The seventh lesson plan in this unit on colonial trade assesses fourth graders' ability to use details from an informational text to make inferences and create a piece of informative writing. The included assessment begins with learners...

As usual, A is for apple! Practice writing every letter in the alphabet. Each page in this packet begins with a cute graphic, an example of the letter in a word, and several lines for practicing both the uppercase and lowercase version...

Helpful for a unit on Walter Dean Myers' Monster, or any novel that you are teaching, a graphic organizer prompts learners to compare and contrast different character traits. The first box has one set of lines to jot down what two...

Vladek's attitudes are difficult for many young learners to understand. Prepare your class for the events represented in Art Speigelman's graphic novel with a pre-reading activity that has them read articles about and interviews with...

Use formatting to organize an explanatory essay after comparing and contrasting expository and narrative genres. Young writers explore expository writing by employing prewriting techniques and graphic organizers to plan an essay. This is...

Explore language arts by reading two similar stories in order to compare and contrast them in class. Young readers read two Aunt Isabel books, by Kate Duke, and discuss the main characters, plot, and setting. They complete a graphic...

Class members create literary mandalas for two characters from Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about his father’s experiences with the Holocaust. After finding quotes that reveal three good traits and three bad traits of each...

Highlight the importance of each animal in an ecosystem by having scholars research different endangered species. Research is a lot more streamlined when learners are provided with a tool such as the graphic organizer attached here. How...

A link to a beautiful Animoto presentation is included, giving examples of primary sources that a student might want to contact when doing research. Using the Topaz Internment Camp in Utah as a sample topic, middle schoolers view a slide...

Young writers work backward to analyze persuasive techniques. As a class, work through the provided persuasive letter: a plea to an imaginary city council to lift a city-wide ban on fast food restaurants and discount stores. Start by...

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

Combining descriptive and expository writing skills, middle schoolers create a character sketch about someone they know well. They use a graphic organizer to help them discuss a model character sketch and organize/write one of their own....

Fifth graders demonstrate research techniques in addition to endeavoring to display focus and stay on topic. Using books and stories, they gather, organize, and share information about a topic. Additionally, they explain to the class...

Who is the Donner Party? Find out why this group of pioneers lives in infamy. A lot of information is provided in this resource, but you will have to copy and paste the text to acquire the handouts. Learners will look at primary sources,...

A reading of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter opens a discussion of justice and fairness. Using a Venn diagram and an Idea Wheel graphic organizer, class members consider the similarities and differences in these two terms. They then...

Learn the moral of the story with a series of activities about Aesop's fables. Focusing on The Contest Between the Sun and the Wind, learners complete a graphic organizer to discuss who, what, how, and why the events occur. Additionally,...

Learners examine the Japanese writing form of Haibun. They identify the elements of Japanese prose and poetry, analyze a haibun for writing devices, complete a graphic organizer, and compose an original haibun as a form of journal keeping.

Determine if the graphic novel Maus, by Art Spiegelman, is an appropriate reading level for your class by performing this cloze activity. Kids read the passage and attempt to complete the sentences on a second or third read through. All...

Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...

Pogrom, schlepped, meshuga. Kapo, reich, Wehrmacht. As part of a unit study of Maus I and II, readers use a list-group-label (LGL) strategy for vocabulary drawn from Art Spiegelman's famous graphic novels. The focus of the activity is...

To develop their skill at drawing inferences from observations, sixth graders rotate through six stations, conduct a series of experiments, make observations, and draw inference from what they observe.

How figurative language affects the tone and meaning in Chapter Three of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy is the focus of a series of exercises that ask readers to locate, record, and analyze Curtis' word choices.

The difference between an average and an unforgettable writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal Winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the focus of a series of...

Students listen to or read a variety of stories and then work individually or in groups to complete graphic organizers that will help them focus on elements within different types of stories. They write definitions for a variety of story...