Using a variety of novels about survival, such as Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, pupils create author's studies using wikis. First, learners are placed in groups to study a particular novel. Then, they create a page...

Students identify and interpret the value of the dragonfly as a predator of the mosquito. They create their own folktales using the dragonfly or a creature of their choice to solve the malaria problem or another issue. Students also...

Learners of all ages interview, record, and photograph teachers and staff at their school. They organize the photo with a soundbite into a PowerPoint presentation. They transcribe the interview and write a response to it. 

Students investigate the character trait of perseverance and how it is used to help a girl gain independence in a fictional story. The story also has them think about the value of relationships and then write reflectively about...

This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...

Students describe objects using only their sense of touch. In this lesson on describing characteristics, students use only their sense of touch to describe an unseen object in a box. This lesson can be used an an introduction to plant...

Middle schoolers compare the traits of humans to raptors.  In this senses and beneficial traits lesson students create a newsletter and compare raptors to aircraft. 

How well do your learners really know the characters in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising? A biopoem activity prompts readers to investigate the characters and their traits. Line by line, writers add the characters'...

After reading and discussing several personal narratives written by women in the 1920's, class members write a personal narrative of their own about a time in their lives they felt controlled. Sample narratives can be accessed through...

Bring Edgar Allan Poe's spooky story to life! After reading the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," middle and high schoolers identify the theme, character traits, irony, and other story concepts. During pre-reading, they take notes,...

Young scholars in fourth grade pair up with students in second grade to edit writing convension.

Students create a county and develop an illustrated travel brochure to persuade elementary students to visit their county.  In this persuasive writing instructional activity, students use descriptive language effectively in a travel...

Students examine examples of sports jargon by reading sports articles from a newspaper. They write a news article about a fictional sports event using examples of sports jargon.

Fifth graders list the traits they get from their parents and distinguish between inherited traits from acquired ones. They assess how to recognize influences that may affect body types and sizes and research on the internet heredity and...

Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.

Sixth graders discover the importance of lead sentences and practice writing them. After reading lead sentences in books, they determine the qualities that attract and hold readers' attention. Finally, once they have identified the...

Students read the story Marriage is a Private Affair and analyze the 'American Dream.' In this American Dream lesson, students free write about the American Dream. Students read the story and discuss the themes. Students write a letter...

Seventh graders read a book of poems called "Out of the Dust". In groups, they research the Dust Bowl and how it affected people living through the Great Depression. Using the text, they identify the theme and key turning points and...

Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning instructional activity, students study the works of well-known philanthropists and write an acrostic poem using the word CARING.

Young poets focus on one character from a story they are reading, collect details, and use a biopoem template to analyze this character. The activity can be used with any text.

Learners study vocabulary and complete a survey.  In this human traits instructional activity students collect and analyze data then discuss what they learned. 

Students study folk tales and moral lessons from cultures around the world. In this character traits lesson, students study moral lessons through the character traits in various cultures folk tales. Students complete 11 activities...

Young scholars fill out a character trait graphic organizer about characters in a book that they are reading. In this characters lesson plan, students see how traits relate to character actions.

Students identify similes and create their own self descriptions using them as examples. After identifying characteristics associated with pictures of the sun, fish, and other items, they discover how those traits can be used as...