair up to compare and contrast their disasters using the Venn Diagram Student Interactive or the Venn diagram Mobile App.

After taking a field trip that students document using mobile app Instagram, students become new reporters as they use the interactive Printing Press to tell about their experiences.

Using haiku, students focus on themes in literature and demonstrate their understanding of an author's message. Writing haiku to accompany an analytical paper hones analytical skills and fosters creative expression.

Students learn how to play "devil's advocate" by evaluating sports reforms, reading an engaging non-fiction article, and participating in a town hall meeting in which they represent the interests of various stakeholders to generate debate and develop critical thinking skills.

Using the Haiku Poem App or the Haiku Poem Interactive, students summarize papers they have written using the traditional format of a haiku.

Using a mobile app or Interactive activity, students write haikus describing various types of clouds that they have studied.

Students develop quantitative reasoning and critical thinking by analyzing descriptions tables for content, language, and organization with a particular focus on verb tense selection, and then writing descriptions of tables themselves.

In this lesson, students develop the cognitive tool of criteria development for discussing the aesthetics of poetry and music.

Reporting on an informational book doesn't have to be boring! Instead of the traditional book report format, students create newspapers using a Printing Press interactive to share what they have learned from reading informational books.

After students write persuasive essays, use this lesson to challenge them to summarize their essays concisely by creating five-slide presentations.

Students improve a slide show by removing pictures. Their reasons for cutting pictures are translated into revision guidelines for cutting unnecessary words and sections from their rough drafts.

Inspired by their curiosity about animals, students work together to research an animal of their choice and present the information they gather to an authentic audience.

In this lesson, students work with proverbs from home and from around the world, exploring how these maxims are tied to a culture's values and everyday experience.