Kids explore music, history, culture, and literature in a multi-faceted lesson plan. They discuss how both historical and cultural contexts shape music, art, and literature, and then apply these concepts as they engage in a listening...

Check out this detailed resource for some beginning of the year activities. After examining examples, class members uses the computer lab to create a personal brochure enhanced with clip art or photos to introduce themselves to the...

A biography writing lesson with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how to...

Explain the differences between fiction and non-fiction and the characteristics of a biography. Learners analyze three pieces of literature on the same topic to determine which is fiction and which is non-fiction. In the end, relate the...

Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...

Class members create literary mandalas for two characters from Maus, Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about his father’s experiences with the Holocaust. After finding quotes that reveal three good traits and three bad traits of each...

Class members pair up to discuss how the author of A Long Walk to Water altered history. They then work independently on Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Comparing Water for Sudan and A Long Walk to Water. Readers close the lesson plan...

Identify yourself! Learners listen to Nadia’s Hands read aloud before working in their identity journals to answer prompts relating to the story. They then look at identity using two recording forms Who Am I on the Outside? and...

No fish? Catch a word. Scholars read World without Fish and record unfamiliar vocabulary in their word catchers. They discuss word meanings as well as root words. They answer text-dependent questions before discussing the importance of...

Practice using the Turn the Question Around (TQA) method to answer reading comprehension questions based on short narrative paragraphs. Instructions and materials are included for direct, guided, and independent instruction. Responses...

Explore the power of words with your class by analyzing the connotations of fictitious sports team names. Learners discuss team names and the mental images they convey. They create logos to illustrate the meanings and...

Eleventh graders examine the political demands put on one of four groups living in America during WWII. Each class member is asked to research and write a paper describing the homefront experience for women, Hispanics, African-Americans,...

Over ten weeks, 8th graders refine their visions of future careers, develop skills needed to write resumes and business letters, and learn to make a strong impression at interviews. Three specific activities are included, but mostly the...

Students investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. Students design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.

After listening to Jon Scieska’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, groups discuss whether they think the wolf is telling the truth, whether he deserves punishment, and if so what punishment he deserves. You might use this lesson early...

Are you working on an Outsiders unit? Use this list of activities to deepen your middle schoolers' understanding of the novel. After reading S.E. Hinton's novel, young readers work on three required activities, including participating in...

Introduce your class to fairy tales with this lesson. After reading the fractured fairy tale, "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," third, fourth, and fifth graders write a personal narrative as a response to the fairy tale....

Create a commercial for a favorite book and broadcast this pitch on the Sly Book Channel! Learners practice retelling, summarizing, comparing/contrasting, and evaluation skills as they prepare their scripts. The approved scripts are then...

Bring Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Mad Libs, and cloze activities to your college class with this lesson plan. They complete a cloze instruction activity in which the students choose words that would fill in the blanks and create...

Following brief instruction about the Iran Hostage Crisis during Jimmy Carter's presidency, small groups read three-page sections from the diary of hostage Robert C. Ode. They write editorials from the perspective of either U.S. citizens...

First graders participate in a guided reading instructional activity. In this guided reading instructional activity, 1st graders read David's Drawings by Cathryn Falwell, which is a realistic fiction book on the DRA:16 level. They...

Introduce your class to Glogster with this literary analysis lesson. At the end of your short story unit, they choose one literary element to apply to three short stories and make an online poster using Glogster. Samples are included. If...

Foreshadowing, flashbacks, and imaginary places are the three topics of focus in this two-lesson packet written especially for the book, Bridge to Terabithia. Each lesson also comes with worksheets and activities to support student...

Quandimonium will ensue when the class discovers you will be grading this April Fool's Day vocabulary activity, complete with made-up words and definitions, although the truly perspicacious will remain axomachilliax.