Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...

A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...

What a fun way to explore Mendelian Genetics! Using a computer connected to the Internet, beginning biologists construct and use Punnett squares of monohybrid crosses to explain how genetic traits are passed to offspring. Other websites...

Students work with a partner to complete an inventory of their traits and compare and discuss their unique qualities. In this biology lesson, students determine percentages for the frequency of observed traits of classmates, compile the...

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...

Class groups assume the identity of one of the primary human characters in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They create a body biography that identifies the most important traits of their character, translate these traits into...

Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...

From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...

Develop a mystery character using clues from a bag. This engaging activity will help learners understand character traits. They develop a list of the items from the bag, discuss and develop the character with a partner, and create a...

Fifth graders understand the meaning of dominant and recessive. In this dominant and recessive traits lesson, 5th graders participate in a game and record results on a chart. Students relate experiment to genes. Students describe plants...

Learners explore heredity by examining how traits are passed from parent to offspring. Genetic terminology is examined and examples of inherited traits discussed. calculating genetic probability is also investigated in this instructional...

Some of what we know about a character is directly stated. Some of what we know is inferred by events in the story. Character maps help primary learners recognize the difference. After modeling with a story your class has read, pupils...

Personality traits and physical appearance traits within families are the focus here. Learners make a poster which lists the shared physical traits they have with their family. Peers look at each poster and write down the traits they see...

Mirroring Jerry Spinelli's style in Wringer, chapter 5, pupils use the "counting up/down technique" to recall an important moment in their lives. In the book, the character is being punched, and between blows he remembers details...

What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...

“A man without decision of character can never be said to belong to himself … He belongs to whatever can make captive of him.”—John Foster. Black Tiger Academy’s martial arts lesson 15 of 20 teaches the class about positive character...

Students predict possible phenotypic and genotypic outcomes for avariety of common plant hybrids. They review and explain the characteristics of dominant and recessive traits and explore Mendelian genetics. Students plot the possible...

Students discuss inherited traits and relate to the inherited traits in a cicada.  In this cicada lesson plan, students follow the life cycle of the cicada and observe the changes as it grows. Students discuss the characteristics of...

Fifth graders work together to make simple menus more interesting by adding descriptive words. This plan works well with the Six Traits of Writing as it covers the trait of word choice. This is a really fun way for students to practice...

Young scholars learn that heredity comes down to the flip of a coin with this cross-curricular math and science lesson. Using smiley faces as a model, students toss coins to determine which dominant or recessive traits...

Rotating through five stations, evolutionary biologists explore the question of how changes in DNA facilitate the changes in a population over time. High-quality, colorful cards of animals, skeletons, skulls, and DNA sequences can all be...

Using plastic Easter eggs to represent parent phenotypes, genetics enthusiasts simulate the passing of alleles. They record the phenotype of each half of the egg, one representing the mother's and one representing the father's. They...

Four intriguing and scientific activities invite learners to explore the natural resources of their town. The activities cover concepts such as genetic traits, organizing species in a taxonomy, the differences between different species...

Familiar puppets set the stage for a thoughtful discussion about friendship. To show what they know, scholars role-play scenarios. Peers offer a thumbs up when they view positive character traits exhibit good friend behavior.