Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...

The Iron Horse encroached upon the land while conflicts escalated between Native Americans and the settlers. Sophomores study the print, American Progress then discuss how American progress affected Native Americans. They will study the...

Students participate in a reader's theater, adapting scenes from The Great Gatsby.  In this reading comprehension lesson, students interpret a given scene from The Great Gatsby in a readers' theater.  Students analyze the scene...

A great way to bring poetry and parody into your language arts classroom, this instructional activity mimics famous poems based on Jon Scieszka's Science Verse. The activity not only allows the class to see examples of poem parodies, but...

To better understand the migrant experience during the Great Depression, pupils analyze two primary resources: photographs by Dorothea Lange and a U.S. Map that shows the Dust Bowl. They compare and contrast Lange's images to Steinbeck's...

Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...

Fifth graders explore life during the Great Depression. In this  Great Depression lesson, 5th graders gain an understanding of what life was like during the Great Depression. Students draw conditions that families lived in and...

Scholars practice rhyming and phonemic awareness using trade books and poetry. They will listen to the book Mouse Mess several times throughout the week, identifying rhyming words, and matching words that begin with the same sound. Then...

Students examine the reading comprehension strategy of visualization. They practice visualization by making pictures in their mind. They draw the pictures from their visualizations with explanations.

Pupils read poems, read phrases, and create a poster for what math is and relate it back to literature. They also discuss the impact math has had on literature.

The book, A Week in the Woods is the focus of the very interesting language arts lesson presented here. After the book has been read, learners engage in study of certain parts of the book in order to gain a better understanding of how...

Students read aloud novel Hoot, by Carl Hiassen, choose endangered animal, complete individual research projects related to their interest, prepare persuasive writing piece, and compare and contrast two endangered animals.

Young scholars create mini-scenes using two random lines from Orsino's speech.  In this Twelfth Night lesson plan, students are given random lines from Orsino's speech and create a skit using their given lines at the beginning...

Students read a story about fire safety and create their own ending to the story in order to learn about fire escape plans and to demonstrate their writing skills. For this fire safety lesson, students discuss the parts of a story, read...

First graders explore reading comprehension by analyzing a story in class. In this story structure lesson, 1st graders read the book New Shoes for Sylvia and discuss the character and her dilemma in the story. Students answer study...

Involve your readers in finding works of literary genius. Have each individual write down compelling sentences that they read or hear, whether in a newspaper, advertisement, book, movie, song, or any other place! Once each person has a...

Fourth graders research and write an author report on Roald Dahl, including books written by him, birthplace, family life, and other information on his writing. Students read aloud chapters in the book. Students create a newspaper...

Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...

By engaging in an arts-based activity, 2nd graders explore peace in the classroom. They listen to the story The Rainbow Fish, then create their own fish to hang in the classroom. They write three things that make them happy on...

Students listen to a read aloud of Eric Carle's, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as an introduction to their study of the metamorphosis of a butterfly. They participate in a number of cross-curricular activities in this unit of lessons.

This is a great way to build community in your school, experience process-based art, and explore the critical-thinking process. While quilting as a class collectively (just like a quilting bee) pupils listen to poetry and prose of a...

Film is a wonderful way to communicate any concept or idea. Fifth graders will use IMovie and GarageBand software to create a IMovie about one of eight European explorers. They will chose an explorer, research his travels and life, then...

Students read and explore the themes of the book The Eighty Yard Run. In this literature lesson, students discuss their observations and predictions. Students develop their own story which is similar to that of The Eighty Yard Run.

Students read and discuss several Pourquoi tales--legends that explain why certain natural events occur. They complete a variety of activities surrounding each tale and then write their own Pourquoi tale.