Take an in-depth look at a passage from Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie. Included here is the reading passage as well as a step-by-step procedure for reading the text, a set of text-dependent questions, and a final writing...

Young writers generate descriptive words. They use pictures of various landscapes (from books, magazines, or the Internet) and complete a story pyramid. The pyramid (included here) asks to describe the main character, the setting, and...

Fourth graders explore ballet. In this dance and music humanities lesson plan, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to classical...

Teaching about fiction genres can  be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction...

Young readers read a short story and respond to four short answer questions, based on what they read.

The Story of a Wise Woman tells the tale of South Carolina's, Eliza Lucas Pinckney and how she persevered to plant and harvest indigo. With this short story and questions worksheet, your early readers test their comprehension with...

This isn't your ordinary short story with questions; it's actually two tales in one. First, find out what happens with Ned and Rover, then switch characters to discover the what happens between Jack and Rover.

Readers make personal connections to Saturday Market by Patricia Grossman and answer comprehension questions while reading the book. Comparing and contrasting the different characters in a Venn diagram leads to a kinesthetic...

Upper elementary learners engage in a study about the Potlatch as a Northwest Coast Indians social custom. Groups of pupils plan their own Potlatch ceremony; incorporating activities and creating gifts much like the ones that the Indians...

Determine the author's point of view in a text. Young readers read Dr. Seuss' The Sneeches and identify the author's purpose in the story. They identify persuasive techniques in writing, asking and answering questions to better...

Dissect the parts of an advertisement with your class. Middle schoolers discuss advertisements and locate the hook in them. Then, they create an advertisement for a business, in which they include the name of the business, an...

Scholars study a historical photograph to make predictions of what happened right after the picture was taken. They research a variety of different topics and use primary sources to answer questions about common food, fashion trends, and...

Yes, Virginia, there really is a reader's theater script for "The Night Before Christmas." The exercise is a great way to productively channel pre-holiday energy.

Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...

Using the book, Martin's Big Words, learners will discover the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Vocabulary is identified throughout the story by using several his famous protest speeches as examples. Class discussions on racism, during...

Fourth graders study the economy of Jamestown. In this early settlers lesson plan, 4th graders read about the trade between the English and the natives in Jamestown. This lesson plan is part of a larger unit and coincides with the novel...

Learners explore language arts by writing their own poems. In this haiku lesson, students investigate the Japanese culture and their beautiful music, poetry and art. Learners count the syllables in every line of a haiku poem and write...

For this health problems -diabetes learning exercise, learners write an entry in a journal for five days describing how they would feel if they were told they had diabetes. Students must discuss how they learned, the symptoms, the type,...

Students write an autobiographical essay. In this writing instructional activity students read a narrative, Panic in Paris, and review the elements of a narrative as a class discussion. Well-known stories are used as examples for writing...

Students explore the Passageways website. They read to compare and contrast the motivations and accomplishments of two explorers.

Students look at three different versions of the Cinderella story. In this comparative literature instructional activity, students read the Chinese version "Yeh-Shen", the Egyptian version "Rhodopis," and the Native American version "The...

In this language review #7 worksheet, students edit and punctuate 3 sentences, write fact or opinion for 2 sentences, select words that are spelled correctly and write synonyms for 2 words.

Students explore the art of storytelling and stories from various cultures. Students experience Japanese and Chinese culture as well as Greek mythology. Students create and present their own Greek mythology topic to the class.

Students view various pieces of art and identify their basic elements. Using the art, they present the elements to the class in a presentation. They answer questions and organize them into written form. They also write and reflect on...