Everyone celebrates traditions in different ways. Young writers share the ways their families celebrate Thanksgiving with a journal writing prompt and discussion activity.

Learners practice critical-observation and pre-writing skills as they recognize and embrace diversity. They discover how even though all people share some traits, we are also unique and name some physical traits that we all have in...

Class members participate in a read aloud of an illustrated version of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. They discuss the tale,"A Fisherman and His Wife" to discover how fairy tales can help us think about our own situations. They also...

First graders study basic information about swine. They write and identify vocabulary words relating to the subject. They write a recipe for "Pigs in a Blanket," using canned crescent rolls and small sausages. They trade recipes and...

In this vowel instructional activity, students fill in the missing vowels and read the 'ay' word. Worksheet has 20 words to practice the skill.

Young scholars explore the themes of the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni. In this literacy lesson, students dramatize a character from Swimmy and identify common themes such as cooperation and caring. Young scholars create a new ending to the...

Students, in special education and inclusion classes, practice writing skills by sharing notes with the teacher and each other. Using instruction sheets, they substitute words and rewrite the selection in a way they understand. In...

First graders develop letter-sound correspondence skills by segmenting words according to their phonemes. Using letter tiles and letter boxes, they spell words called by the teacher. After reading several books with the teacher, 1st...

Students improve fluency skills by reading word cards presented to them by the teacher. Through a demonstration by the teacher, they note the difference between fluency and non-fluency. Both as a group and then individually, students...

First graders listen to "Behind the Mask" and identify all the descriptive adjectives in the story. After discussing the importance of using adjectives, they brainstorm lists of adjectives to describe jack o lanterns. Finally, 1st...

Walk young writers through the process of creating an initial writing sample for their portfolio. They determine their purpose, organize their ideas, and then create a draft. The lesson includes worksheets and online resources to...

And the consensus says...Teach your class to use peer feedback to refine public speaking skills. They cut out a magazine picture and develop an oral story about it to present to the class. They share several meaningful objects with the...

Although this resource is not a traditional lesson plan, it does explain an activity for creating a safe and supportive environment while teaching young learners the importance of being kind to one another. Start bt reading the...

A colorful PowerPoint is a great way to introduce the topic of visual literacy. The eye-catching presentation begins with an overview of visual literacy and then provides some specific strategies to help enhance reading comprehension. As...

Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...

Young readers bring characters to life by working in small groups to script and perform stories that contain a community concept. Detailed questions and activities are outlined for the class. Consider having your groups create...

Students engage in producing responses to "what" questions and their written responses will be recorded in a Travel Journal. They produce their respones using a word processor. This lesson is very detailed and a rubic is included.

How many syllables? This practice worksheet starts with a brief introduction on segmenting words, encouraging kids to say words aloud. They categorize 12 words into lists based on number of syllables: one, two, or...

Inntroduce primary learners to essential critical reading strategies with an activity based on James Reeves' poem, "The Wind."  Learners listen as the poem is read, first as a riddle, and then re-read with the title visible. The...

Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.

Do your second graders like riddles? Give them a giggle and a lesson about proofreading at the same time. After reading two riddles, young writers fix punctuation and capitalization errors. They write the answer to each riddle at the...

Students use iPhoto to create a class alphabet book. After the teacher reads several alphabet books to the class, students brainstorm the names of objects that start with each letter of the alphabet.

Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...

Have your young pupils complete a variety of activities related to the story "I Know an Old Lady." They act-out the story using puppets, visit the illustrator's website, discuss his cartoon drawings for the book, and generate a list of...