PB Works
George Washington’s Socks Reader’s Guide
Dive into a class reading of the book George Washington's Socks with the help of this guide. Including a vocabulary list and series of comprehension questions for each chapter, this resource provides an excellent foundation for exploring...
Curated OER
Literary Circles
Fifth graders read a common book and meet to discuss the reading. In this literary circles lesson, 5th graders understand their roles and responsibilities in participating in a literary circles. Students design an original project for...
Curated OER
Shoe Fish
Fishy, fishy, fishy, fish! Kids take off their shoes and trace them to create fish for a large aquarium art project. Each traced shoe shape is decorated with gills, fins, scales, and eyes, then hug on an aquarium background. Three book...
Curated OER
Making Independent Reading and Book Reports Motivating
Here are some exciting ideas to get your students motivated to read independently.
Wordpress
Notes on Romeo and Juliet – Act 2
If your purpose in using Romeo and Juliet with your classes is to share enjoyment rather than to just read the play by rote, come and inspect these materials designed for the scenes in Act II of Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers.
Scholastic
A House for Hermit Crab
Engage young marine biologists in a reading of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab with a fun hands-on activity. Given a set of clipart images of the different aquatic animals that appear in the book, children identify each one during a...
Curated OER
A Look At Rocks
Students write letters to organizations, such as United States Geological Society, to find out more about rocks. Students write about a pretend time they found a magic pebble. Students calculate distances to travel to see various...
Curated OER
Face Study: Draw the Other Half
Build fine motor, spatial, and drawing skills by having the class complete the other half of a portrait. They choose an image of a face from a magazine, then attempt to draw the other half of the face as accurately as they can. Two book...
Curated OER
Stamp Boxes or Jars: Recycled Art
With some canceled stamps, an old box, and some glue, learners create art from scraps. You save up or gather used postage stamps, the kids glue them onto a box or an old clean jar. All the steps needed to complete this project plus two...
Hampton-Brown
From "First Crossing"
Young scholars look closely at four tales taken from the collection of short stories, First Crossing edited by Donald R. Galloby. While examining the life of four teenagers and the lives they lead as U.S. immigrants, your enthusiastic...
Curated OER
Hip on Hemingway
Middle schoolers participate in an official "Hip on Hemingway Club." They explore Hemingway and create a biography of Ernest Hemingway patterned after an alphabet book. They record their "key word" with each of the twenty-six letters of...
Curated OER
Story Quilt Project
Students investigate how quilt making was a family and community activity. They read and discuss books, complete various handouts, and create a paper quilt celebrating philanthropic activities.
Curated OER
First Grade, First Grade, What Do You See?
First graders read the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" by Bill Martin, Jr. and work cooperatively to create an online book about their geographic region. Books can be posted on the internet with other books from around...
Curated OER
Getting To Know You
Students listen to the book "I like me" by Nancy Carison, or a similar self-esteem book, and then create self-portraitswhile the song "Getting to Know You" is being played. This is an excellent ice-breaker for the beginning of the...
Curated OER
The Call of the Wild
Students read The Call of the Wild, noting its theme of survival. They investigate the book's concepts with word webs, spider maps, or graphic organizers. They conduct a panel discussion on dogs and wolves. They write a letter to the...
Curated OER
Leader for Life
Students develop their leadership skills. In this character education instructional activity, students discuss the characteristics of leaders and create leadership books that feature leadership pointers.
Curated OER
Making A Dot, Without Making A Dot
Young scholars create Dots without making dots in this interestingly entertaining Art instructional activity for the early-elementary classroom. The instructional activity emphasizes the use of the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. ...
Curated OER
Put A Scientific Spin on Teen Read Week!
Celebrate Teen Read Week by incorporating literature into your science curriculum.
Channel Islands Film
Restoration Channel Islands Debate
Introduce learners to the debate format with an activity that uses the National Park Service's controversial Channel Islands restoration program as a topic. Class members learn how to generate provocative debate questions, how to prepare...
Curated OER
Coming of Age Readings: Experiences in Korea and by Asians in America
Bring multi-cultural experiences and literature into your language arts class with this instructional activity. Here, young readers explore the points of view of first and second-generation Asian immigrants with a list of various fiction...
Curated OER
What's Outside the Window
What do your students see when they look outside the window? This project lets their imagination go wild, and lets you see what kind of daydreaming they do best. They each draw, paint, and color an image of what they imagine as they are...
Curated OER
Paper Bag Butterfly Puppets
Whether you're using it to tell stories, explore the letter b, or during a life science lesson, these butterfly puppets will be a hit. Youngsters use crayons, tissue paper, and paper bags to create butterfly puppets.
Curated OER
Sunset Pictures
Sunsets and shadows are lovely subjects for creative projects. Kids take a good look at images of sunsets, then use paint and construction paper to create a silhouetted sunset image. Tip: This project is a great way to illustrate a poem...
Curated OER
Puzzle Trees
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.