Here is a great way to get pupils to express a scientific concept in a fun way. After hearing the story of Walter the Water drop and learning facts about the water cycle, the class will write a creative expository piece describing what...

Weaving is an important part of Navajo culture. Read The Goat in the Rug to your fourth and fifth graders, and give them a glimpse into the process of rug making from the point of view of a goat! They will learn new vocabulary words and...

Fifth graders examine text features and create a PowerPoint presentation. In this text features lesson, 5th graders go over Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures and text features before they choose one to include in a book and...

Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a structured...

Engage your class in a scavenger hunt to find the main ideas and supporting details in a text. They follow the teacher while s/he models how to determine main idea and find supporting details, and then they work independently. A fun...

Learners create an expository essay. In this writing lesson Students are assigned a country and must conduct research surrounding a historic event that occurred in that country at the time of their birth.

Use this activity to focus on a compare and contrast writing structure in your middle school language arts class. Here, young writers compare and contrast two texts using graphic organizers. They use a double bubble format for their...

Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...

In this reading for understanding lesson, young scholars underline information in a text that is important in identifying the main idea. This lesson provides good practice for students who usually have difficulty in finding the main idea...

Students read Blackbeard and brainstorm their knowledge of maps. In this language arts and geography instructional activity, students use landmarks on their playground to review north, south, east and west and discuss the compass rose....

Students examine the function of exposition in play structure. They will be able to develop multiple interpretations and visual and aural production choices for Shakespearean scenes and choose those that are most interesting.

Students play reading comprehension games. In this guided reading lesson plan, students play a comprehension game made by the teacher. Students may play the game before or after reading the story. 

Students categorize studenT toys by intelligence types. They review toy safety and function and identify the appropriate play age of various toys. They read and evaluate studenT books and write one of their own.

Students complete compare and contrast activities for two stories about racism and tolerance in the science fiction genre. In this literary analysis activity, students read a Ray Bradbury short story and Walter Mosley poem, watch a...

Celebrate inventions such as lightning rods, bifocals, and stoves with a Ben Franklin Day. Young historians conduct research and write a paragraph about an accomplishment of Benjamin Franklin including an illustration...

This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...

Students listen to a teacher led lecture on jaguars, their habitats, and how they became endangered. Using a specified web site, they choose an endangered animal to research. After gathering information, students participate in...

Examine how climate and landforms affect plants and animals that live in particular areas. Discover that these same factors affect peoples' homes, jobs, and recreational activities. Pupils research ecosystems and biomes, and then write...

Learners write an expository paragraph about the uses of the Nashua River for the Native Americans and the European Colonists. In this river uses lesson plan, students determine the causes and effects of both parties using the river.

Second graders explore weather. In this weather lesson, 2nd graders read Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and participate in four supplemental science activities. Students participate in Internet research, create weather maps,...

Fourth graders, while working in centers read Richie's Rocket by Joan Anderson, and then create a puzzle using ideas, emotions, and experiences from the story. In addition, they write specific definitions for certain words, use those...

Fifth graders recall the major plot points of a chapter book. After reading the chapter book "Stone Fox," they students describe the plot framework through use of a worksheet. Students are then divided into group to act out selected...

Create a "Double Bubble" to organize information in a Venn diagram-like graphic organizer.   There are a few options included to differentiate this assignment, but unfortunately, there are no topics for selection. Provide your...

Students create 2-3 poems, a children's story, or a two or three dimensional piece of art.  In this Romantic Period lesson, students discuss the historical background of the Romantic Period and relevant literary terms. ...