Young scholars continue their exploration of adolescent brain development by reading an informational text, "Growing Up Digital," by Matt Richtel. Then, with partners, they complete note-catcher worksheets to capture the article's main...

The final lesson in a series of five that focus on developing the interpersonal skills required to develop and maintain positive relationships asks class members to identify their best friend-making skill. Individuals share these claims...

How do you rise above your challenges? This is a question the anticipation guide for Where the Red Fern Grows answers. Full of questions and direct statements about themes of the text, pupils investigate whether or not the writer would...

With Eros and Psyche, your learners will have the opportunity to combine the art of reader's theater with a study of the ancient Greek gods! This engaging reader's theater script will also serve as a fantastic way for your...

Under construction, this lesson focuses on Canto Familia, a collection of poetry about Gary Soto's experiences growing up in California's Imperial Valley. Representative of the experiences of many Latinos, the poems also address themes...

Help your learners navigate the vocabulary of Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori with a lesson on categorizing words. After coming up with a list of things that grow from the earth, learners decide which categories each words belong in.

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

Why didn't Rapunzel's hair stop growing?  Why did it take the fairy godmother so long to intervene in Cinderella's affairs? Young writers consider unanswered questions like these and compose news articles investigating the true...

This packet, the first in the series of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on our earth, contains enrichment activities for learners who have mastered the basic concepts of the lessons. Kids...

When astronauts get hungry in outer space, they can't just call and have a pizza delivered. In order to gain an appreciation for the challenges associated with space travel, young learners are given the task of selecting,...

Learners hone their acting and imagination by playing tug-o-war with an imaginary rope. Each group works together and pretends to pull the other group over the imaginary line with an imaginary rope. This could be a good improve warm up...

Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...

Questioning a text is a very effective way for kids to develop their reading comprehension skills. Designed to engage all class members, a reading activity prompts pairs to develop and share their own questions about the ending of Neil...

A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.

What does it mean to read expressively? Beginning readers hear examples of expressive reading and partner up to practice. One partner reads The Littlest Pumpkin and the other partner reads Franklin and his Friend. While...

In pairs, scholars draw cards, read the word, and identify its root. Learners place the card on a tree-themed worksheet to sort words by their roots.

Reading can be as lovely as a walk through the garden! Sets of flowers host words that share long vowel sounds, which kids match to the correct flowerpots.

Delve into the delightful depths of J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings with a thought-provoking reader's guide. With literary questions for the novel as well as the subsequent The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the...

Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...

You've got a few minutes left at the end of class to practice vocabulary, but what can you do other than call out a word and ask for definitions? Play one of these 12 quick games! Each game is explained in detail and easy to modify for...

Money doesn't grow on trees—it grows on walls. Using pictures of a Guggenheim art installation consisting of one-dollar bills glued to a wall, future mathematicians consider the monetary value of the bills used in the installation....

This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.

How do people transport fresh water long distances to ensure everyone has access to it? The final lesson in the 10-part Fresh Solutions unit encourages individuals to design their own solution, or solutions, to that very problem. Groups...

Take a look at the topic of violence as seen in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Discuss together the values that Atticus holds and brainstorm ways to combat violence in a similar manner to what he portrays in the novel. Get your...