Twelfth graders examine and evaluate their personal education plans and discuss the importance of life-long learning. They discuss personal education plans and goals and reflect on their own plans, complete a Personal Plan of Study...

The non-fiction book Art Around the World by Heather Leonard serves as inspiration for learning how art reflects cultures and values. New vocabulary and background knowledge are fleshed out before reading the story. Afterward, the class...

As part of a unit study of The Hobbit, class members engage in an activity that asks group to practice the skills needed to reach consensus in a discussion.

Elementary schoolers observe and demonstrate a variety of strategies for reading with expression. They listen to the teacher read A Fine, Fine School with and without expression and discuss the differences. Then in pairs, read the...

Have you ever wanted to tell a character what you really thought of him or her? Use a instructional activity based on Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter to encourage learners to write a letter in response to a character's...

An in-class reading of Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece Meets the Big O introduces class members to the journey motif that forms the basis of The Hobbit.

First graders examine and discuss the skills needed to be an effective learner. They sing "The Learning Song" to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down, and complete a Learning Book activity sheet. Each student draws a picture of the...

Once you've entered effective search terms, how do you evaluate the results of your search? Through the presentation and activities included here, pupils will examine results pages and determine what guiding information is provided. By...

Let's get to the gist. As scholars continue their study of Charles Fishman's The Big Thirst, they practice writing the gist of the text. Additionally, pupils add notes about the industrial uses of water to their researcher's...

Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.

Pair dancing, music, and art into one elementary instructional activity. Using the work of Henri Matisse and Rudy Autio as inspiration, kids spend a few days listening to music that fits the moods of various pieces of art, then work on...

To prepare for a reading of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, kids must prioritize a list of items to take with them on a journey to Texas.

What do you think of when you hear the word adult? Or friend? Learners brainstorm with a group of peers to list the words they think of when they hear seven words from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.

Eighth graders participate in a variety of activities to examine the meanings and roots of word derivatives and the meanings of words. Using context clues, they determine the meanings of words omitted from a passage and complete a prefix...

Turning 11 comes with a range of emotions. Explore those emotions by reading the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. Readers analyze the main character's reactions to the events of her day. Then, they write an essay describing what...

Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...

After listening to and analyzing a series of FDR's Fireside Chats, groups create their own recordings, and using New Deal programs, address a current economic condition.

Strategy-based programs that are executed with consistency are the best for achieving growth in any learner with a learning disability. Here is a seven-step lesson plan that is highly structured and is intended to help learners with...

Third graders develop their reading superpowers in a lesson plan on fluency. After first listening to an audio recording or teacher read aloud, the class works together identifying criteria for fluent reading, focusing on phrasing, rate,...

What, if anything, makes a war "just"? This is an interesting and important question to explore with your class, and you can utilize an excellent lesson plan to support your group inquiry. The American Revolution and the War of 1812...

Readers of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to consider the morality of the central character's actions

Students employ strategies to increase comprehension while they are reading. For this language arts lesson, students must infer, predict and visualize in order to improve comprehension.

Young scholars discover strategies to help them better understand the stories they read. As a familiar story is read to the class, individuals practice answering basic questions about the main characters, settings, problems, etc. while...

First graders use prior knowledge and reading strategies for the story (Julius).  In this reader's workshop lesson, 1st graders use elbow buddies to discuss parts of the story during guided reading.  Students review reading...