Activity 1 directs students to research the life of John Steinbeck using three different biography websites and to answer specific questions about his life, themes in his work, and how those themes reflect his experiences. Students are asked to identify common themes in Steinbeck's novels and to explain how those themes reflect his own life experiences, which requires synthesizing information from source texts.

Students read multiple parables from different authors/traditions (Biblical parables, a Buddhist parable, and a South African TRC story) and are asked to explain the moral or lesson of each story. Students are prompted to compare the Parable of the Pearl with Steinbeck's The Pearl by explaining how the parable is like the novel and how the novel may be an ironic reference, noting that the pearl represents heaven in the parable but evil in the novel. Students are also asked to "decide on one of the important lessons and think about a different story you could use to teach the lesson," which invites comparing different narratives that convey similar themes.

Students are asked to compare the book to another story using a Venn diagram (Compare/Contrast activity) and to read poems about money (e.g., "Money, O!" and Carl Sandburg's "Money") and discuss how the poems' themes relate to the novel. The skills list explicitly includes synthesizing and making logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts. Several tasks (Kino trial, Speech, and Short Answer on stylistic devices) require students to use evidence from the text to support claims about the author's choices.

The lesson directs students to read two different biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien (links to the Tolkien Society biography and the Kids Britannica biography). The parent/skills sections list activities in which students summarize information, determine importance, and draw inferences and conclusions from informational materials. Students are asked to read the articles and then produce interview questions or a collage that require them to identify important facts and changes in Tolkien's life.

Students are asked in Activity 1 to read a couple of early reviews/responses to The Hobbit (including C.S. Lewis's review and Rayner Unwin's letter) and to write a 2–3 sentence summary of each critic's response. Students must identify whether each response is positive or negative, explain the major points the critic makes, and describe any literary elements the reviewer alludes to. The Parent Plan explicitly directs students to recognize that the first review discusses important themes while the second review focuses on characters and plot.

The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Evaluate information from different sources about the same topic." Activity 3 directs students to read multiple web sources about Korea (Ancient History Encyclopedia, Koryo Dynasty site, National Geographic Kids, Britannica, etc.) and record information on the "Elements of Korean Culture" pages, deciding whether items belong in the "Today" or "Centuries Past" column. Students are asked to compare information across sources as they add to the chart while reading the novel.

Students are directed to read multiple fox folktales from different sources (a Japanese tale, an Aesop fable, and a Norwegian tale) and are asked to "Read each story and think about the purpose of the story and what it teaches." The Parent Plan also prompts students to explain the purpose of their story and the lesson that can be learned, and the lesson describes recurring cultural traits assigned to foxes across literature.

Students are asked to choose a controversial topic and "research information on multiple points of view," find sources (6–10, at least four types), and write an argumentative essay using those sources. Students read a multi-perspective article (CNN Dakota Access Pipeline piece) and complete a "Point of View" chart that prompts them to list how different stakeholders view the issue. The Parent Plan Skills statement directs students to "explore and analyze argumentative works... by summarizing the author's purpose and stance, examining the importance and impact of establishing a position, and drawing inferences."

Students read two contemporaneous news articles about the same event—"Sir Sam Steps Down!" and "Hughes Fired from Cabinet"—and are asked to compare how Sam Hughes is portrayed in each. The Detecting Bias activity directs students to identify specific bias techniques (selection and omission, word choice and tone, headlines, statistics) and to record examples from each article. The parent guidance and sample answers model noting which facts each article includes or omits and how wording and headlines shape the portrayal.

Students are asked to brainstorm controversial issues and to select topics that "have multiple viewpoints," and they answer guiding questions such as "Does the issue have multiple viewpoints?" and "Does the issue matter to many people?" Students complete a KWM chart to record what they know, what they want to know, and why the topic matters, and they are instructed to include evidence compiled through formal research processes (e.g., print, Internet, interviews). The activities require students to generate open-ended research questions and to search a variety of resources for information.

Students are asked to gather and record information from multiple named sources using a gathering grid that lists different resources (NRP Report, President Obama's speech, a photograph, USA Today) and sample entries that show different emphases (economic impacts, clean-energy framing, visual/emotional evidence, legal/environmental discussion). Activity 5 requires students to find at least three opinions from different stakeholders and record at least three supporting details for each, prompting comparison of differing interpretations. Activity 4 asks students to evaluate websites for purpose, authority, currency, and objectivity so students practice identifying bias and differing presentation of information.

Students are instructed to support the main idea with facts, details, examples, and explanations from multiple authoritative sources and to synthesize research into a written presentation (Parent Plan Skills). Students are asked to acknowledge opposing points of view and write a counterarguments paragraph, and Parent Plan discussion questions prompt students to reflect on which points of view were new and how learning different points of view affected their opinions. Students use evidence repeatedly in body paragraphs and are required to include facts, statistics, research, expert opinions, and quotes to support claims throughout the essay activities.

The skills section directs students to synthesize research into written or oral presentations that compile important information from multiple sources and to use evidence to support conclusions, which requires working with multiple authors. Several student activity options (poster, brochure, propaganda) ask students to explain multiple points of view or show both their position and the opposing view, prompting consideration of differing perspectives on the same topic. The planning and presentation activities require students to organize sourced information and present findings orally with supporting visual aids, encouraging use of evidence from research.

The lesson invites students to think about how the novel The Lightning Thief compares to the original Greek myth of Perseus ("If you have read the novel, you can think about how it compares to the original Greek myth"). The parent-plan skills list includes synthesizing and making logical connections across two or three texts and supporting findings with textual evidence, which implies cross-text comparison. The wrap-up also asks students to apply conventions of myths as they encounter other myths, suggesting opportunities to consider multiple versions.

Students read two different authors' versions of the Icarus story (the traditional myth on pages 153-154 and Brian Greene's Icarus at the Edge of Time) and complete a side-by-side chart that compares Theme/lesson, Result of not listening to father, Icarus' desire, Role of invention, Method of flight, Setting, and Son and father. The chart requires students to identify concrete differences in setting and factual elements (wings vs. spacecraft, prison vs. spacecraft) and differences in interpretation (themes and consequences). Activity 4 also asks students to compare the text to a filmed version and note how the film expands, changes, or emphasizes aspects of the story using sound, music, and added dialogue.

The Parent Plan skills list instructs students to "synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts" and to "analyze literary works that share similar themes across cultures," which asks students to work with multiple texts and compare ideas. The unit includes tasks that require students to summarize and reflect on multiple myths (Part V: Famous Myths) and prompts students to identify conventions and themes of an original myth before creating a retelling. The "Ideas to Think About" prompt asks how stories and beliefs reflect culture, encouraging comparison of perspectives across texts.

Students will read two different texts about the Middle Ages (a novel and a collection of monologues), exposing them to multiple authors' treatments of the same topic. Students are prompted to write 3–4 sentence commentaries from the perspectives of a knight, a lord, and a peasant, practicing distinguishing and adopting different viewpoints. Students are directed to analyze different forms of point of view and to make inferences about author's purpose (listed in the Skills section).

Students read The Midwife's Apprentice and a centuries-old Japanese poem "A Dialogue on Poverty," and are prompted to "look at poverty both in the story and in a centuries-old Japanese poem." Activity 1 directs students to "consider how Beetle could relate to this poem and the message the narrator conveys" and provides four comparison questions asking about the narrator's outlook, similarities to Brat/Beetle, physical and emotional lacks, and the effect of first-person versus third-person point of view. The parent plan and discussion questions explicitly ask students to compare Beetle's situation with the poem's narrator and to explain how point of view affects the poem's effectiveness.

Students are asked to read the modern translation and are invited to look at the original wording on the left-hand side of the page, allowing direct comparison of two text versions. Students watch a BBC animated adaptation and are prompted to discuss which key scenes were included and whether the animated tale does a good job of telling Shakespeare's story. Discussion questions ask students to compare scenes and consider how an adaptation might have changed the play's presentation.

Students read Chapter 21 of The Story of Science: Newton at the Center and are directed to read the NASA webpage "What Is Aerodynamics?" Students are asked to take notes from the demonstrations, use diagrams/captions/text to create a numbered procedure, decide which demonstration to try, and then summarize how an airplane wing works for a parent.

Students read works by both Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning and answer comparative questions (e.g., "How is Elizabeth Barrett Browning's voice in her sonnets different from her husband's in 'My Last Duchess'?"). Students consider how a change in form would alter presentation when asked how "My Last Duchess" might differ if it were a dialogue rather than a monologue. Students are prompted to explain how their own poem reflects their time period rather than that of the Brownings, encouraging consideration of differing perspectives.

Activity 2 asks students to read a nonfiction biography of Prince Albert and to choose a favorite line from Tennyson's "Dedication" alongside a prose statement from the linked website that expresses the same idea, writing the two statements on opposite sides of the "Prince Albert Remembered" page and illustrating them. The Student Activity Page provides two labeled columns, "Poetic Expression" and "Prose Expression," for students to record the paired items and compare them side-by-side. The Parent Plan explicitly frames the activity as comparing how the same event or emotion is treated differently in poetry and prose.

Students read chapters on Matthew Arnold and Christina Rossetti and answer comprehension questions about each poet and specific poems (e.g., Arnold's use of the tide in "Dover Beach," Rossetti's personification in "Winter: My Secret"). Students are prompted to use what they learn from the two modern British poets to create their own nature poems, linking their study of both authors to their writing. A discussion prompt explicitly asks students to compare Arnold's "To Marguerite" and Rossetti's "Sappho," noting differences in subject and interpretation (separated love vs. unrequited love; real person vs. historical woman).

Students read chapters on three poets (W.B. Yeats, Edith Sitwell, Wilfred Owen) who wrote about World War I and World War II and answer specific questions about each poet's language and techniques (e.g., Yeats' biblical/mythological allusions, Sitwell's repetition, Owen's depiction of war's horrors). Students are asked to consider where each poet lived and how that affected perceptions of the wars and to discuss which poet best conveys feelings to the reader. The curriculum asks students to identify facts and vivid details from contemporary news articles and to create poems and staged images inspired by those events, reinforcing attention to how choices shape presentation.

The reading notes that Stevie Smith read an article about a man who drowned (Question #2), giving students a nonfiction account to compare with Smith's poem. The Discussion Questions explicitly ask students to consider how the original article about the event was different from Smith's poem and note the article likely contained more complete factual information (Questions to Discuss). Question #3 asks students to compare Smith's poem with Browning's "My Last Duchess" in terms of speakers, rhyme, and meter, prompting analysis of how authorial choices shape presentation.

Students read chapters on two poets (W.H. Auden and Dylan Thomas) and answer guided questions about each poet and specific poems (e.g., 'The Unknown Citizen' and 'Fern Hill'), which attend to the poets' messages and themes. The lesson defines 'juxtapose' and asks students to "consider the themes in the poet's collections" and to choose and explain a poem they memorized, prompting reflection on thematic choices. Parent/Wrap-up discussion prompts ask students to identify themes common to Auden and Thomas and to consider what each poem communicated about the era, which invites cross-author thematic comparison.

Students are directed in Activity 6 to review analyses of two poems (Sitwell's "Still Falls the Rain" and Tennyson's "Ulysses") in the "Summary and Explication" and "Techniques and Devices" sections. The unit test includes a prompt asking students to compare works by Browning and Smith, with the answer key pointing out differences in how each presents conversational voice and verse form. Timeline and genre activities require students to identify poets' genres and techniques, prompting students to note different emphases authors place on form and subject across historical periods.