Assess your new learners' writing abilities and knowledge of literary terms with these diagnostic activities. Part of a back-to-school unit, this is meant to provide the teacher with information about the ability levels of their class....

Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...

Help primary school pupils learn valuable reading strategies. As they choral read a poster or big book, they predict covered words and learn various reading strategies for figuring out an unknown word. This will help them gain an...

There's nothing like a provocative image to inspire a creative writing session. In the language arts lesson presented here, middle schoolers bring in digital photos of scary objects, such as a big spider, or a hornet's nest. The pictures...

An authentic and engaging way to practice literacy skills, this lesson calls for young language arts pupils to conduct interviews with classmates and family members. First, pupils watch as the teacher models the interview process with a...

Learning about the moon has never tasted delicious! Using the popular Oreo cookie as a model, young scientists carve out the cream filling to represent the different phases of the moon.

As a lesson on scientific observation, have your class investigate the features of a penny and a nickel. Working in pairs, they practice writing detailed descriptions using their senses and a ruler to gather information. This is an...

Learners explore potential learning, earning, and living goals that align with their personal goals and interests in a comprehensive unit that includes complete lesson plans, interactive notebooks, worksheets, overheads, rubrics,...

With almost half of Americans relying on groundwater supplies, it is more important than ever to protect aquifers from possible contaminants. Working in small groups, young environmentalists explore this problem as they create an aquifer...

The art of writing dialogue is the focus of this language arts resource. After a review of the rules of writing direct speech, youngsters try their hand at creating dialogue used by characters they create in their writing. They focus on...

A cute set of pocket chart pieces can help you sing about "Five Green Speckled Frogs." The resource includes lyric strips for the song, as well as five frogs (one is eating a most delicious bug), a log, and numbers one through five.

Young mathematicians access a website that leads them through three activities that enable them to practice their rounding and estimation skills when it comes to numbers and math word problems. There is also a very good worksheet...

Boccia is very similar to the game of bocce. There is a jack, a small ball that is tossed within a 12' x 6' area which becomes the target. Each team has six hand-sized leather balls which they try to get as close as possible to the jack...

The ASL lessons from lifeprint are amazing, but can be complicated. While this lesson is perfect for those needing to learn or teach ASL to the deaf community, it could also provide a valuable communication tool. This resource features...

Readers work to increase the speed of their out-loud reading to improve overall fluency.  They work with partners to time and record how far they read in one minute using the book Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. The procedures...

Through this series of terrific lesson plans, pupils learn about the extent of poverty in the state of Arkansas during the Great Depression. They read documents from the period which describe how hard times were, view an online photo...

What would your class do if a police officer arrested a student in class? This is exactly the anticipatory set that gets students engaged in a unit on the legal system. The plan is to get the officer to simulate an arrest, and then guest...