Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...

Learners watch a video clip discussing the story about the mayor and answer the following: What kind of people should be role models for students today +++ Are they politicians and government employees, movie stars, or professional...

First graders investigate two different types of whales; toothed and baleen. They describe what the different types of whale eat. They listen to a cassette of Dyan Sheldon's, The Whale Song before making stick puppets to dramatize the...

Arranged into small groups, learners read a paragraph of the news story "Texas Kid Writes Book About Presidents." As one reads, others mark the text (underlining important information and writing notes in the margin of the story). After...

Students identify the parts of a dragonfly that they drew. They write a very short non-fiction story (mainly with pictures) about the adventure of a dragonfly. They interview a person dressed as a dragonfly to find out some things about...

Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...

Students examine how a hook grabs the readers attention. They read an example of a hook from the book "Charlotte's Web," and discuss the process of writing a hook. Students listen to the story "Hey Al," identify the hooks in the story,...

Why should high schoolers bother to read All Quiet on the Western Front? Give them this short synopsis to introduce them to the story. There's also a short section encouraging readers to ponder why they're being asked to read...

Using a famous children's story as the hook, learners explore the concept of changes in matter. First, they make a cake similar to the one made by Alice in the story Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Next, they let their...

Focusing on Martin Luther King Jr, this lesson explores the qualities of a leader. First, learners listen to a story about Ruby Bridges. Then, they discuss the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Finally, they discuss the characteristics of...

The importance of oral tradition is evident throughout time and across space. Introduce your learners to some interesting stories and then test their knowledge with these questions. Ten multiple-choice questions focus on characters and...

Each country or group of people has created special places of worship. Children read a story about religious buildings and architecture and then make clay models of the buildings they like the best. The lesson has been written to...

Learners "role-play" the part of a person who says unkind things and are photographed while doing so. They then act out a story about making friends. They practice saying kind things and are photographed. Word bubbles are added...

Students discover how setting, props, and character-action communicate information about the characters and the story. Access to videos and a video camera are important to make this lesson a success.

Scientists listen to the story of Wadja Egnankou who works to save African mangrove forests. They experiment with refraction and the introduction of particulate matter to water. They conclude with creative writing about the need for a...

Looking for a powerful reading comprehension method? Try visualization! Learners use this strategy to increase comprehension of a chapter book selected by the teacher. As an assessment, individuals or small groups draw pictures of the...

Students count the number of spots on ladybug wings. They add to find total number of spots on ladybug cut outs and complete the associated worksheet. They write ladybug addition story problems.

If you can find the book Caps for Sale in the target foreign language, this is a great activity to accompany it! After reading and modeling the story, the teacher models a dialogue that would take place between a salesman and a...

Reinforce the importance of the writing process with this publication lesson. Elementary and middle schoolers compose a parts of speech book which includes one page each for nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,...

Students study about the first people that came to the Lansing area. After reading a series of stories students have gained an examineing of how people in the 1800s and 1900s dressed. They design trading cards to portray their settler...

Learners locate and identify statues in their local community. They write what they would see or hear and how they would feel if they were statues. They illustrate their stories.

Students use a database to gather facts about dinosaurs. They practice searching about specific dinosaurs that are of interest to them. To end the lesson, they write a story describing the behaviors, eating habits, and environments of...

Young scholars describe geometric figures. They create pictures and list each shape they used to create their pictures. They discuss the importance of shapes in their lives and create ten different geometric shapes using the Drawing...

See how carefully your pupils are doing their assigned reading. This challenging 15-question quiz on Charles Dickens' classic novel A Tale of Two Cities, tests the reader's ability to recall important information about the plot and...