It can be difficult to refer back to a text when analyzing it, so annotation is a great tool for kids to track what they are reading. A thorough and well-organized lesson guides learners through the process of annotating William...

Here is a must-have resource for studying fairy tales, myths, and folktales with your class! It includes instructional ideas, activities, and materials to support a month-long review of these three unique genres of writing.

Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.

Begin your discussion about Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility before you even open the book. Kids fill in a worksheet that lists five statements about the literary themes of the novel, and then discuss their opinions as a...

Cinderella is a classic love story when Cinderella is the protagonist—but what happens if a stepsister tells the story? Focus on point of view with a lesson plan about fairy tales and story elements. After reading a few familiar fairy...

Guide kids as they trip trap over their bridge of reading with an activity focused on The Three Billy Goats Gruff. First graders read the classic story before answering a few reading comprehension questions about the events and...

O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" is the classic example of irony in literature. Teach young writers about the ways irony can engage their readers with an activity in which they write scripts using dramatic irony, situational irony, and...

Over the course of three days, middle schoolers explore the concept of connotation. They differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of sports team names, develop their own team names, logos, and text, and revise a news...

It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and...

Introduce your young learners to opera by dressing up as Mozart and recounting some of the fascinating details of his life and music. After exploring the Metropolitan Opera's site for kids, the class listens to a reading of Kyra...

Some sounds sound very similar! Help your class learn how to distinguish between various sounds by following the steps outlined in this plan. The plan includes a warm-up, a teacher-led portion, and details for guided and independent...

If you need an anchor for your unit on Sense and Sensibility, use a concept analysis with key discussion points. It includes literary themes, vocabulary, background information, and suggestions for addressing gender and diversity...

Ideal for coloring, class decoration, or a language arts center, these nursery rhyme posters are a great addition to your kindergarten class. Each poster provides the text of the nursery rhymes as well as a cute illustration.

Here is a precise article explaining chronological events that led Martin Luther King, Jr. to march for freedom and civil rights.

Betty Botter and Theophilus Thistle provide models for willy writers to wrestle words into tricky tongue twisters. 

Play a classic game of tic-tac-toc with a Seuss-ical twist. Instead of X's and O's, the game pieces are either hats and cakes or hats and cats. Kids color and cut out their game pieces before sitting down for a game or two.

We're off to see the wizard! Practice making inferences in literature with two sample paragraphs from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Each passage provides questions about the pleasantness of the place it describes, and...

Middle school years can be tough. An educator's guide for the works of Lynda Mullaly Hunt introduces readers to two texts that discuss the struggles pre-teens face during middle school. Chapter-by-chapter questions and activities for two...

Children with dyslexia may have issues with their eye tracking ability and this may cause problems when they read. Here is a set of three easy steps you can use to improve a learner's eye tracking. The idea is that some kids need help in...

Planning on using Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol this year? Then give yourself a gift and download this colorful guide thats packed with goodies. Kids, as well as the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future are sure to...

Make a study of producers and consumers with an updated version of the classic story The Little Red Hen (this one is called The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza). After reading and discussing the story and terms, learners practice being...

Kindness is never a standalone act. Fourth graders read the classic tale of Androclus and his act of service to the lion, which is repaid to him by the lion in a Roman colosseum. After reading the passage, they answer four comprehension...

If you need a simple way to introduce your young readers to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, use a coloring learning exercise for learners of all ages. A great cover for a book report, addition to a reading unit, or even a...

Students inspect human health by participating in a class game. In this nutrition lesson, students examine an interactive food pyramid and discuss the healthy alternatives to their typical diets. Students complete a flash card activity...