Decoding words in connected text can make emergent readers really feel like they are great readers. They work as a class to sound out simple cvc words located in super short sentences. Tip: Extend this activity by having a variety of...

Class members categorize and then label a list of words drawn from "The Raid," chapter nine of Gary Paulsen's Canyons. Individuals explain the rationale for their word groupings.

The ninth in a fourteen-lesson series, this plan marks a sort of midpoint in a unit devoted to the study of short stories. Pupils learn about theme and work on their short story projects by adding to their blogs, checking in with the...

Sixth graders set and are encouraged to meet their reading goals and demonstrate knowledge of literary elements in this lesson.

Learners make a list of how the government impacts their lives and discuss it with their parents. In this government lesson plan, students also write a paragraph about what they discussed.

What is crime? Discriminate between criminal and non-criminal behavior with your scholars by engaging them in potentially heated discussion about various scenarios. A brief definition of the word crime precedes individual analysis of 15...

Learners of all ages participate in a unique review activity. They work in a small group setting on individual review questions designed by the teacher. Each individual answers a key review question on a notecard or sticky note and...

A straightforward digital photography lesson that is a practice in cloning. Learners take a photograph of an individual and then a group of classmates. They insert the individual several times in the picture to make it look like several...

Students look at the rights and laws created to assist individuals with physical disabilities.  In this lesson on fair treatment for all, students discuss symbols that related to people with disabilities. They create a new parking...

Young readers develop their phonetic skills by using a nifty tool called a word pocket. They use the tool to help them organize individual letters that they have at their desks to spell entire words and to construct beginning and ending...

Here is an interesting way to teach the present perfect and present perfect continuous. Individuals practice these verb tenses as well as the simple past by asking a partner questions about an imaginary biography. The biography...

Create classroom community with this Bingo icebreaker, which has the group finding out interesting details about one another. For this version, individuals have a 25-square grid, each square containing one multicultural experience or...

Four different activities focus on the amount of trash generated and how humans can better manage waste. Learners analyze two days' worth of household garbage, test materials for biodegradability, and rate recyclability of various...

Pupils engage in a basic instructional activity in elementary computer keyboarding and using the period key. The drills can be done together as a class, following your oral instructions, or individually. Accuracy, not speed, is the main...

Individuals examine a book's components, including key events, characters, and vocabulary and develop "chain book reports" with their peers. Strips of paper containing the book's important events are staples together and hung.

After an introduction to municipal sludge, middle school ecologists consider the pros and cons of dumping in the Hudson River Canyon. The class is split into two groups: one to debate in favor or dumping and one to debate against the...

Students explore the idea of consequence that every individual leaves a daily environmental footprint. They read articles about creative solutions to solid waste issues and then create an artwork from household trash.

Railways not only cross the US, but they are also intertwined with the history of America. Using a timeline format, individuals explore the connections between major events in American history—such as the Civil War—and the rise of the...

If you have or can create a set of tiles, numbered one through eight, then you can implement this hands-on instructional activity about probability models. Individuals draw a tile from a bag, record its number, and then return it to the...

Students discover the history of mosaics through teacher-lead lectures and discussions. Individuals spend 3-4 weeks creatively constructing mosaic masks using step-by-step design instructions.

Third graders transplant, tend and observe a plant for each letter of the alphabet in a school garden. They work individually to research and select a plant that will grow in their local climate. Students then care for and observe the...

It's time to go back over all that your class has learned about decimals, fractions, and percentages! To do so, individuals solve story problems that involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with decimals, explain how...

Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...

Young, native Spanish speakers learn about the four elements: earth, fire, air, and water. As a group, discuss the different senses you might use with each element. This is a teacher-centered lesson, but consider having individual...