Young learners examine different places in their neighborhood using informational texts. First they identify a place that they like to play and predict if it will be in the nonfiction book Community at Play.They will share their favorite...

Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...

Introduce literature circles with Roland Smith's novels. Your seventh graders will see the activity modeled as you read The Three Little Pigs together and apply the format to a Roland Smith novel of their choice. The lesson includes...

Although this legislative process activity is designed to accompany a specific text, it is valuable independently. Young learners participate in a picture walk (worksheet included) through My Senator and Me:...

Sixth graders discover the importance of information sources by researching the United States History.  In this research gathering lesson, 6th graders examine a historical painting of George Washington and analyze what it means,...

Sit back, relax, and transport to 1787! This lesson on the Constitution begins with guided imagery of the Constitutional Convention. The class reads A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution in an...

Middle schoolers investigate the lives of birds by writing about their favorite species.  In this animal life lesson, students research a science book and web to discover the characteristics of many types of birds.  Middle...

Students draw a picture of their favorite insect and describe. Students make a paper art project ladybug and write a story about it. Students map areas where certain insects are more prevalent. Students count dots on ladybugs and record.

Learners read a book and observe the wind and how it affects the environment. They explore what wind does by looking at pictures, reading a book, and by completing an experiment. They will use their own knowledge of the wind and compare...

Read Just a Little Bit, by Ann Tompert as an introduction to levers. Discuss playground seesaws and then turn learners loose to experiment with the placement of a fulcrum. Their goal is to determine where to place it in order to lift ten...

Students examine different types of soil. In this soil lesson, students research different types of soil. Students create a podcast about a worm family looking for a new home using storyboarding or graphic organizers.

The classroom becomes a safe and inclusive place for your ELLs as they create documents about their lives. Learners create, read, and present story books based on their own personal experiences. They use digital cameras to take...

Here is a great way to explore language arts by completing a computer activity with classmates. Youngsters read a fairy tale in class and analyze where the beginning, middle and end are. They create their own story using clip art and...

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...

Students write letters to organizations, such as United States Geological Society, to find out more about rocks. Students write about a pretend time they found a magic pebble. Students calculate distances to travel to see various...

Students participate in a class survey of their favorite activity to do in the snow and organize the results in a graph. They write a paragraph about the graph using language from a class-developed word web and include both an opening...

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...

Third graders explore language arts by analyzing a children's story in class. In this story structure lesson, 3rd graders read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and write a brief summary. Students identify the beginning,...

Students analyze how developers plan for a shopping center. They take a field trip to a nearby shopping center. Also students participate in a shopping center scavenger hunt. Students identify factors important to the location of...

Students use a book to discover an interesting fact from the desert using each letter of the alphabet. Using a United States map, they identify the meanings of symbols and locate deserts within the U.S. In groups, they participate in...

Third graders view a demonstration of a teeter totter as a basis for assessing pre-knowledge of a lever. They create a KwL chart. Students work in small groups to conduct a variety of experiments. The first requires students to tie books...

Young learners examine how different traits could give one organism an advantage over another. In groups, they view two different organisms in different environments. To end the lesson, they complete a Venn Diagram on the two organisms...

Students explore world geography by researching a science book with their classmates. In this desert identification lesson, students utilize a U.S. map to locate the geographical locations of deserts. Students create an oral report based...

Fourth graders identify six simple machines in real world examples, distinguish between the three different types of levers and explain Newton's three laws of motion. They create a multimedia presentation over the information they've...