Third graders listen to read-alouds and participate in extension activities about European Explorers—Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de León, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, John Cabot, Henry Hudson, and Samuel de...

Fifth graders examine how to respond to literature. For this literature response lesson, 5th graders discuss how to respond to literature. They write a response in a literature log each night based on their reading and the connections...

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, after reading books in Language Arts, complete a database to assist them with book reports.

Students write about themselves. In this descriptive writing lesson plan, students view a PowerPoint for examples of descriptive writing and then write sentences describing themselves. Students use a computer program to type their...

Students critique three Web logs, each of which offers first-hand accounts, but reflect different points-of-view, on the war in Iraq; students write a response to one of the entries and analyze what they learned about the war from the...

Students critically examine the portrayal of minorities in video games and other forms of entertainment and assess the role of racial stereotyping. They keep a log of media minority portrayals and respond to their findings.

Students participate in independent reading activities by reading a book at their independent reading level and selecting activities to complete after reading. Activities are broken up into C Level, B Level, and A Level activities.

Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...

Students complete a unit of lessons on a variety of types of American music. They record their impressions of music samples on a worksheet, identify types of instruments, and choose a musical selection for their family to respond to.

Students define the term genocide in there own terms and discuss reasons why genocide occurs. In groups, students research genocides throughout history. They compile historical accounts of genocide to be include in a class compilation...

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...

Students use writing logs to achieve clear and creative thinking about the story they are reading. They then describe changes in mood that happened in the story consider why such changes usually occur.

Seventh graders investigate the slave trade. In this Middle Passage lesson plan, 7th graders read excerpts of ship logs from Connecticut Slave Trade ships. Students respond to the provided analysis questions based on the logs. 

In order to read and respond to Toni Morrison's A Mercy in this figurative-language lesson, students discuss the differences between a literal and a figurative interpretation of a text.  They explore figures of speech using a...

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...

Students examine a quote from George W. Bush's recent speech on space exploration. They evaluate one writer's stance on Bush's space exploration goals by reading and discussing "Plea to Policy Makers: Let's Take Another Giant Step." In...

Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.

Students write a report stating facts and opinions based on frogs. Investigate and understand the changes that take place during the life cycle of a frog. Respond to language, meanings and ideas in different texts, relating them to...

First graders explore language arts by participating in a bingo activity with classmates. For this irregular word lesson, 1st graders utilize index cards and game boards to participate in a game of Word Bingo. Students practice sounding...

African-American history is an integral part of what America is. Learners examine important events, read informational texts, and create quilts depicting specific eras in African-American history. Each image created for the quilt will be...

Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....

While reading Chapter 8 of Number the Stars, learners write down any words they encounter in their reading that they find interesting, strange, or confusing. They record why they chose each word, and after completing the reading...

First graders practice using their writing skills. They create memory books through the use of daily journal writing questions of the day. Students respond to story prompts and write autobiographies of themselves and another classmate.