How should pupils read short stories? Set them up for this unit with an introductory lesson that goes over the main characteristics of a short story and starts learners off reading their first short story of the unit. In order to get a...

Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...

Now here is a great set of activities that will make learning about long vowel sounds a snap. The activities cover two days and include vowel identification, reading, and several great games. Kids will hunt for long vowel words, play...

Students become familiar with the historical and sociological aspects of the boarding house phenomenon in America. As students work in groups, they read and analyze documents that will help them gain a deeper understanding. To...

Learners create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...

While you tell the story of "The Gunny Wolf," your class will actively participate by asking questions and clarifying. Next, they answer questions about the story to increase comprehension before creating a storyboard to document the...

A lesson help scholars identify emotions through facial expressions. After a friendly puppet reads scholars a poem all about feelings, learners act out how they would feel when a specific action happens to them. Participants watch and...

What, there was a crocodile escape? Read, analyze, and examine a newspaper article with your class about the crocodiles that escaped in Vietnam. Your English language learners note the facts and key vocabulary in the story and answer...

Just how much influence did television have on the results of the 1960 presidential election? Media critics contend that the results were all about how the two candidates appeared on the screen. Give your young historians a chance to...

The second lesson in a series of fourteen, this plan takes the short story basics a step further. Learners complete a quiz about the story from the previous day, discuss the text, learn about Anton Chekhov, and work in groups to begin...

Guide your readers to explore character traits. As a class, discuss and record the traits of a commonly-known fairy tale character. Then do the same with the main character in the class novel. Finally, have learners use magazines...

A crossword puzzle based on the lives of the Wright brothers. Learners research on their own or in small groups several brief biographies of the Wright brothers.They complete a crossword puzzle based on their reading.

First graders examine the culture of the ancient Gullah people. As a class, they practice saying and writing the days of the week and numbers in Gullah. They are read a Gullah folktale and put the events of the story into the correct...

Begin the school year with enthusiasm using the book entitled My Teacher Can Teach Anyone! In this reading for meaning instructional activity, primary readers listen to the story and discuss what is happening and why the boy in the...

Get your class ready to read with this anticipatory set for Running Out of Time. Small groups each consider one thought-provoking statement. After each group comes to a consensus, the whole class participates in sharing ideas and voting...

Students play a game of questioning with the teacher after reading silently a beginning passage of text. They and teacher request specific information from each other until students are able to summarize and predict the outcome of the...

Differentiate instruction with this crafty approach to demonstrating comprehension. Learners choose a fictional book at their reading level, and afterward create a quilt square. The square is "decorated" with words, illustrations, and...

Using this thoroughly-written plan, you can have your junior ecologists exploring local biodiversity. They take a journal outdoors to tally the species that they see. An article is included along with comprehension questions. The author...

Is falling in love easy or hard? Challenge your class to consider seven statements about love and relationships before reading Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Then, as you work your way through the play, revisit the sheet to record...

Momoyama and Edo are periods in Japanese history that can be defined culturally and artistically. Learners explore and discuss how the samurai used sword guards and grip enhancers. Pupils read the story "The Inch-High Samurai," examine...

Introduce your young learners to opera by dressing up as Mozart and recounting some of the fascinating details of his life and music. After exploring the Metropolitan Opera's site for kids, the class listens to a reading of Kyra...

Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.

After listening to a story about Martin Luther King Jr., first graders answer questions about the text. They discuss the importance of the illustrations, identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and complete a writing...

Designed to be spread across multiple days, this mini-unit gives learners an opportunity to develop family related vocabulary. Start by reading selected pages from "Family Pictures-Cuadros de familia" by Carmen Lomas Garza, and then...