Introduce your young readers to the book review. Groups of writers practice the basic steps of writing a book report and complete an Accordion-Book Summary activity. The lesson includes book report basics and directions to make...

Scholars summarize sections of a book and compile them to create a book trailer. They are assigned sections of a book to read and summarize before recording as short video segments. The segments are put together in order to create a book...

Harry Potter, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, To Kill a Mockingbird. Kids view a slide show and then discuss the seven banned books featured in the presentation and the reasons why the books may have been banned.

You can use these basic instructions to create a book using the accordion fold. This project can be used alongside nearly any other lesson. Have kids fold a book to create a science journal, chapter-by-chapter book summary, to house a...

Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the creation of a unique type of book report. They read a book in its entirety and then decorate a shoebox with the theme of the book and then students write a summary of the book.

Imagine a learning community committed to using Costa and Kallick's Habits of Mind as the basis of curriculum design. The resource book is packed with lessons that are designed for and identify the standards and...

Why do books end up on the banned book list? How do these banned books contribute to the literary canon? Start by showing the photo slide show, and discussing notably banned books. Then focus on some of the most popular objections:...

I love literature circles! Get your pupils together and have them discuss the book they are reading. They determine and practice their role in the literature circle then discuss the book they are reading. This is a great introduction to...

Young scholars read a given play. They choose the key scenes from the play and write a narration to carry the plot line between those scenes. They create a comic book that depicts these key scenes, complete with pictures and text balloons.

Young learners examine different places in their neighborhood using informational texts. First they identify a place that they like to play and predict if it will be in the nonfiction book Community at Play.They will share their favorite...

Introduce literature circles with Roland Smith's novels. Your seventh graders will see the activity modeled as you read The Three Little Pigs together and apply the format to a Roland Smith novel of their choice. The lesson includes...

Youngsters practice summarizing and retelling the story of The Three Little Pigsin their own words as well as the original version of the book. They color the pictures and cut out a similiar house on their own as well.

After reading a self-selected book, young reviewers plan, draft, revise, edit and polish a book review as their report on the book. Reviewers record and edit their report which is then placed in the digital library for others to enjoy.

How big is your foot? How long is your arm? How big is your mom’s hand? After learning how to measure body parts, young writers collect their observations into an illustrated book. Instructions for crafting a 3D Tim Foil Man are also...

Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.

Brian Jacques’ novel Redwall provides the focus for a series of lessons involving the analysis of folklore. Adopting the persona of a character, groups write letters in the voice of their character, assemble a collage using Microsoft...

Have your young learners work in pairs to find and research an endangered species. They use research to develop ideas about saving their animal from extinction. Pairs develop a three-dimensional model of the animal's habitat. Then,...

In this language arts worksheet, students will complete an accordion book to summarize a story. Students are provided with the directions to complete the book and prompted to write about the beginning, middle, and end of their selected...

Bring the fun and whimsy of Beverly Cleary into your classroom with a teaching guide created to accompany the Ramona series. The guide offers several ideas for classroom use, including independent reading, reading aloud, and literature...

Using a Venn diagram, class members generate similarities and differences between narratives and summaries. Next, pupils co-create an anchor chart to capture their thinking about how an author zooms in on a particular part of a story. 

Young scholars read books and write a unique kind of book report. In this literature lesson plan, students use paper bags to construct projects about the books they read. Young scholars present their projects to the class.

Students recommend a book. In this book talk instructional activity, students watch Reading Rainbow book talks, choose a book to recommend to others and write a brief summary and recommendation. Students video tape their introduction and...

Young scholars write unique book reports. In this book report assignment, students choose a creative way from a teacher-provided list to demonstrate that they read a book.

Students read about an autistic boy and  learn about how he communicates.  In this picture book summary instructional activity, students draw illustrations of events in the story that convey the theme.