Inspire your class to look at their environments as if they were seeing them for the first time in order to gain a better understanding of the concept of perspective. After exploring their communities and keeping a journal of major...

Germination is an amazing process that results in amazing things. The book The Tiny Seed is the inspiration for a set of activities that will help build early literacy, observation, language, and writing skills. The class observes how...

Accompany a novel study of Hatchet by Gary Paulson with a unit consisting of 16 lessons focused on physical and emotional survival. Reading the story along with a variety of informational texts, scholars compare and contrast reading...

Making inferences is a skill that goes beyond the comprehension of written text. In this simple exercise, young learners are provided with a photograph and asked to answer a series of inference questions using only on the...

Students use apples to create a fall flower gift. In this art lesson, students core apples, and place a floral vial with a flower in the apple. Students give the project as a gift.

Students make their own leaf print using paint. In this art lesson, students paint the back of the leaves with one of the fall colors. Students then lay their leaves on a piece of paper, tap them gently with their fingers, and lift the...

Students construct three dimensional self-portraits. In this visual arts lesson, students use clay to create a self-portrait. Students make the clay and discuss their self-portrait.

Students examine cultural differences through the reading of The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera.  For this language arts lesson, students work in groups to analyze chapters 11 and 12 of the novel; these chapters highlight...

Here is a fabulous collection of lessons for your emerging meteorologists! In them, learners will utilize satellite data to determine distribution of rainfall, research global rainfall patterns, and utilize their knowledge to propose new...

Young scholars compare fall and spring. In this seasonal changes lesson, students read the book Apples and Pumpkins and discuss the fall season. The young scholars then read It's Spring and describe the spring season. As a culminating...

Students practice identifying individual sounds in words by interacting with the phoneme /a/. They recite the tongue twister, "Abby had an apple in the bag," and play the game beware of the falling apples. Each student also reads the...

In this Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Great Falls worksheet, students read for information and complete comprehension activities. In this true and false, fill in the bank, and essay worksheet, students write answers to fifteen...

Students listen to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and work collaboratively to create a chair for a small stuffed animal that will allow it to sit upright and withstand a short drop out of Legos. Students write about the engineering...

Students create family histories. For this book making lesson, students take digital cameras home for the night and take family members' photographs. Students use the photographs and text they write about their families to create a...

Elementary artists use a collage and multi-media technique to create textured trees. They study the fall trees, discussing texture and what bare trees look like. They then use a variety of materials to create a textural piece. 

Plan on using Gone with the Wind as a reading selection? Here's a packet of prompts for activities and assessments.

Get started with The Cay. First, provide some background information and images that relate to the novel. Then pupils can create double-entry journals. Once that is complete, read the first two chapters, encouraging individuals to record...

Without structure, things fall apart. Scholars discuss the importance of structuring a podcast to tell a story that makes sense. They walk around the classroom, stopping at stations to answer questions on posters about planning their...

Sixth graders conduct a plot diagram for a short story. They identify the problem, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. Students are able to sequence events in a story, and identify the parts of the plot...

Here’s a graphic organizer that permits learners to chart the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution of a story. The PDF file can be customized to work with any narrataive.

Middle schoolers in particular will benefit from this simple presentation. Forty slides cover story elements like the protagonist, antagonist, and setting, and literary devices are also included. Some examples are given, but for the most...

Fourth graders act out and write original narratives. In this theater meets writing lesson, 4th graders work in groups to create original narratives; after students act out their story, they write it down as a narrative.

Examine the way water moves, drips, and splashes with an expressive dance. Learners discuss the ways in which water moves, then create dance sequences that show or describe water. There are several suggestions to adapt this lesson plan...

It's all about the plot, main events, and story mapping with this lesson. As the class reads the novel James and the Giant Peach, they create an excitement graph that actually charts key events and moments of excitement. After...