Corn stalks and pumpkins, caramel apples and cider, falling leaves and brisk nights. There are a few of autumn's favorite things. But how safe is that unpasteurized cider bought at the roadside stand? Young researchers investigate the...

Second graders read the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. In this Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs lesson, 2nd graders are given a list of words from the story to write with. Students write their own story with the words, then the...

Synonym dominoes, anyone? As part of the activities designed for kids who have mastered the basic concepts in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic unit That's Amazing! kids are offered a variety of activities that include...

Use a traffic light to model a very basic paragraph plan. The Go, or topic sentence, is written in green and expresses an opinion about the topic. Information that supports the opinion of the Go sentence is written in yellow and the...

First graders explore American culture by participating in arts and crafts activities. In this Thanksgiving lesson plan, 1st graders listen to music based upon the Thanksgiving tradition and examine images of the first Thanksgiving....

Teams select a society to investigate and create a chart comparing and contrasting the status of girls in that society with their own. They then craft and illustrate a personal narrative written from the point of view of a girl living in...

Students create their own magical story. In this story writing lesson, students listen to the story The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe b C.S. Lewis to find the basic elements of a story. They come up with their own magical...

Students examine the works of Claude Matisse. In this Matisse Art Lesson, students explore Beasts of the Sea to find recognizable shapes.  Students visit the National Gallery to view Matisse artworks.

Students research parts of existing newspapers by having a newspaper treasure hunt. Students glue pieces found on poster board with headings. Students meet and interview a newspaper reporter. Students create a name and masthead for...

Students create the sounds of a thunderstorm with a symphony of body percussion to compose a couplet about rain using Microsoft word to publish. They are introduced to rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses and use Internet sources for...

Students write poems and a narrative story.  In this writing lesson, students read stories and poems written by other students and read examples of haiku's and diamonte's.  Students write an acrostic poem and a diamonte...

Root vegetables inspire the series of activities included here. Class members participate in activities related to language arts, social studies, science, visual art, and math. At first, the long list might feel overwhelming; however,...

Students prepare for school and relieve anxiety they might be experiencing in regards to beginning school. In this Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten lesson plan, students develop listening skills, produce rhyming words, and...

Third graders explore where South Africa is and then research details about the country to fully assess the background to the book, "At the Crossroads." They receive a map of Africa and color in the country of South Africa and list five...

Fourth graders read and discuss the book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. They create an original story that follows the Harris Burdick formula, and illustrate the story in the style of Chris VanAllsberg.

Students examine an author's philosophical look at life through anecdotes he describes as a teacher in Uzbekistan. For this Uzbekistan lesson, students analyze a literary passage in order to identify, then practice using, similes,...

Students use descriptive language to write riddles on their favorite seasonal subjects; they illustrate the "answers" to their riddles using the medium of their choice and compile both riddles and illustrations to create a book.

Second graders investigate how to help a city building remain cooler on the inside. They create a rooftop garden in order to shield the building and lower the internal temperature. The garden is meant to replace the black tar paper that...

Students investigate the growth and changes in plants. They view a video and discuss the changes in plants. They work in small groups to demonstrate vocabulary words to the class. They visit a green house and take pictures of plants to...