A part of history is often forgot when teaching younger students. This is the relocation of the Cherokee Indians when the white settlers wanted their property. The US Government moved whole groups of Indians under harsh conditions. This trip became known as the Trail of Tears. Using this as a background students will explore and experiment with persuasive writing as they try to express the position of Cherokee leaders.

By creating a PR campaign for a historical or literary figure, students can practice a wide range of thinking skills.

Putting historical or literary figures on trial makes a lively and challenging alternative to a class debate.

This "rethinking reports" series of articles provides alternative research assignments that challenge students to think critically about historical actors.

In this WILD TV segment, a photographer helps find homes for animals up for adoption.

By writing a narrative about an animal rather than a traditional report, students can learn about literature, develop writing skills, and still fulfill science and research objectives.

Strategies such as flow charts can help you assess reading comprehension for English language learners, content-area learners, and all students.

In this video segment from Nature, researchers study pandas in an effort to halt their decline in population.

In this video segment from Jakers! Abuelita describes her life as a migrant worker.

In this video segment from Nature, discover the various roles the cat has played in our history.

Caucusing enables students to practice the elements of responsible citizenship, including persuasive writing and speaking.

Banned Books Week teaches the importance of our First Amendment rights and draws attention to the danger of restricting information in a free society.

In this video segment from Art in the 21st Century: Paradox, two artists create a public art piece using giant pieces of chalk.

This lesson plan introduces students to changes that have occurred in western North Carolina, through two hundred years of national and regional development. Students will learn about the geographical, political, and technological issues that have influenced change in mountain communities using oral histories by Madison County residents. They will learn about the history of road building in the North Carolina mountains, and the relatively recent decision to connect two halves of interstate highway in Madison County. They will compare and contrast the negative and positive changes that road construction has brought to the region, and listen to oral histories of locals who have experienced both good and bad effects. Through discussion with classmates, they will create a list of the advantages and disadvantages of both tradition and development. After collecting and reviewing information about the construction of Interstate 26 through Madison County, students will write an editorial. In this editorial, students will clearly state their position on the Interstate 26 debate, and will support their argument with evidence from the oral histories.

In this lesson, students will learn about the use of child labor in the cotton mills of the Carolinas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They will learn what life was like for a child worker: how much the workers made, how many hours they worked each day, what their homes were like and what they did for fun. Students will then write an investigative news report exposing the practice of child labor in the mills, using quotations from oral histories with former child mill workers and photographs of child laborers taken by social reform photographer Lewis Hine.

Bibliotherapy and critical literacy are two ways to use books to help children better understand themselves, others, and the world around them. This article explains both strategies and provides resources for selecting appropriate books.

This teacher research study examines how students select books for independent reading and how teachers can help them make choices more appropriate to their reading levels.

Carolyne DeGrammont of the Cedar Lane Stables in Queens, NY talks about why she enjoys horses in this video segment from Wild TV.

In this video segment from Wild TV, riders discuss the benefits of coming to the Cedar Lane Stables in New York City.