Are the lessons of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar still applicable today? Explore themes, characterization, and plot structure with a thorough teacher's guide to the play. The resource covers the entire text and offers rigorous activities...

Surprise! is the theme of a unit covering such topics as consonants, blending, short vowels sounds, high frequency words, and number words. The unit's lessons also include teachable moments covering story structure, illustrations,...

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems by David Bowles is the focus of a five-week language arts unit unit. Fifth graders listen to various poems and participate in thoughtful discussions, examining vocabulary and learning new words in...

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...

The American Revolution is the theme of a five-week unit that focuses on reading, grammar, morphology, and writing. Scholars read and respond to texts, practice spelling and word work, and write paragraphs. Assessments gauge comprehension.

Young scholars are read "Danny the Dinosaur" and explore alternate endings. They answer questions about the story to answer as they go.

Students explore reading nonfiction. In this nonfiction lesson plan, students practice using KWL charts to organize nonfiction information gained from reading. Students explore unfamiliar words from reading and recognize synonyms and...

Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....

How do you read when you know you're going to be summarizing a text? Summarize a nonfiction text with your upper elementary schoolers. Your pupils independently read a nonfiction article and write a summary paragraph using the six-step...

Learners apply their knowledge of geography. In this geography skills lesson, students read brief selections regarding early Americans. Learners respond to the questions included in the self-guided map skills lesson.

Students explore the patterns of day and night. In this geography skills lesson, students read brief selections and examine diagrams that note the transition of day and night around the world. Students respond to the questions included...

Middle schoolers use context clues to find the figurative meaning of similes and metaphors in writing. They practice using figurative language to help their writing come alive. Use this activity in a lesson plan about poetry, figurative...

What could you pack for a trip if you don't know the destination? After writing a list of items they would want to bring, fourth graders learn that the "trip" is to the South Pole - revealing the need to understand all available...

Good Night, Moon is a classic little ones absolutely love. It's a sweet book that can be used, as in this lesson, to start a conversation about the difference between night and day. After reading the story, the class brainstorms...

Learners examine contour maps and bathymetry maps and discover how to interpret a contour map of the East Pacific Rise. Students look at a map as a class and answer questions together before working independently on a map of the East...

First graders practice their language art capabilities by rhyming words.  In this vocabulary instructional activity, 1st graders examine words that rhyme with rice and create rhyming sentences using the same sound.  Students...

Students explore the /sh/ digraph and how it is a blending of the /s/ and /h/ sounds. They use letterbox manipulatives to spell 'sh' words and identify /sh/ words as they read a story. They 'fish' for 'sh' words to practice writing at...

Eighth graders explore the main idea of stories. In this literacy lesson, 8th graders summarize the last TV show they watched, identify the main idea of the show, and list its supporting details. After a discussion of main ideas, they...

Students write a mock article. In this journalism lesson plan, students define the word "article" and learn the five W's of article writing. Students complete a worksheet and write a paragraph using what they have learned.

Fourth graders complete word work with words that contain the /or/, /oor/, or /ore/ spelling pattern. In this spelling pattern lesson, 4th graders participate in the weekly spelling list activity in which they sort words with the given...

Students take a pre-test on presidential knowledge.  In this president and Washington, D.C. instructional activity, students read Arthur Meets the President and discuss it.  Students work in groups to brainstorm everything they...

Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the letter 'a' as it makes the short /a/ sound. Through instruction and modeling, they explore the sound the letter makes and how the letter is written. They recite tongue...

Students become aware that when certain letters are put together in a word they are said with a single mouth move. Through modeling and a variety of guided practice activities they explore the /sh/ phoneme. They read and identify 'sh'...

Ninth graders examine the dress of diplomats. In this American Government instructional activity, 9th graders read an article and answer guided questions. Students participate in a quiz on the reading.