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...

Here is an engaging and creative project to do with your ESL learners in preparation for back to school night. A digital camera is used to photograph each pupil, and everyone completes a short writing assignment that goes along with...

Help your class participate in hands-on activities to get them back into the swing of going to school everyday. This list is designed for all grade levels with unique ideas for each (note that many ideas are geared for elementary, but...

Learners work collaboratively to take and download digital images, use iMovie software, and create an iMovie to show at a Back To School Night event. They discuss how to organize the information into a clear and cohesive movie. Then,...

Looking for an interactive back to school activity? Start by reading the book The Kissing Hand, and having your class discuss their feelings about the first day of school. They trace their hand onto paper, cut out the paper hand,...

Celebrate the uniqueness of your students with this character building lesson series. In order to learn about and appreciate diversity and individuality, children create All About Me books by cutting out and drawing pictures...

Your young readers might know that the stars on the American flag symbolize the fifty states, but what symbols best represent who your students are as people? Use this SMART board presentation to guide learners through an activity about...

Students listen to the story "The Gingerbread Man". They search for teacher created and placed clues to help find The Gingerbread Man. They follow the clues as they navigate their way through the school and become aquainted with areas...

Students examine the unique and diverse historical artifacts that people have designed to fulfill their everyday needs in extraordinary ways. They identify ways humans have used design throughout history to enhance the ways they meet...

Students imagine what it would be like to travel back in time. In this creative writing lesson, students watch parts of the film Back to the Future and examine artifacts from the past. Students write a short story in which they travel...

Three lesson plans are shown on this site, two of which pertain to Read 180. Start the year with the first lesson by having your learners create a brochure about themselves. In the computer lab, they find clip art and photos to make a...

A unique twist on a family tree project is a fun alternative to the traditional family tree drawing. This 3D family tree would make a great display for back to school night or open house. Presenting all the important people in their...

Classmates participate in a variety of getting-to-know-you activities for the first day of school. They make resolutions, become detectives about their fellow classmates, learn about each other by playing switch, and make...

Students explain how the earth makes fossils and how dinosaur remains become fossils. In this Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life instructional activity, students solve paleo-puzzles which ask students to solve problems as if they were...

Students participate in a back to school dinner.  In this back to school dinner dessert comes first.  Students discuss summer memories.

Student are welcomed into a new learning environment through reading and age-appropriate activities that help relieve the anxiety of beginning school in a new place and with new friends. In this Clifford-themed lesson plan, students...

Students create questions to pose to adults working in Middle School. In groups, students create a video interviewing the Middle School staff. They edit the video and format present it as an introduction to Middle School for perspective...

Primary learners complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book First Day of School. They will  complete journal entries, answer short answer questions, have discussions, and much...

The Yukon provides plenty of opportunity for adventure. A study guide for The Call of the Wild by Jack London, also the author of White Fang, helps readers navigate the novel which is set in Yukon, Canada. Chapter summaries give a...

Here is a fun, colorful, and engaging art project that is sure to get your kids excited! They make a piece of art using watercolor paints, and by making a design out of the letters of their first name. This would be a fantasti art...

Students read and discuss the "fractured" fairy tale "The Stinky Cheese Man". They imagine that they are in the fairy tale and write a letter of complaint concerning the Cheese Man and how he stinks up the town.

Students anticipate the school year, or reflect back on it, to compile a memory book. They bind a book with a hand-decorated cover. Afterward, they record their memories, write autographs in each other's books, exchange photos, and...

Young writers create memory books. They think of important events in their lives from the past year. Then they draw pictures that depict these events, and dictate captions to an adult who writes them down in their books for them. These...

To recycle or not to recycle, that is the question. Your class can find the answer by taking a teacher created WebQuest, where they assume a role of a community member taking a stand on implementing a community wide recycling plan. The...