Students explore the importance of images in telling a story in film, analyze movie clips and identify some visual cues that help them explain the story; students work collaboratively to storyboard a passage from a book and present them...

Seventh graders read a book of poems called "Out of the Dust". In groups, they research the Dust Bowl and how it affected people living through the Great Depression. Using the text, they identify the theme and key turning points and...

Fifth graders problem solve to determine if a fundraiser will be successful in the money raising activity. In this problem solving activity, 5th graders read a book about fund raising and write down important vocabulary words. Students...

Students discover the benefits of composting. They identify the steps of decomposition as well. They are read a book and discuss what items decompose.

Second graders listen to the book, Pigaroom carefully. They create lists of animals that may be on the farm and then write their own books about farm life. They proofread their stories using editing checklists and exchange their paper...

Take a trip to Whoville with a lesson focused on the works of Dr. Seuss. Using listening and responding worksheets, first graders listen to six Dr. Seuss books at a listening center, rate the books, and summarize and...

For this forests and people lesson, 3rd graders brainstorm what forests are used for, discuss forest habitats, and how human interventions have affected trees and animals that depend on the forest environment. Students read the books,...

Celebrate the arrival of winter with a reading of Jack Ezra Keats' book The Snowy Day. Engaging children by asking them about their own experiences in the snow, the teacher goes on to read the story...

This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...

Young historians trace the roots of African slavery and learn about the causes and effects of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade through a PowerPoint presentation and by reading and discussing excerpts from the book Copper Sun.

Reinforce math skills with a mixed practice worksheet. Five word problems cover addition, subtraction, and multiplication using numbers up to 1,300.  

How would you feel if you lost your belly button? Read about Billy Brown in Billy Brown and the Belly Button Beastie by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk. Young learners retell the story, answer questions, focus on the letter B and...

Ancient Hebrew history comes to life through this online western civilizations tool, which follows history in detail from ancient origins to modern-day. Chapter two covers ancient eastern cultures, including beginnings of Hebrew...

Instruct your readers to scrounge through the pages of Maniac Magee in search for descriptive passages or words they may use to write poetry. As they look for meaningful, sensory descriptors in Jerry Spinelli's novel, readers...

It's time for pupils to read, examine, and contemplate literature to explore the difference between vivid and generic verbs. Pupils distinguish between the two types of verbs as they read the ghost scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet. They...

Get your classroom rocking with this four-lesson earth science unit. Through a series of shared reading activities and hands-on investigations, young geologists learn about the three types of rocks and the unique properties of each.

Is it a interesting book or an interesting book? Teach your class when to use a or an when adjectives are involved. Learners write the article for 32 different adjective and noun pairs.

In a multidisciplinary lesson plan, you will focus your instruction around the West African folktale, Anansi Goes to Lunch by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk while your little learners sing songs, play games, participate in a grand...

Create mini books with some of the most beautiful and well-known masterpieces of our time. Learners read short paragraphs about famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and Johannes Vermeer, and create different kinds of...

Use the historical account of Claudette Colvin to study civil rights and connect past injustices to modern issues. As learners read, they examine chapter titles, record quotes, and participate in discussion. Next, they research...

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

A world without adjectives would be a sad place indeed! Make sure adjectives stay around by teaching your class about what they are and how using them can make a boring story truly interesting. Learners put this idea into practice by...

Young grammarians are often confused by clauses, especially the difference between dependent and independent clauses. Clarify the confusion with a color-coded worksheet that clearly defines and illustrates the differences and then gives...

Flag, fireworks, parade. Introduce learners with autism to nine words associated with the Fourth of July. Each word is illustrated with either a photograph or drawing.