A novel study examines The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller. Fifth graders participate in daily readings, discussions, and assignments following an "ask, explore, imagine, observe, and understand" routine. A final performance...

Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. In this reading strategies lesson, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn Diagrams, discuss...

The Giraffe Heroes Program is designed for teens willing to stick their necks out to make a difference, and to create community service projects that tackle real world problems. The resource guides teens to choose an issue,...

Students participate in a read aloud of the story, "The Great Kapok Tree" in which a logger decides not to cut down a tree. In small groups, they discuss and write about their opinion on the logger's decision. Each group then presents...

Students write with a sharp, distinct focus identifying topic, task and audience. They discuss anticipatory statements with supporting details. Students create an essential question at the beginning of a composition, novel, or unit.

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...

Family is a wonderful subject for little learners to get excited about. Family is also the theme for a social studies unit that uses literacy standards throughout. The guide outlines approximately three weeks of instruction and breaks...

Students discuss the importance of identifying the main idea in reading selections. After reading newspaper articles related to nutrition, students identify the main idea of the selection and three supporting details. A reading log...

Students explore new ways to communicate through technology by utilizing an internet program.  In this reading comprehension activity, students utilize the website voicethread.com to share their thoughts and notes about reading...

Sixth graders explore the concept of biodiversity.  In this biodiversity lesson, 6th graders discover a variety of planets and animals that live in forests, and how a rotting log benefits that environment.  Students also locate...

Show your pupils how to use guiding questions to help them focus their research into a topic. Using the framework provided by these questions, researchers explore a topic, collect interesting facts, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation...

Students make an illustrated dictionary of words they've used and learned in class. In this vocabulary instructional activity, students find words from their notes, discuss the words in a group, select the best words as a class, and...

Every little penny counts, especially when it comes to saving for emergencies or long-term goals. Pupils evaluate different saving and investment strategies, such as a CD or money market account, through worksheets and by...

Students take a "trip" to Africa. In this Africa lesson, students watch a National Geographic video on animals from Africa. They pick an animal to research, create a poster about, and make a field guide. 

Fourth graders identify the benefits of using a field guide for nature observations. They then field trip to a natural setting to prepare for writing. They record their observations, and write a journal entry using the steps of the...

Students explore the Holocaust. In this world history lesson, students research Nazi oppression under Hitler's rule as they read Holocaust and Human Behavior and Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe.

Pupils analyze four versions of the Cinderella story. In this fairy tale analysis lesson, students read four versions of Cinderella and work in groups to identify the plot for each. Pupils illustrate the stories and use Movie Maker...

Fourth graders participate in an observation hike in this lesson. They orally share observations from their hike, and develop a paragraph in a shared writing exercise. Finally, the write their paragraph about process writing in their...

Students define the characteristics of a personal narrative, explain the difference between a 'memoir' and an 'autobiography', and create a reading journal in which they will log their reading activities. In this personal narrative...

Students read a selection and identify the vocabulary words for the current week. Individually, they use the words to write in complete sentences and put the words into a database. They also practice their typing skills and must keep...

Fourth graders identify the characteristics of a good paragraph and find those characteristics in a good paragraph from the books, "One Day in the Woods," by Jean Craighead George and "Why Do Leaves Change Color," by Betsy Maestro.

Fourth graders, after brainstorming a list of things good friends do for each other, apply prereading strategies to the book, "Be A Friend to Trees," and create similes and metaphors utilizing content ideas. They also sketch an...

Students are introduced to a groups of African American inventors. In groups, they research the role of each person in improving different industries. They also examine the barriers African Americans faced from the Civil War to the...

Does the influence of interest groups harm a political system? Your class members will analyze the role of interest groups in American politics, as well as consider the effect of perspective, bias, loyalty, and the...