A six-week unit wraps up kindergarteners' skills practice in beginning reading skills. Twenty-nine lessons focus on long vowel sounds and 11 tricky high-frequency words. Scholars participate in warm-up activities, introductions to sounds...

Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...

Nineteen lessons make-up a four-week-long unit that explores long vowel sounds, nouns, and 11 high-frequency words. Lessons scaffold information to gain confidence in reading a decodable text and answering questions. Routines include...

For twenty-two lessons over five weeks, scholars practice sound-spelling correspondence, spelling patterns, tricky words, and reading decodable text. Assessments aid in small group formation and gauge comprehension. Lessons begin with a...

A unit covering second-grade skills reviews 16 letter-sound correspondences, tricky words, and punctuation. Readers provide context for examining story elements, and pupils participate in close reading and write narratives retelling a...

The house lights dim, the curtain parts, lights slowly come up, revealing the stage. Before the actors appear, before a word is spoken, the audience is drawn in by the lighting, by the colors, by lines of the set, by the props, and...

To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...

Earthquakes can be frightening and dangerous, but being prepared can make a world of difference. Perform an earthquake simulation during which the class practices how to drop, cover, and hold on as you read a script...

Students are introduced to the work and lives of 19th century lumberjacks through a living history slide show presentation. They compare and contrast life 150 years ago with the present. Students describe the history of logging in...

Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...

Sound, vibrations, resonance, and frequency are explored as learners use music to foster scientific inquiry. They engage in three different sound experiments and follow up discussions to foster a better understanding of how musical...

High schoolers explore how scientific knowledge changes in the context of abrupt climate change. They are introduced to some recent ideas about abrupt climate change. This gives them a glimpse into how scientific theories are formed and...

Learners practice the rule for doubling the final consonant of a word when adding a suffix. Through guided practice and class discussion, they identify the spelling patterns that require letter doubling. Students practice doubling by...

Students explore the alphabet by completing an on-line letter identification activity. In this phonetics lesson plan, students utilize the website www.literarycenter.net and listen to word sounds as they identify the spelling of the...

Students explore the basic skills guiding sound scientific invvestigation and methodology. They are introduced to a powerful scientific tool-the microscope. Students review the parts of the microscope. They discuss the inventor of the...

Learners study how some activities effect the environment and ecosystems.

Students are introduced to raptors and their role in the environment. They identify three characteristics of raptors and list several types of raptors found in nature. They discuss their positive and negative experiences with raptors and...

Students examine photographs of twentieth-century aircraft from the National Air and Space Museum. They compare aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines to investigate different approaches to aircraft design.