After reading chapter six of Ordinary People with your class, conduct this activity with your class. Turn the lights down, put on your softest voice, and have them try to imagine that they lost a close friend. Then, encourage them to...

Students practice one-minute oral readings to increase their speed and fluency. They review several reading strategies, and then they read orally with a partner. The partner times their reading with a stopwatch and tracks their time on...

An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play,...

Although the methods are all scientific, forensic science was started by police officers rather than scientists, who relied on observation and common sense. Young detectives use many tools to solve crimes around the school in a...

Continuing from a previous lesson on how to read and analyze proposed legislation on election ballots, your class members will now practice writing up their own proposals for a new school rule or local ordinance that will be...

Sixth graders analyze the primary force that drives a character's actions in a character analysis lesson. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders analyze how characters present their actions and participate in a group activity...

Fourth graders, after defining the task and searching for some creative strategies, role play being a Park Ranger who tries to save Big Bend from being removed from the National Park system in Texas. They support the keeping of Big Bend...

Fifth graders interview each other in the role of civil war personalities. In this Civil War lesson, 5th graders create a script and video of an interview with classmates who are portraying characters from the Civil War. Students are...

Students learn and discuss what to do when approached by a stranger. In this stranger lesson plan, students answer questions based on a book that the teacher reads. They then participate in a discussion about rules and guidelines to...

Do people really need “a newer, bigger Holocaust” in order to change? Or is it possible that by making text-to-self connections to the stories of others people that they can change? In order to connect to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, class...

Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...

Students explore the best ways to ask for clarification to instructions and then practice those techniques by pairing up to write their own scenarios giving simple instructions to each other.

Each group is assigned a character to play in a mock debate. They read the provided materials, build an argument, and then debate their points of view as their perspective character. The debate focuses on ensuring equality for...

While not everybody will end up married, everybody does need to know how to resolve conflict. Learners examine several real-life scenarios involving a married couple. They use problem-solving strategies to help the couple come to an...

Explore ancient warfare through a dramatic reading of select portions of The Iliad with your class. They will identify the major characters in The Iliad and explain the strategies, external forces, and alliances of the Trojan War

Is it ok to be mad at someone who comes to your party uninvited? What about someone who interrupts you? For this prereading strategy, your class members must decide whether or not they'd get angry in the 10 situations provided. Then,...

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

First graders use action spelling. For this high frequency words lesson students are read the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Students add words to the classroom wall that are in the book. Students act out words from...

Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...

Students perform the Heimlich Manuever. In this first aid lesson, students read about choking and the Heimlich Maneuver. Students learn when and how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver.

Students observe the best ways to resolve conflicts. In this problem solving lesson, students read and evaluate a Clifford story about how he could have resolved conflict. A strategy of resolving conflict is given, and students role play...

Young scholars compare and contrast versions of The Three Little Pigs. In this fairy tale instructional activity, students read 3 versions of the fairy tale and dramatize them in order to analyze the similarities and differences.

Students explore dramatization. In this literacy fluency and drama lesson, students listen to the story Mop Top by Don Freeman and add related sounds at the appropriate times. Students role play, pantomime, and add sounds to  create...

Students discover writing strategies authors use to enhance characters.  In this character writing lesson, students are read the Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems and analyze the story, characters and settings as they listen....