In a time when collaboration is challenging, connect peers through a good book using a remote book club. Core principles include autonomy, goal setting, and collaboration between classmates. Diverse reads boost reading skills as well as...

Thirty-six pages familiarize scholars with the story and vocabulary of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After reading and listening to an abbreviated version of the holiday tale learners show what they know about the sequence of...

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...

Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...

Here's a resource that explicitly teaches, models, and provides readers with opportunities to practice the process of drawing inferences from text. Packed with strategies elementary, middle, and high school teachers can use, the resource...

Sixth graders read a short literary story and then respond to ten questions that ask learners to support their answers with evidence from the text.

Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...

It is much easier for kids to know they have reached a goal when that goal is clearly defined. By providing sixth graders with a checklist of Common Core reading standards written in "I can" format, each child can keep track of his own...

Learn about the destruction of the rainforest by analyzing statistics. Young learners make an original line graph showing destruction in the rainforest. Additional activities include making a collage, sequencing Dr. Seuss' The Lorax,...

A detailed lesson written for budding poets challenges them to scan poems to discover stressed and unstressed syllables. Dashes and slashes highlight the syllables to count the feet, which makes the rhythm of the poem. Questions test...

A poem carved on Angel Island's walls is the guiding text of a lesson plan that challenges scholars to put movement into a written piece of art. After warm up-activities, learners play a game of "Pass the Clap" and "Pass the Line," in...

Devil's agent or big, nasty dog? Introduce young readers to The Hound of the Baskervilles, with an audio retelling of one of Sherlock Holmes' most famous crime novels. Learners listen to the tale and observe Holmes' deduction methods.

President Bill Clinton asked Maya Angelou to deliver a poem as part of his 1993 Inaugural Ceremony. Class members watch a clip of Angelou's presentation, do a close reading of the full text of the poem, and respond to discussion...

Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is another novel high on the list of must-reads from The Great American Read collection. Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George  W. Bush, and John Green of Crash Course series fame share why...

A reading of Eleanor Coerr's Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes provides upper elementary young scholars an opportunity to contribute to the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan. After reading the story, class members learn...

What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before engaging in...

Good verses evil. Scholars make inferences after taking a close look at the short story, State of Affairs, in which Daniel Defoe goes back and forth comparing good and evil thoughts through his writing. After reading the text, there are...

What are your students reading? Get them talking about their favorite books with a fun activity that's perfect for International Literacy Day—though any day is a great day to read!

Everyone comes from somewhere. An interdisciplinary lesson on Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island includes discussion starter and writing prompts for the novel, as well as a graphic organizer to help learners begin their own...

They're the two words that teachers love and parents fear: summer break! But having three months away from school doesn't have to be scary or result in brain drain. A set of seven activities (plus one bonus list) sets elementary learners...

Immerse yourself in the world of giant bugs, rolling peaches, and brave little boys with an interdisciplinary unit on James and the Giant Peach. Young readers focus on the scientific themes of Roald Dahl's classic novel with bug hunts,...

Following the book, Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal, readers complete an activity for each chapter, take part in discussions, and respond to several questions. To show what they know, scholars create an alphabet book using primary...

Scholars experience Shakespeare's, Twelfth Night, with an engaging interactive. After watching the story, six activities extend the learning experience. Topics include characters, vocabulary, a sequence of events, comprehension, and...