Dive into animation creation using Dreamworks® animated films. Compare and contrast characters, wonder and ponder why the plot is so important, and think of background and themes as your creativity unrolls onto paper.

Every book has a few great characters, but James and the Giant Peach is the only one whose characters travel in a piece of fruit. The class creates T-charts for the main characters of the novel, while reading the book. They write actions...

Third graders read excepts from the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker in order to gain practice in understanding an unfamiliar story by focusing on the details. They use a worksheet, embedded in the plan, which directs them to certain...

It's not easy to ask for help. Learn why a boy on a ship struggles with accepting help in "The Glass of Milk," a short story by Manuel Rojas. Six discussion questions prompt class members to make inferences from the text about character...

Students read literature by Nathaniel Hawthorne and write an essay comparing the main characters in the two stories. In this character analysis lesson, students read the stories Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil. Students...

Fourth graders use the text, "Fair's Fair" to examine how characters' feelings and motives are built throughout a text through descriptive phrases. They look at what a character does and says to record on their writing frames. Finally,...

Middle schoolers create booklets to provide information on elements of a novel, including plot, setting, character, major and minor conflicts and theme.

Practice sequencing with your 2nd graders via Patricia Polacco's Civil War book Pink and Say. Begin with a blindfold and a bag of mystery items. Connect their use of clues to identify what they can't see with the skill of making...

Little learners recognize symbols, objects and how to depict numbers. For this matching lesson, they can match the number names with a set of items, model ordinal numbers, and complete a cute, cartoon-character worksheet.

"What is George upset about? Check all that apply." Here's a worksheet that asks readers to delve more deeply into character attitudes and motivations. In addition, Part II asks individuals to record passages from that text that capture...

Here is a instructional activity designed for middle schoolers which helps them recognize stereotypes one way or another against a particular group of people. They also determine what may have motivated the author to use a stereotype in...

Students identify two or three specific actions he or she can accomplish to practice good citizenship.They research and agree to accomplish one social health action before the end of the week

Students persevere to build character. In this philanthropy lesson, students consider how to put forth their personal best in all areas of their lives as they participate in a physical activity.

Seventh graders examine the characteristics of philanthropists.  In this cross- curricular lesson, 7th graders evaluate the character traits of people from a film. Students write a metaphor about responsibility to community.

Your students have mastered using textual evidence in literature, but what about using this skill in informational texts.  Uh oh! That is right—they are not the same thing. Darn the Common Core! See options on how to differentiate...

When faced with a difficult situation, do you respond selfishly, face it head on, or ignore the problem? This game encourages learners to evaluate the wide range of reactions we can have to problematic situations, and how our responses...

Take a journey with your class as they explore the different settings from Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Middle schoolers write postcards in first person as if they were the characters of the story.  

How does Oliver Twist, the novel written by Charles Dickens, compare with its screenplay adaptation? Although the activity doesn't require learners to have read the novel, the similarities and differences of the highlighted passages...

Who was Lorenzo de Zavala to the Texas Revolution, and how did he change the Alamo? Find out using an educational resource that asks learners to fill out graphic organizers and respond to short-answer questions to further solidify their...

As the final lesson plan in a larger beginning-of-the-year unit to establish routines and teach close reading skills, this plan is designed as an assessment piece. Using the story, The Librarian of Basra, learners independently...

Third graders practice the skills of identifying the main message in a story, describing the main character, and sorting the key details of a story into specific categories. The story they read is, The Boy Who Loved Words. Using a...

Learners practice their reading comprehension by analyzing and discussing books with their classmates. They record their responses to comprehension, evaluation, and interpretation questions provided on a worksheet that is referenced but...

High schoolers discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....

Fourth graders explore the human and animal connection along with the idea that death is a part of the life cycle. They read "Where the Red Fern Grows." Students examine the feelings and emotions surrounding death and they discover the...