Expose your class to Waiting for the Biblioburro, narrative nonfiction that will act as the bridge between ficiton and informational texts to come. Class members do a close reading of the text, looking at excerpts instead of the whole...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

Young nutritionists plan nutritional meals by using the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid. Before constructing their meal plans, they take a close look a food labels and learn how to decipher them. In today's world of obese and unfit children,...

Practice working with different phonemes in consonants and vowels. Sounds are written on squares that get put on a rocket to "blast off" and meet other sounds. The teacher first models blending, then reads the new words. Young readers...

Students practice visualizing images as they read in this lesson. Students create an oral collage with their visualizations. Students are then given three separate scenarios to visualize, and are assessed on their description of their...

Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select...

Students read Native Plants and Early Peoples and explore the plants in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and find how the Native Americans used them.  In this Native American plant and people instructional...

Explore a flashback in a story with readers. They will read a story, identify the flashback in the story, then evaluate how the flashback is used. Using the NoteFolio, students analyze the meaning and merit of a flashback in a story....

Allow your class to figure out what they will be studying through an inquiry-based anticipatory set that involves analysis of mystery documents and practice with making inferences. The lesson plan document includes a detailed description...

Second of six lessons in a unit on dissolving, this one focuses on how sugar behaves in different liquids. Learners stir it into water, alcohol, and oil and make observations. This lesson can stand alone, but is best used as part of the...

Students read The Garden by Arnold Lobel, plant seeds to discover what makes them grow, and record their observations in their journals.

Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know.  In this Monarch Butterfly lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...

Students reflect on emotions commonly expressed by outsiders. They identify feelings of people who have just arrived in America. They read and analyze a poem about immigration.

Students interpret the identity of a traditional culture from objects and a creation story. In this lesson plan on learning about a culture from a story, students read and analyze an Eskimo myth about creation and an essay on Traditional...

Students investigate the horrors of World War II by participating in a role-playing activity.  In this holocaust lesson, students read handouts describing the atrocities committed against the Jews in Germany during the mass...

Students comprehend the interactions of pH, alkalinity, hardness, and carbon dioxide in aquaculture water. They read the SRAC fact sheet number 464 "Interactions of pH, Carbon Dioxide, Alkalintiy and Hardness in Fish Ponds." Students...

Students are exposed to a variety of readings about the Nazi Party and concentration camps. Using the readings as a guide, they identify moral issues that we all face studing the Holocaust. They decide to work together to end bigotry...

Students view a video clip about post-menopausal women having children. They identify the ethical, legal and social implications of this. They also read a case study.

Students identify cooking sounds and share opinions about their associations. After reading an article, they discover the growth of radio cooking shows. They prepare an outline and script for a cooking program and present their...

Students identify the risks and benefits of living next to a volcano. After reading an article, they discuss the behaviors of an active volcano. Using the Internet, they work together to research volcano-monitoring techniques and create...

Students explore reasons why people are interested in exploring other planets. After reading an article, they identify developments in the mission to Mars. Using the internet, they research the history of exploring Mars and create a...

Students study the stages of the Eastern newt either by collecting a live specimen or from pictures. They note the colors of the eft stage before reading the "Eastern Newt Species Account" that shows the newt's life stages, migration,...

Young scholars explore the issues behind close Senatorial races. They investigate the qualities of political leaders, the 2002 senatorial elections and the differences and similarities between the Republican and Democratic parties.

Fifth graders read the book, 'Snowflake Bentley' by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. They gather and make a list of information about snowflakes and crystals. Then they make their own real crystal snowflake creation and observe the crystals...