With so many books to choose from, it can be hard for young readers to find the right one. Help children overcome this problem with this list of rules for identifying books that are too easy, too hard, and those that are just...

Spruce up a class reading of the children's book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this fun series of activities. Starting with a list of reading comprehension questions and key vocabulary to address during a teacher...

After a close reading of Sylvia Plath's "Mirror" and Flora de Falbe's "Five Things About the Lake," young poets craft their own personification list poem about a very special place.

Use this multidisciplinary lesson to delve into these subjects: English language arts, math, science, drama, and character education. After reading, discussing, and making interpretations about Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese...

Strengthen the bonds of friendship within your class with a reading of E.B. White's award-winning novel, Charlotte's Web. Focusing on the unique characters in the story and the relationships they develop, young readers draw...

Primary and secondary sources are the focus of a lesson that showcases the important role women played during the American Revolution. Pairs review sources and discuss their findings. A close-reading of an informational text leads the...

Groups create a list of the character traits of Steve Jobs and Buddy, the main character of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy, and share and select evidence from Jobs' 2005 Stanford University Commencement Address to support their...

Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...

To pique interest in The Last Lecture, readers are given a list of key terms and ask to craft a story inspired by the terms.

An informative list compiled with quotes, authors, and discussion questions, along with 20 out-of-the-box application ideas, make up the collection of lessons geared to spark dialogue and creative thinking about quotations. 

Greed is the theme of this collection of multidisciplinary activities. As a class, read The West African folktale, Anansi Goes to Lunch by Bobby Norfolk, and take part in a grand discussion about it's plot and theme. Reinforce the...

What is a proverb? This is the leading question of this resource. First, explore proverbs and their meanings. Then, read aloud The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss and partake...

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

Get to the know the common house mouse and the Norway rat with an activity that reinforces reading comprehension skills. Scholars read a three-page document detailing key information about mammals, specifically rodents, and use their...

Set young readers on the path toward fluency with this phonemic awareness resource. Based on the award-winning children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, this instructional activity allows beginning readers to...

Middle schoolers read a passage from Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Avonlea and identify three details from the passage that show Anne is nervous as she faces her students for the first time.

It's all connected. Scholars use pages 24-26 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World to identify the relationship between the plants and animals in the rainforest. They answer and discuss questions about the relationship with a...

Take inventory. Scholars analyze pages 28-31 of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World and use a note catcher to model how Meg Lowman took inventory of the species in the rainforest. Learners then take a close look at the vocabulary...

Priming and shaping, two teaching strategies used to prepare kids for upcoming activities, are detailed in this resource that models how to prepare kids for a trip to the supermarket. Activities include creating a shopping list,...

If the world were 100 people...17 would not have access to safe drinking water, 18 would not be able to read or write, and 52 would not have a primary education. Using the theme of "100 people," this resource explores other major issues...

After completing an online activity about the Mayflower, scholars draw a picture about what they know of the Thanksgiving holiday, including a one-sentence summary. A reading of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma is...

Following an online activity, scholars listen to a read-aloud of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma. Pupils discuss their family traditions and complete a T-chart comparing the holiday then and now. Collages are made to...