Comparison and Contrast
Gary Paulsen and Jack London (Grades 8 - 12).  Students read "The Dogs Could Teach Me" from Woodsong by Gary Paulsen and then compare his writing style and thematic concerns with that of Jack London.

Conflict
Jack London's "To Build a Fire"  (Grades 8 - 12) Students discuss the effect of choices made in the story.

Creative Suggestions
Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonists Index  Lesson plans include games like scavenger hunts, tic tac toe and cartoon bingo, which engage students as they explore and interpret the symbolism in cartoons.  Included are all necessary pages to print out as student handouts.

Kids Cornfield Kidworld Magazine. A good example of kidsí writing on the internet, including particularly good games and puzzles in an online format.

Kidís Space. The site has rapidly developed into many sections, including creative activities communication pages and sections for learning basic computer skills. Good audio clips of music by kids are available in three options.

Critical Thinking
Resources from The Center for Critical Thinking
Has a wealth of information including instructional guides and lesson plans to help educators implement Critical Thinking in every aspect of their teaching.

Debate
Suggestions to Consider    Suggestions are given here for teaching debate.

Forming an Opinion - Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonists Index  Click on "Forming Opinions" at your grade level (Elemenetary, Middle School and High School lesson plans are included.  This site includes developed lesson plans for using the editorial cartoons as a teaching tool in Social Sciences, Art, Journalism and English at all levels.Instruction starts at Grades four and five.

Debating Free Speech    The Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the  way we see free speech.  This lesson plan (appropriate for grades 4 - 10) teaches students the complex history of free  speech and invites debates over new  technological regulations.

States Rights versus Federalism   Students will  study primary documents to  examine to rights of the state versus the power of the federal government.  This lesson plan is  appropriate for students in grades 7 - 12.

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Mythology
Stories, Folklore, and Fairy Tales Theme Page  Twenty-six lesson plans to discover here!
Teaching Fairy Tales Across the Curriculum   General Suggestions that would work for any fairy tale are followed by specific  suggestion for teaching Alice in Wonderland. Units cover lessons in writing,  science, drama, geography, math, art, and spelling.

Grammar Usage 
Basic  Grammar Review Using Jabberwocky This is an attention grabbing way to review grammar.  Appropriate for grades 7 - 12.

English Grammar.   A dictionary of English grammar.
Resources for Writers. Learn more about grammar and punctuation.

What's an Adjective?  Examines the function of adjectives in creative writing.   Appropriate for grades 7 - 12. 

Imagery
Maya Angelou's "Mrs. Flowers" from I Know Why the Cage Bird SingsStudents read this excerpt and various poems and discuss the effective uses of  imagery.

Journalism
Impostor  A simple game involving biographical research.  Designed for grades 7 - 10. 

In Quest of Black History  (Grades 7 - 11)  Students are asked to search the web and write an editorial on Black History Month.

News of the World  Students use email, the internet, and electronic sources toi create either a newspaper or a news video. Appropriate for grades 7 - 12. 

Teenagers Around the World  (Grades 7 - 11)  Students research how other teenagers around the world live and then create a new magazine for teens around the world.

Listening Comprehension
Creating Vivid Mental Imagery Through Description  One student describes a picture while another draws the picture based on the description given. (Assignment appropriate for Grades 4 - 12.)

Literature
Issac Asimov,  "The Fun They  Had"  (Grades 5 - 9) Students read the story then write a science fiction story of their own  about education in the future.

Fable Writing  (Grades 3 - 8).  Students write their own fables using models from literature.

Horror Stories  (Grades 7 - 9) Students write their own stories using Mary Shelly and Edgar Allan Poe as models.

Morning Girl and Star Boy by  Michael Dorris  (Grades 5 - 7) lesson plans for teaching this novel. 

Myths for Kids (Grades 4 - 9)  Students use the Encarta Encyclopedia to study mythology.  Then they create a book of mythology for younger children.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt  (Grades 5 - 7) lesson plans for teaching this novel. 

Revenge in Edgar Allan Poe's "The  Cask of the Amantillado."  (Grades  8 - 12 .)

Pen Pals
The Diary Project. It is a way for young people around the world to share their personal thoughts, feelings, and dreams with one another near and far . . . to ask questions and find answers about growing up at the turn of the 21st century via the Internet. Requires plugins.

Cyberkids Connection. A virtual place for young people from all over the world to share their thoughts and ideas with each other.

Cyberteens. Mountain Lake publishes educational software as well as the CyberKids and Cyberteens Web sites. Their goal is to create and promote youth community worldwide and to give teens a voice and an interactive place to express their creativity. Young people all over the world make Cyberteens a sharing, caring space.

Personification
Ray Bradbury,  "There Will Come  Soft Rains"  Lesson Plan appropriate for grades 8 - 12 for  teaching the element of personification with this short story
 

Robert Frost  (Grades 5 - 12)  Lesson  Plans on Frost's poems.  All poems are linked to an online version.

Semantic Rhyming Dictionary. You can use it to write bad poetry or even good poetry. Using the three query functions described in this site, you can find words that rhyme with, almost rhyme with, or sound exactly the same as a certain target word.

Quotations
The Quotations Page. Search for a quote or read the quote of the day! Great links to other quotation sites.

Reading Activities
Book Reports Hundreds of creative ways to make books reports fun.

More Book Report Ideas  Three  dimensional reports for the lower grades.

Charlotte's Web, E. B.White  Fifty-two Activities to teach Charlotte's Web!

Toni Morrison's The Beloved  Activities to teach this novel are appropriate  for grades 9 - 12.

Recommended Web Sites for Kids
KidsConnect: Ask a Question. Are you a K?12th grade student looking for information on the Internet for a report or project to do for school? Let KidsConnect, the online question answering and referral service, help you out!

The Super Sitter. Being a babysitter is a lot of fun, and itís a nice way to make some money. Itís also a great way to learn about responsibility. The Super Sitter is a guide that can come in handy not only for babysitters but parents as well. And be sure to check out the Baby Safety Checklist, which has valuable pointers on how to keep children safe.

Research Paper
Internet Citations.Designed for use by school kids, this is very helpful site for adults as well.
Researchpaper.com. One of the Webís largest collection of topics, ideas, and assistance for school-related research projects. They show you how to make the most of your time online.

Spelling
A Spelling Test. Test yourself and learn some techniques to improve your spelling.

Teacher Resources
ARTFL Project: Rogetís Thesaurus Search Form.   Find synonyms (words that mean the same thing), antonyms (words that have the opposite meaning), and similar words and phrases. 

A Web of Online Dictionaries. Provides an easy-to-use search engine for words and the results are quite detailed. Also offers 400 different language dictionaries.

Encarta Concise Free Encyclopedia.  A free abridged version of Microsoftís CD-ROM encyclopedia.

Kids Zone. A collection of Web sites and activities that range from teaching the ABCís to researching homework topics. Also includes resources for parents and teachers. Requires plugins.

Merriam-Webster Online.   Aside from  the wonderful access to the dictionary, this site  offers words games and a word for the day.

Theme
Topics for Themes

Vocabulary
Word Walls

Voice
Julie Alverez and the Concept of Voice (Grades 9 - 12)  Read Yo! and discuss the importance of voice as one of the six traits of writing.

Writing for Publication
Childrenís Express.This site is for sharing news stories written by kids for everyone.

KidNews. This is a free news and writing service for students and teachers around the world. Anyone may use stories from the service for educational purposes, and anyone may submit stories. It invites comments about the news gathering, teaching, and computer-related issues in the Discussion sections for students and teachers. A tremendous source of all kinds of magazines for student-published work.

Kidpub. More than 10,000 stories written by kids from all over the planet!

Midlink Magazine. This electronic magazine was created by kids, for kids in the middle gradesógener-
ally ages 10 to 15. Browse through the interactive space to enjoy art and writing that will link middle school kids all over the world.

New Moon. This is a site for the magazine for girls writing of their dreams and aspirations. Provides a set of guidelines for writers.

Positively Poetry. This site is made up of poems submitted by kids from around the globe. Children can send their poems to Positively Poetry and all work will be displayed for people on the Internet to view.

Scriptitoís Place. Especially for young people ages 7?15. Vangar publishes things that people your own age have written to spotlight young talent, and to show you that you can do it too.

Young Writer Online. Young Writer is a magazine that publishes creative writing from children aged 6?16 from around the world.  Fun, instructive, and designed to build a writerís confidence, Young Writer is a forum for young peopleís writingófiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry.

The Young Writers Club. This club aims to encourage children of all ages to enjoy writing as a creative pastime by getting them to share their work and help each other improve their writing abilities. The online magazine is called Global Wave.

Young Writerís Clubhouse. Created by Deborah Morris, the author of the Real Kids, Real Adventures series. This site offers a great deal of sound information and opportunities for young people through writing. 

Writing HELP
Writing Den. This is designed for students grades 6?12 who want to improve their English reading, comprehension, and writing skills. Writing Den is divided into three levels of difficulty: Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs. Includes plugins.

Writing a Basic Essay. An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is the same no matter what. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task. Steps to guide you in writing an essay.