Expose the beautiful mystery of bulbs as young botanists learn all about these fascinating plants. They glean information from a short text before observing actual bulbs (consider an onion), and comparing their findings with predictions....

Students recognize poetic devices including rhyme, syllabification, and meter. They identify the characteristics of a nonsense poem and of a limerick. They write their own limericks.

Fourth graders investigate acrostic poetry by researching the Internet.  In this poetry writing lesson, 4th graders complete a worksheet detailing their personal activities and interests.  Students view the form of an acrostic...

Students examine how poetry festivals showcase many different kinds of poetry and can bring a school together. They notice that festival is a series of related performances and that there are many other types of festivals. They present...

A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...

Fifth graders recognize and distinguish between different types of text. After a discussion of the various types of text, small groups compete in a relay race game demonstrating their knowledge of the text. Correct choices earn...

Second graders write poems based on locomotive skills, such as hop, skip, or run. They read their poems to the class and they act out the action word by performing it to a finish line.

Students use Shakespearean sonnets as part of a poetry analysis lesson. In this sonnet lesson, students perform a sonnet by Shakespeare but treat it as a script to be acted out. Students work in pairs to create motions for two lines from...

Twelfth graders research the history to Haiku Poetry. They read classical haiku to comprehend their special sensibility and form. Students encounter the Buddhist philosophical background of this poetry and its roots. They write original...

Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.

Learners explore their feeling on love. They write down their feelings and talk about love and infatuation and what the differences are. Students study the Ladder of Love and write a love poem of their own. They identify the various...

Students discover the importance of seeds in relationship to nature.  In this plant growth lesson plan, students create a collection of seeds and discover the best type of environment to plant them.  Students plant their own...

Students investigate rules of etiquette. In this poetry lesson, students consider etiquette rules and follow multi-step directions to create a poinsettia napkin ring. Students work in small groups to demonstrate proper etiquette in...

Students discuss the importance of rhythm in rope jumping. They practice turning, then jumping. Students discuss the various types of rhymes. They work in groups for a couple of classes, students rotate from chart to chart trying out...

Students examine different portrayals of African American women in poems and plays. Individually, they identify the character they want to play and reject the others. After acting out the scene, they hopefully realize that their...

Students discuss the attributes of a successful family after listening to the poem,"What Is a Family?" After sharing information about their own families, students work in groups to act out scenes from books that were previously read...

Sixth graders read the books, The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography by Yoshiko Uchida and Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki about Japanese Americans during World War II. They hold discussions, take quizzes, and write essays about the...

Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history lesson. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing information...

Fourth graders use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast various versions of the story The Three Little Pigs. They write a Cinquain, and then act out their version of the Three Little Pigs in a skit.

Learners discover literature by conducting a free writing experiment. In this sonnet lesson, students read the sonnet "The Parting" and compare it to modern-day songs about breaking up. Learners listen to pop music in class and...

Students complete a series of activities based on the book, Mira, culminating in the presentation of a play. Included in the 21 activities are puppeteering, drawing, and reciting poetry.

Students explore writing a cinquain. Students engage in a pantomime experience. They observe and describe bubbles. Students compose a cinquain and illustrate their work with bubble art.

Third graders study different bodies of water and how they fit into the water cycle. They explain that materials exist in different states (solid, liquid and gas) and change from one to another, that there are systems, order, and...

Students create a Mother's Day video gift by utilizing the latest video technology in class.  In this film making lesson, students utilize important photographs related to their mother and import them into a computer timeline using...