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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Students discover the impact "Lady Bird" Johnson had on America by reading a short biography.  In this historical persons lesson, students read a multi page biography of the former first lady and write a summary of her life's work....

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...

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...

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...

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...

Students discover three aspects of the rain forest. They describe the people, animals, and vegetation in the rain forest. They identify the changes the rain forest has gone through and the reasons behind the changes. They choose one...

Learners use iChat AV and an iSight camera to "meet with" a space scientist to ask and answer questions, visit relevant websites, and broaden their understanding of the solar system and space. They videoconference with a sientist and...

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...

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 use their visual-spatial intelligence to describe imagined boxes. A complete sequence of opening the imagined box and visualizing its contents is performed. Students write a summary of what they "saw" in their imagination.

Pupils examine the steps for developing science fair projects. They visit stations where they examine posters, books, and paper that describe how to research and design a science fair project. Additionally, they take notes on how to...

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...

Get your class outside, away from the television, and maybe even learning something about nature while they're at it. Individuals will chose an open, natural space to spend time in for several days. Each day they will complete a page 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...

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...

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:...

students add their own scenarios to the book using the same rhythmic pattern. Students describe what is happening in the picture as a class shared writing activity. Students discuss reasons why the people in the kingdom were upset that...